Shhhh... Secret Ingredients

the best stuff to sneak into your recipes

Hey everybody! I wrote an article about secret ingredients two years ago for The Broiler Room and thought it was high time I brought a version of it over here, updated of course. I call for some of these things as optional ingredients in some upcoming recipes so I thought we should all be on the same page. I will be back next week with brand new piece but as always, I’ll be around in the comments and chat if you need me.

image from istock

People love to keep secrets, particularly in the kitchen. How many great dishes have been lost to time because the cook didn’t want anyone else to have the recipe to their signature dishes? Millions? I get the impulse. You work hard developing flavors or techniques and the last thing you want is to share the very thing that made your food stand out in the first place. We’ve all had the experience of getting a recipe from a friend and never being able to replicate it ourselves. Whatever magic took the dish from average to exceptional when you ate it with them is just gone. Most people might chalk this up to some shortcoming in the kitchen; some fault of theirs as a cook. But most likely you’ve fallen victim to one of the oldest tricks in the book: the secret ingredient.

When you cook for yourself one of the most amazing things that happens is you sharpen your palate with time and practice. Basically, you learn how to truly taste things, pick out flavors, identify what’s lacking, so you can make the best tasting food for you. When you work to improve your palate, you’ll notice how often the food you eat has secret ingredients. Your aunt gives you her recipe for her famous braised greens and even though you know you tasted some nutmeg in there, it’s not written anywhere on the recipe she gave you. People do this all the time, particularly to family. That’s why grandma’s cookies can’t be replicated; she never wanted them to be. She wanted to go out as Cookie Queen™️ of the family and she was willing to fib to make it happen. It’s an iconic move. 

Other times, like when I do it, it’s because I tend to add a couple of the same things to dishes when they need just a little bit of something, and I don’t think of it as a real part of the recipe. It’s like when you double the fresh garlic in a recipe or add more lemon juice. But it’s time to come clean because you all deserve to know all the tricks and shortcuts I’ve come to love. I’ve complied some of my favorite secret ingredients here so that you can use them in your kitchen too. But remember this is just between us so shhhh.

Citric Acid- I love adding this to food in three main ways: lemon juice, lime juice, and straight up crystallized citric acid AKA sour salt. If you’re tasting a dish and it isn’t *quite* there, reach for an acid before you reach for salt. This is one of the biggest differences between home cooked meals and restaurant dishes: acid. Well that and the metric ton of fat that they’ll add to a meal to make it extra delicious but that’s for another newsletter.  Fresh lemon and lime juice are great and super easy to drizzle over dishes that are tasting flat. Vinegars are fabulous too. You can see I use both all the time in my recipes. But my last line of defense when something needs a nice neutral acid is crystalized citric acid. You can buy it in bulk online or in the vitamin section of some stores and it’s very affordable. Seriously, it's cheap as hell and since you only use a little at a time, it’ll last you awhile. Usually used in food for its qualities as a preservative, a sprinkle of citric acid in a pot of rice before it’s cooked or after adds a certain something that people can’t quite put their finger on. Toss it along with some salt on potatoes before you roast them. Add it to your favorite sauces and mix it with some salt to rim your margaritas. Sure, you can use it to descale your coffee pot too but that’s not why we’re here. It’s a great neutral acid, it will last forever in your pantry, and you can use it in countless dishes. That’s called value baby.

Nutritional Yeast- Yes, everyone knows nooch adds a great cheesy taste to food but just a tablespoon or two adds a great umami quality to dishes without a distracting cheesy taste. If something needs a more depth of flavor, try a little nooch. I love it in soups when they need something extra at the end to make them taste more complex. It disappears into the broth and no one will know why your dish is so damn tasty. You can find nooch near the spices or in the bulk bins at most well-stocked grocery stores. But if you’ve been cooking along with me for awhile, you already have it in your pantry. It’s time to stop thinking of nooch as powdered cheese and more as an ingredient, when used in smaller portions, that can add complexity and depth of flavor to a dish but improving all the flavors around it.

Mushroom Powder- Let it be known that I’m not a huge fan of mushrooms. If they taste too slimy or fishy (I’m looking at you shitake), I’m out. So when I say you should have some mushroom powder in your kitchen, know that I mean it. As the name suggests, this is nothing more than dried mushrooms pulverized into a fine powder. They’re usually a blend of cheaper mushrooms like cremini and shiitake with something more expensive like porcinis. Trader Joe’s carries one with the rest of their spices as do a lot of kitchen supply stores and specialty markets. Sometimes it will be labeled “umami seasoning blend” or something else equally vague, just flip it over and read the ingredients. Inevitably, it’s just a blend of powdered mushrooms with a little bit of some herb or spice which is exactly what you want. Don’t get confused by all the mushroom-based wellness powders and drinks made with chaga, reishi, and lion’s mane. That’s not what I’m talking about here. Culinary mushroom powders give a huge boost of umami and depth to a recipe without an obvious flavor. If you are someone who can’t stand nooch (and I know we’ve got a few of you here at Stir The Pot), mushroom powder is a great substation when it’s used a part of the seasoning of the dish. Add it a pot of beans, soups, sauces, pastas, bean burger patties, sauteed greens, anything that could use an umami boost. Start with a teaspoon or two, see what you think, and then work your way up from there.

Bragg Liquid Aminos- Like its cousin soy sauce, this brown salty liquid brings more than just sodium to the table. While I love tamari and soy sauce, I find that Braggs can disappear a little better into the background of your food and elevate the dish without being immediately identifiable. This makes it a great secret ingredient. A splash or two will add a depth and umami to your food making it extra craveable with hardly any effort. Add it to food that is still being cooked since a little heat really makes it do its job even better. I use it in sauces, soups, and sautéed veggies that need a little love. But remember, it does contain sodium so don’t go crazy. You’ll find this near the soy sauce or vinegars at the grocery store. This is not a branded plug btw, this is truly just a product that I love and have used for decades.

Ground Sumac- If you’re cooked some of my recipes over the years, you already know about my love of ground sumac. But this dried berry deserves a place in your secret ingredient drawer. A little lemony, a little smokey, and with a bright red color, a sprinkle of this in some of your dishes just takes them to a whole other level. We love sumac sprinkled on hummus, tossed on some veggies on a crudité platter, in a pasta salad, sprinkled over veggies or burgers right off the grill. I sprinkled it into a pasta primavera I made the other day and it took the dish from good to fantastic. Truly. Try it on your next dinner that it makes sense with. People won’t know what the fuck you did and you get the bonus of adding a little extra color to your food too. You can find it near the spices or at a grocer with a focus on middle eastern foods. It has a decent shelf life so it will be worth the effort to find it.

Ume Plum Vinegar- This is absolutely the hardest thing to find on this list by far but if you see this shit BUY IT. BUY LOTS OF IT. It’s not expensive, less than $6 a bottle, and a little goes a long way. But even in Los Angeles I’ve had to give up and buy it online. I just can’t quit it. Ume plum vinegar is the salty brine left over from pickling umeboshi AKA Japanese green plums. It’s fully addictive. Don’t let the name fool you; it tastes more like a salty liquid than any type of vinegar you’ve ever had. It disappears into whatever you add it to elevating every flavor and will make people wonder why the fuck your food always tastes better than theirs. Yeah, it's salty but it also brings a buttload (technical term) of umami to the table. Sprinkle a little over roasted veggies as they come out of the oven, add it to soup, over salad, in sauces, mac and cheese, literally everywhere. A light sprinkle of this, less than tablespoon, mixed into your saddest, laziest dinner will suddenly make it fucking delicious. I rarely call for it exclusively in my recipes because it can be hard to find but trust me, it ends up in so much of my food. This is the ultimate secret ingredient.

Thanks so much for subscribing to Stir The Pot. You are all some of the best people on the internet, I swear. Do you have a secret ingredient you love to use? Don’t take it to the grave, let us know here in the comments so we can all be better cooks.

Need some dinner inspiration? Make my Magic White Bean and Vegetable Soup that has been the go-to under the weather meal in my family for years.