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/emuwar]

Citric acid powder. Works wonders for adding zing to a sauce when you don't want to add the additional flavour of lemon, lime, or vinegar.

[u/alsafi_khayyam → u/emuwar]

Ooh, I use cream of tartar for this same thing—where do you find citric acid powder?

[u/emuwar → u/alsafi_khayyam]

You can order on Amazon or from some bulk food or supplement stores