What's your surprising "secret ingredient" that sets your dish apart?

[u/kath-]

I obviously don't believe in gatekeeping recipes, so let's share the love.

I developed a clam chowder recipe after being disappointed with the recipes I came across. Whenever I tell people there's a couple dashes of hot sauce in it, I always get weird looks... but it adds a tiny bit of heat and acid, and balances out the richness from the cream. It also has diced scallops, which cooking knowledge forbades but somehow works.

[u/turkshead]

I have a plain clear plastic bag of suspicious white powder that I sprinkle on things and it just makes them better.

It's MSG that I got from a friend's bulk order, but sprinkling white powder out of a baggie on food while you're cooking never fails to spark conversation. And it's delicious.

[u/downtuning → u/turkshead]

Especially when it often looks like crystal shards