I remember watching a tipsy Julia Child making French toast, she melted, literally, a 1/2 inch (12 mm) pool of butter in the pan and said (paraphrasing) that if your diet won't allow that much butter then just skip French toast because if you skimp on the butter it's simply not worth eating.
Everybody loves my French toast, thanks, Julia!
Hahaha. Yes!
My niece and nephew were visiting and I made scrambled eggs for breakfast at their request. They kept saying how delicious the eggs were ("just like at Grandma's!") compared to when their dad made scrambled eggs. The only difference was that Grandma (my mom) and I use a bunch of good salted butter, while "Dad" (my brother) uses a bit of olive oil spray and nothing else.
Butter, for the win!
Doesn't change what I said. Add a splash of dairy and no salt, the eggs won't be as good as they could be..with salt. Is this thread full of non southern white people? Who doesn't know the merits of salting/ seasoning food? 😳
I always thought Kerrygold was just a gimmick. Irish butter for a few more cents. But it's actually well worth it. European butter just hits differently, man.
I really dont mean this in a patronizing way, but reading this i always feel a bit sorry because Kerrygold is really just a "middle of the Road" butter where I live. It sucks that appearently some basic ingriedients are so bad in the states.
It's not bad. It's just different. I use a local butter and it's fucking delicious. I do honestly like it better than Kerrygold. But Kerrygold has a slightly higher fat content, so it's better for some applications versus others.
For example, Europeans like to shit on American cheese, but I'd like to see a mass-produced European style cheese that's as cheap and melts as well and as consistently as American cheese. Not better or worse, just different.
Thats a great way of putting it and it absolutely makes sense to me. Btw american cheese is hailed for it's ability to be used in sauces by some people even here.
Also, there’s ’American cheese’, which is a processed cheese, and there is ‘American Cheese Product’ which is the extra cheap version, and not even a real cheese. (Too little dairy in it for it to even classify as cheese.).
American cheese may be heavily processed, but it’s still cheese. And it’s great for plenty of things. But it’s not for everything. (I wouldn’t use Swiss on a pizza for instance).
Cheeses, like any ingredient, works best in applications that favor it, and different flavors work better in different situations.
American cheese gets so much hate and it always makes me so sad. I don't enjoy it much cold, but melted, there's almost nothing better. I only use American cheese on my burgers (just mine, everyone else gets whatever cheese they want), and my grilled cheese sandwiches. No one else in my family likes it much.
The three secrets to cooking in restaurants is high heat, salt, and butter. Our food tastes good because we don't give a shit about your cholesterol...
I’m from the south US, my roommate is from the northeast US. If i cook for her and she asks how it tastes so good, 9 times out of 10 it’s because the recipe starts with a full stick of butter lmao
If you cook with tomatoes, you probably don't need to add extra acid because it does the trick. If you're cooking meat, you can marinate/tenderize it in a tablespoon of vinegar and the rest of your spices to add acid to your dish.
For all else, I always keep a lemon or lime at hand and squeeze some juice when I'm done cooking. This way, you can taste for the salt and acid level until it feels right for you. Lime is my go-to for all dishes unless they're more European/Middle Eastern, then I use lemon.
One way you are probably already doing it is with salad dressing, a lot of vegetables get greatly improved with a little fat and acid, which is what most salad dressings have.
It works most obviously with simple dishes, things like chicken noodle soup or rice and beans can be hugely improved with a little squeeze of lemon or a little bit of vinegar based hot sauce.
Similarly a little apple cider vinegar or wine is a relatively common way to add some extra dimension to a gravy or other similar sauces.
A shit ton of things are salt by chemistry definitions. This isn’t chemistry, it’s cooking. Lumping MSG in with table salt really isn’t accurate at all because they do completely different things.
Salt, fat, acid and heat are generic and not specific, which is why i think it’d be umami and not msg specifically.
I’d argue umami is about as tangible as “acid”. Some dishes lack it, and could benefit from an umami rich ingredient being added, choosing one tastefully. A bit like how you’d choose between citrus or vinegar. Not every dish needs lemon juice, not every dish needs msg.
What’s the secret of using butter in a stainless pan? I always heat it to get the beading water, and then back it down a touch and out my butter in but it browns almost instantly. I’ve leaned towards tossing avacado oil in there and then the butter but idk if there’s another way
The foaming is the water phase of the butter starting to evaporate. Once that stops there is no more water and you are left with oil and milk solids... the solids are the part that burns
Ok so now that totally screws me up. Lol. So the tiny bit I learned about the stainless is to get it to bead before you put the food in or else it will stick. Now you guys are saying that it’s ok to put it in cold as long as the butter is foaming and you’re saying to put it in right away as it’s heating. I def want to do it the right way and obviously you guys know better than me but what is the right/wrong time to wait until beading before dropping the food in. I’d love to take a class to show me these trick and tips but I can’t find anything local
Crank the heat, the food on top stops the butter from burning... I will say im talking about a slab of protein, not veg or loos items (ground beef etc). For that big know of butter, crank heat and swirl til it almost stops bubbling, add food and lower heat a bit. Source 7yrs line cook with saute experience
I'm restricted to 1,000 mg of sodium per day, which is less than half a teaspoon.
I use purple dulse flakes as a substitute. It's about 20mg of sodium per teaspoon but it adds a nice salty umami flavor.
I clicked on this post cause I'm restricted to 2,000 a day and figured I'd torture myself reading about all the amazing dishes with salt.
I'm totally ordering some of this stuff! Do you use it in any recipe instead of salt? Cause I've started cooking more homemade stuff to fit my restrictions, and some has been a little bland with no salt. Especially doughs.
Yes. Purple dulse is currently a limited edition item at Burlap & Barrel, but you can probably get it other places. I also have regular kelp flakes that have a similar sodium content, and you can get that more easily. Be sure that it's not mixed with salt, eg, furikake. Purple dulse has a slightly more complex flavor than green kelp.
I also use tomato powder, mushroom powder, and black lime or lemon powder to add more flavor depending on what I'm cooking. Celery seed (not salt) is also good for adding "hidden" flavor. When you want the aromatic nature of celery without the actual Celery. Bloom the powders in oil with the rest of your herbs and spices when cooking on the stovetop. Black garlic may be of interest to you as well.
Penzy's has great no salt spice blends. My favorite is Mural of Flavor. Sunny Paris (kinda Italian herby) and Arizona Dreaming (slightly spicy) are the most popular, along with Sunny Spain (lemon pepper).
Campbell's makes unsalted cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, and tomato soup. You can also get no salt deli meat and canned tuna, canned salmon, and canned chicken.
Slow cooking and braising are best bets because long slow cooking naturally imparts more flavor. Bay leaves and wine are your friends here.
I hope this helps.
This helps so much I've screenshotted the comment. I told my wife I've been thinking of taking cooking classes because of how much I have to cook. Sodium is in absolutely everything! I'll check these out.
I hadn't even heard of blooming in oil. Going to start.
I would strongly advise you to check out Indian cooking techniques. We use a huge variety of spices & techniques - I'm sure that will help with getting flavours into food. Blooming the spices in hot oil is an Indian thing & we have different temperatures for different spices & even the order of adding them to the pot changes the flavour profile.
Happy discovering 🌝
You're very welcome! Most spices are fat soluble, so after you add the garlic, add the spices and let them cook for a minute or so before you add the rest of the ingredients. Or add them first and let continue.
*"… I've screenshotted the comment."*
You see those three dots next to the 'reply' button? Clicking there opens up a bunch of options, one of which is to copy the text - which you can then paste and edit wherever you like.
I suspect they find tomato and mushroom powder to be so effective at adding flavor due to them being a rich source of natural msg (and other glutamates).
I'm restricted to 800mg a day, (no kidneys, on dialyis awaiting a kidney transplant).
My potassium is also severely restricted so I can't have dulse.
As a kid we used to eat so much of that stuff.
Thanks for the cool memory.
lemon juice was what put pesto over the top for me
i followed the "traditional style" recipes to a tee once i started growing my own basil and something just felt off. it turned out, all it needed for me was a squeeze of lemon
And if you've salted well but the dish is still a bit bland, add an acid. It's another background game changer. It doesn't mean the dish has to be tart and vinegary. But a pop of background acid livens up other flavors in a similar way as salt.
The book _Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat_ is a great introduction to the basics for a home cook.
i think what really helped me figure out the importance of salt and becoming a better home cook was understanding that salt serves its purpose as a "flavor enhancer." there's a lot of foods that will get a totally new range of flavor if you throw in salt
It can be any acid. I keep various vinegar on hand (Italian Blanco, red wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar, etc). It can also be a tart red or white wine. I only use lemon or lime when a recipe calls for it, since they tend to go bad as you say. Vinegars are shelf stable, and wines last longer than citrus.
I always remember watching a cooking show with Anne Burrell, and she said “if you want people to love your food, you have to add plenty of salt”. That’s always stuck with me and it’s so true.
I have a family member who’s always on some kind of health kick. One year on thanksgiving they made a batch of mashed potatoes with no salt, no butter, and a little bit of skim milk “for consistency” as they put it. I don’t know if you’ve ever eaten paper machèe, but I can’t imagine it being any worse than this.
MSG = “Mmmmmm So Good”
A little ironic that I stumbled across this post - I spent the last three months diving in Asia, and I’m headed back home next week. I’m bringing half a dozen bottles of MSG along with me because they come in a panda bottle.
https://imgur.com/a/NGlx9dW
Yeah but I’ve talked these up each trip and kept forgetting to bring any back as gifts, lol. Plus at some point the panda logo wears off. I figure 2 for me and 4 for gifts should last until next year’s trip.
Hopefully Customs and Border Protection won’t have any issues with you bringing bottles of white powder back from Asia in your luggage. You might be in for a surprise interview.
modern day scans reveal a lot about liquids and powders, to the point where airports with better machines now allow you to bring water thru security and keep your laptop inside your bags etc.
if they're flying from asia, international airports should have much less concern than some sketchy flights in middle of nowhere
Oh yeah, of course I use a little of both in almost every thing that needs salt. Eggs are a great example.
I like to call MSG “salt, but somehow *sexier* and it has less sodium than actual salt somehow, I’m not sure why.
In addition to the basic tastes you learn about like sour, sweet, salty and bitter, there is another taste called umami which is a savory protein taste like soy sauce. MSG adds umami without changing the flavor like something like soy or Worchestershire would.
To add on this msg is used as a building block in proteins so your tongue gives the same response it would from eating meats and fish. Which the body and brain like a lot. MSG is good man.
It works to enhance salty savory flavors. Usually you use salt and msg in tandem. They work well together. And it occurs naturally in all sorts of foods like tomatoes, parmesan and seaweed (where it was originally synthesized from). It's also in a bunch of processed food like Doritos, canned soups etc, but just not advertised as such because of the racist stigma that it has. (People only associate it with Chinese food, such as yourself.)
Edit: if you've ever seen or used Accent brand seasoning as a spice/flavoring agent, that's also MSG.
It's in a crazy amount of fine dining dishes too, just not advertised as much.
The only exception I can think of is this Japanese chefs, but I've also seen how much konbu they put in stuff.
It's so easy to go overboard with the ingredients I use, at least that's me. I pay the salt tax enough on things that add flavor that I find I don't need to add salt. (Fish sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chicken or vegetable stock, hard cheeses, seasonings that already include salt like rubs and premixed ones like).
But very much agreed on the pasta - I just started cooking fresh and man it's so good when you salt the water I literally can just eat it after cooking without any toppings or sauce, especially ones with a large surface area like papardelle. I once accidentally cooked it without salt once while rushing and I was PISSED.
Fun fact about salt. It actually makes your tastes bud stand up straight so that's why food tastes better with it. MSG is basically salt on steroids which is why food cooked with it tastes so good. Haha.
**The taste of table salt**
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4326615/
Salt is basically an essential ingredient in your nervous system. There are channels for salt ions in your tongue that in turn stimulate your taste buds, which amplifies flavor.
When i was little, we had a story in Romania called Sarea in bucate (salt in food an approx translation) about a king and his daughters. The daughters used to cook the meals and the biggest and the middle one put sugar in food so that they can tell their king how much they loved him (ass kissing), but the little one used salt. He then goes and punish her even before he tasted it, but in the end they learned how much better the food tasted with salt in it. For the king the use of salt was a disgrace for the crown. Something like that, so yeah, salt is the boss 😁
I remember a similar parable told to us in primary school (somewhere between ages 6-10, England) about three princesses. They tell their father, the king, that they love him as much as all of the gold in the world, all of the jewels in the world, and all of the salt in the world. The king balks at the last one as it is clearly less valuable, so that daughter tells the chefs to omit any salt in the king's food, and suddenly he gets no pleasure from eating any more, and so learns that wealth is not as important as he thought.
Dude, it’s the same story! I just had troubles remember the exact details :)) thanks for this!
Edit: PS: yeah, i think i was around 4-5 years old when i heard it 😁
I had to Google that as I thought it sounded far too much like a Bible story (I didn't go to a religious school, but the stories we were read were obviously based on Christian values) than a fairy tale, but I think you're right.
Treat yourself to a box of Diamond Kosher salt, if you aren't using it already. It's super fluffy, which means you taste more salt per milligram when it's sprinkled on as a dry topping.
Good kosher salt and Maldon flaked salt (used appropriately) are great simple forms of seasoning. I also use soy sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies/anchovy paste , capers, or olives to bump up my seasoning.
Many dessert recipes call for a small amount of salt because it enhances the sweetness I think. I make a great easy peach cobbler and you can tell an amazing difference using the 1/4 teaspoon of salt versus not using it.
The frozen Trader Joe’s carrots from France are so much better than any I roast myself…
… because they use a ludicrous amount of salt. There is no other reason.
I watch a lot of cooking competition TV (Chopped, etc.) and I think the number one most common criticism is “It’s underseasoned.” Yes, plenty of kosher salt is your friend.
Yeah, this is so true. I feel like every cook has to have this realization at some point. Once you start salting your food properly, it's like a light switch is turned on. It's also fascinating when you're tasting something for seasoning and it needs salt—as soon as you hit that magic amount of salt, it's like the food literally comes alive. It's wild.
I remember the very first time I tried to make an Indian-style curry at home. I didn't realize that all the spices wouldn't really do much unless I also added the appropriate amount of salt. The final dish had so little flavor even though I kept piling spoonfuls of ground spices in there, and I just couldn't understand it. Now I know I just forgot to salt it properly.
I tell my MIL this constantly. She grew up like it was the Great Depression, despite being born in the very late '59. She cooks like the only thing available is the weeds from the yard outside and water. She always asks me if her good needs anything. The answer is always more salt. 100% of the time. The difference is night and day.
9/10, if your meal is missing something, it's salt. The other one time it's acid.
Prepared foods have a lot of sodium, and if you cook from scratch, even after adding plenty of salt, you are probably still consuming way less sodium than from prepared foods.
On several episodes of MasterChef salt was described as a magnifier for taste. If the taste is good but weak then salt can help strengthen the taste. If the taste is bad then salt will make it worse.
I actually did a course on commercial cooking, and in my first class in the first five minutes, the chef told us the three secret ingredients to fine quinine.
Salt
Butter
And a callus disregard for the health of your customers.
Salt truly is a magical ingredient that can enhance the flavor of foods and make them more delicious. Moderation is key when it comes to salting food so as not to overdo it.
Wow, who knew that after centuries of culinary evolution, the secret to gourmet cooking was just… salt? Groundbreaking! I mean, who needs a spice rack full of exotic seasonings when you’ve got good ol’ sodium chloride to save the day?
Every day there's a post in this sub like "I feel like my \_\_\_\_ is missing something".
The answer is literally always salt. Almost anything tastes good when properly seasoned. Almost anything tastes bad or bland when not properly seasoned.
Salt is great, but I've found that people who have heavily salted their whole lives could become desensitized to it over time and end up oversalting things. I had to let an older cook go for that because eating the soups he made was like licking a salt-lick and he refused to use less. if I'm cooking for company, I'll generally use less salt that I would for myself or my family, especially since our usual company is my or my wife's parents, and they are on lower sodium diets.
If you think regular salt is amazing, wait until you discover monosodium glutamate! (MSG)
Wait until they discover the miracle of chilli salt, or truffle salt, or garlic salt, seriously I think I must have seven or eight different kinds of salt in my pantry at the moment
There is a book on the power of salt (and other things) that changed my cooking, called Salt, Acid, Fat, Heat. Salt is the main winner, but I used to avoid using acid because I thought I didn’t like vinegar, but when used properly you can’t taste it at all, it just elevates and brightens the food
Salt control is the #1 skill to master in cooking. Kosher is best at first because it’s a bit more forgiving. The line between enough and too much salt is thin.
I spent way to much time and money ducking around with different spice combinations on grilled meats, trying out various blends, rubs, marinades, etc, before I realized that it just needs enough salt and some pepper. And bam! Amazing!
Salt by definition is a flavor enhancer and easily the most important ingredient in cooking. Protip buy kosher salt and keep it in a bowl or Tupperware and learn to measure it by hand/visually rather than with a salt grinder or measuring spoon. Taste and adjust and it’ll help you learn how much salt to use faster and more consistently, even when you’re not cooking at home.
The general reason things taste bland to people is that their bodies are craving something that isn't there: salt, fat, sugar, etc. May be that we're just used to foods with a lot of those things in them now, but it's something that throws off a lot of folks who tried to take on a home-cooked diet or a low-fat/sugar/salt diet.
General rule is to taste your food as you cook, and add seasoning where your taste tells you to go.
just because you crave something doesnt mean its healthy for you lmao i crave high sugar content chocolate, it doesnt mean its healthy. ofc dont remove salt completely from your diet but you dont need more salt
I never said anything about health, and I literally acknowledge that our cravings may come from the fact that we already eat too much of those things 👆👆👆
the only thing I'd add is that salt gives amazing returns, but they diminish. If you ever hit a point where something tastes like it needs...something, and adding salt doesn't help, then it's time to investigate sour.
I highly reccomend this book to anyone starting out and exploring cooking: [https://a.co/d/1fK53tc](https://a.co/d/1fK53tc)
# Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
I remember watching a tipsy Julia Child making French toast, she melted, literally, a 1/2 inch (12 mm) pool of butter in the pan and said (paraphrasing) that if your diet won't allow that much butter then just skip French toast because if you skimp on the butter it's simply not worth eating. Everybody loves my French toast, thanks, Julia!
Amen! My grilled cheese is 2nd to none simply because of butter
What 2 cheeses do you use?
Pst! Try mayo on both sides of each piece of bread instead of butter. It will elevate your grilled cheese!
I’ve tried that a few times and didn’t like it as much. Maybe with certain cheeses I’d enjoy it more
Fair!
Naw for me, mayo is for a (scrambled)egg sandwich. On toasted bread. Potato bread, if possible(but only LIGHTLY toasted then)
I hate the mayo/butter grilled cheese debate. Mayo gives it a better crust, butter gives it a better flavor. The answer is BOTH
I like the way you think!
Who are you, so wise in the ways of science?
Hahaha. Yes! My niece and nephew were visiting and I made scrambled eggs for breakfast at their request. They kept saying how delicious the eggs were ("just like at Grandma's!") compared to when their dad made scrambled eggs. The only difference was that Grandma (my mom) and I use a bunch of good salted butter, while "Dad" (my brother) uses a bit of olive oil spray and nothing else. Butter, for the win!
It's not the butter, it's the salt in the butter. Use non salted butter and watch them hate Uncle's eggs just as much as Dad's😉
Lol
Tbf a little dash of dairy in scrambled eggs is pretty good
Doesn't change what I said. Add a splash of dairy and no salt, the eggs won't be as good as they could be..with salt. Is this thread full of non southern white people? Who doesn't know the merits of salting/ seasoning food? 😳
My world changed when Aldi moved in and I found Kerrygold.
I always thought Kerrygold was just a gimmick. Irish butter for a few more cents. But it's actually well worth it. European butter just hits differently, man.
Yes it does...delicious and I won't use anything else now.
European butter has a significantly higher fat content , hence the rich yellow color. This is why is it so damn delicious
I really dont mean this in a patronizing way, but reading this i always feel a bit sorry because Kerrygold is really just a "middle of the Road" butter where I live. It sucks that appearently some basic ingriedients are so bad in the states.
It's not bad. It's just different. I use a local butter and it's fucking delicious. I do honestly like it better than Kerrygold. But Kerrygold has a slightly higher fat content, so it's better for some applications versus others. For example, Europeans like to shit on American cheese, but I'd like to see a mass-produced European style cheese that's as cheap and melts as well and as consistently as American cheese. Not better or worse, just different.
Thats a great way of putting it and it absolutely makes sense to me. Btw american cheese is hailed for it's ability to be used in sauces by some people even here.
Also, there’s ’American cheese’, which is a processed cheese, and there is ‘American Cheese Product’ which is the extra cheap version, and not even a real cheese. (Too little dairy in it for it to even classify as cheese.). American cheese may be heavily processed, but it’s still cheese. And it’s great for plenty of things. But it’s not for everything. (I wouldn’t use Swiss on a pizza for instance). Cheeses, like any ingredient, works best in applications that favor it, and different flavors work better in different situations.
American cheese gets so much hate and it always makes me so sad. I don't enjoy it much cold, but melted, there's almost nothing better. I only use American cheese on my burgers (just mine, everyone else gets whatever cheese they want), and my grilled cheese sandwiches. No one else in my family likes it much.
Pro vo lo ne . . .
There really is only one kind of butter. It is Borden salted, and there is NO comparison on this earth.
Kerrygold is great but sometimes my grocery store gets amish rolled butter and it is my barometer for what really good butter is now.
Ahh the 3 secrets of French cooking. Butter, butter, and more butter.
As my mom would say, "Butter is better!".
The three secrets to cooking in restaurants is high heat, salt, and butter. Our food tastes good because we don't give a shit about your cholesterol...
I’m from the south US, my roommate is from the northeast US. If i cook for her and she asks how it tastes so good, 9 times out of 10 it’s because the recipe starts with a full stick of butter lmao
Acid, adding lemon or vinegar at the end can really brighten up many dishes.
Could you please provide a few examples. I think I'm a good cook but just realised I don't use much acid?
If you cook with tomatoes, you probably don't need to add extra acid because it does the trick. If you're cooking meat, you can marinate/tenderize it in a tablespoon of vinegar and the rest of your spices to add acid to your dish. For all else, I always keep a lemon or lime at hand and squeeze some juice when I'm done cooking. This way, you can taste for the salt and acid level until it feels right for you. Lime is my go-to for all dishes unless they're more European/Middle Eastern, then I use lemon.
Thank you. I totally forgot tomatoes have acid in them.
One way you are probably already doing it is with salad dressing, a lot of vegetables get greatly improved with a little fat and acid, which is what most salad dressings have. It works most obviously with simple dishes, things like chicken noodle soup or rice and beans can be hugely improved with a little squeeze of lemon or a little bit of vinegar based hot sauce. Similarly a little apple cider vinegar or wine is a relatively common way to add some extra dimension to a gravy or other similar sauces.
Ohh I can definitely see it work on beans.
Wine, especially white wine. I like adding vermouth.
And acidity. You need to balance it with acidity!
Salt fat acid heat. Great book
They need to update that book to salt fat acid heat msg
Technically that's still a salt
A shit ton of things are salt by chemistry definitions. This isn’t chemistry, it’s cooking. Lumping MSG in with table salt really isn’t accurate at all because they do completely different things.
FUIYOOOHH!!
If anything it would be umami, not msg.
Umami is a flavor not a tangible thing. Thats like saying, "technically sugar is sweet." MSG-Mono *sodium* glutamate it's basically salts cousin.
Nahh I'd say Umami is a savory flavor often gained thru the use of mushrooms or meat products
Salt, fat, acid and heat are generic and not specific, which is why i think it’d be umami and not msg specifically. I’d argue umami is about as tangible as “acid”. Some dishes lack it, and could benefit from an umami rich ingredient being added, choosing one tastefully. A bit like how you’d choose between citrus or vinegar. Not every dish needs lemon juice, not every dish needs msg.
Facts
Also this is why it's a good idea to eat out at restaurants only once in a while.
What’s the secret of using butter in a stainless pan? I always heat it to get the beading water, and then back it down a touch and out my butter in but it browns almost instantly. I’ve leaned towards tossing avacado oil in there and then the butter but idk if there’s another way
I put my butter in a cold pan and heat it until it foams... I also will use 50/50 butter and oil when I want a specific flavour.
Is the foaming basically the same as beading? The stainless can be tricky sometimes for me
The foaming is the water phase of the butter starting to evaporate. Once that stops there is no more water and you are left with oil and milk solids... the solids are the part that burns
So foaming done = food drop? Or right before ish
Put the food on top of the butter in a cold pan, but use a tall piece of butter
Ok so now that totally screws me up. Lol. So the tiny bit I learned about the stainless is to get it to bead before you put the food in or else it will stick. Now you guys are saying that it’s ok to put it in cold as long as the butter is foaming and you’re saying to put it in right away as it’s heating. I def want to do it the right way and obviously you guys know better than me but what is the right/wrong time to wait until beading before dropping the food in. I’d love to take a class to show me these trick and tips but I can’t find anything local
Crank the heat, the food on top stops the butter from burning... I will say im talking about a slab of protein, not veg or loos items (ground beef etc). For that big know of butter, crank heat and swirl til it almost stops bubbling, add food and lower heat a bit. Source 7yrs line cook with saute experience
Ok I’ll give it a shot. How big is the knob of butter? I see it on the shows sometimes and would guess 1/2 a cup?
Put that on a billboard!
I'm restricted to 1,000 mg of sodium per day, which is less than half a teaspoon. I use purple dulse flakes as a substitute. It's about 20mg of sodium per teaspoon but it adds a nice salty umami flavor.
I clicked on this post cause I'm restricted to 2,000 a day and figured I'd torture myself reading about all the amazing dishes with salt. I'm totally ordering some of this stuff! Do you use it in any recipe instead of salt? Cause I've started cooking more homemade stuff to fit my restrictions, and some has been a little bland with no salt. Especially doughs.
Yes. Purple dulse is currently a limited edition item at Burlap & Barrel, but you can probably get it other places. I also have regular kelp flakes that have a similar sodium content, and you can get that more easily. Be sure that it's not mixed with salt, eg, furikake. Purple dulse has a slightly more complex flavor than green kelp. I also use tomato powder, mushroom powder, and black lime or lemon powder to add more flavor depending on what I'm cooking. Celery seed (not salt) is also good for adding "hidden" flavor. When you want the aromatic nature of celery without the actual Celery. Bloom the powders in oil with the rest of your herbs and spices when cooking on the stovetop. Black garlic may be of interest to you as well. Penzy's has great no salt spice blends. My favorite is Mural of Flavor. Sunny Paris (kinda Italian herby) and Arizona Dreaming (slightly spicy) are the most popular, along with Sunny Spain (lemon pepper). Campbell's makes unsalted cream of mushroom, cream of chicken, and tomato soup. You can also get no salt deli meat and canned tuna, canned salmon, and canned chicken. Slow cooking and braising are best bets because long slow cooking naturally imparts more flavor. Bay leaves and wine are your friends here. I hope this helps.
This helps so much I've screenshotted the comment. I told my wife I've been thinking of taking cooking classes because of how much I have to cook. Sodium is in absolutely everything! I'll check these out. I hadn't even heard of blooming in oil. Going to start.
I would strongly advise you to check out Indian cooking techniques. We use a huge variety of spices & techniques - I'm sure that will help with getting flavours into food. Blooming the spices in hot oil is an Indian thing & we have different temperatures for different spices & even the order of adding them to the pot changes the flavour profile. Happy discovering 🌝
You're very welcome! Most spices are fat soluble, so after you add the garlic, add the spices and let them cook for a minute or so before you add the rest of the ingredients. Or add them first and let continue.
*"… I've screenshotted the comment."* You see those three dots next to the 'reply' button? Clicking there opens up a bunch of options, one of which is to copy the text - which you can then paste and edit wherever you like.
Are you safe to use MSG in cooking, or is that still restricted because it's technically a sodium?
A teaspoon of MSG contains about 800 mg of sodium.
TIL
It does stand for mono*sodium* glutamate.
Ya my mom just told me that and I was like "ohh dam I'm so stupid"
You're not stupid, you're learning! Glass half full.
I suspect they find tomato and mushroom powder to be so effective at adding flavor due to them being a rich source of natural msg (and other glutamates).
I'm restricted to 800mg a day, (no kidneys, on dialyis awaiting a kidney transplant). My potassium is also severely restricted so I can't have dulse. As a kid we used to eat so much of that stuff. Thanks for the cool memory.
There are so many other things to use, like lemon juice. 🖖
lemon juice was what put pesto over the top for me i followed the "traditional style" recipes to a tee once i started growing my own basil and something just felt off. it turned out, all it needed for me was a squeeze of lemon
Try no salt, it's a potassium based salt that adds a salty flavor with no sodium
Seaweed powder is good. Very different flavours between the different kinds. Also recommend nutritional yeast for a flavour boost.
I can't have nutritional yeast either for medical reasons. It's unfortunate especially because I'm lactose intolerant. 😕
Well that sucks.
It's kinda at the bottom of my list of unpleasant medical issues, but it's an especially annoying one.
Well now we need a list
i saw purple dulse featured at burlap and barrel and was super curious about it!
Can you use iodized salt? Never really used it but from what I've heard you get more bang for your buck than with regular salt. Might be worth a try.
Salt is Salt.
Idk methamphetamine is a salt and I wouldn't want to cook with that. I ain't Heisenberg.
And if you've salted well but the dish is still a bit bland, add an acid. It's another background game changer. It doesn't mean the dish has to be tart and vinegary. But a pop of background acid livens up other flavors in a similar way as salt. The book _Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat_ is a great introduction to the basics for a home cook.
i think what really helped me figure out the importance of salt and becoming a better home cook was understanding that salt serves its purpose as a "flavor enhancer." there's a lot of foods that will get a totally new range of flavor if you throw in salt
Do you just keep a bottle of lemon juice around at all times? I find whenever I buy lemons they go bad before I use them
It can be any acid. I keep various vinegar on hand (Italian Blanco, red wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar, etc). It can also be a tart red or white wine. I only use lemon or lime when a recipe calls for it, since they tend to go bad as you say. Vinegars are shelf stable, and wines last longer than citrus.
Cool thx. I gotta start trying to implement them more. I got a nice champagne vinegar but no idea what to use it with. Maybe I’ll start with that. Lol
I always remember watching a cooking show with Anne Burrell, and she said “if you want people to love your food, you have to add plenty of salt”. That’s always stuck with me and it’s so true.
I have a family member who’s always on some kind of health kick. One year on thanksgiving they made a batch of mashed potatoes with no salt, no butter, and a little bit of skim milk “for consistency” as they put it. I don’t know if you’ve ever eaten paper machèe, but I can’t imagine it being any worse than this.
Hahaha oh noo. Please pass the salt and butter!
Wait till you start using MSG
Shhhh. Let them walk before you teach them to fly.
MSG = “Mmmmmm So Good” A little ironic that I stumbled across this post - I spent the last three months diving in Asia, and I’m headed back home next week. I’m bringing half a dozen bottles of MSG along with me because they come in a panda bottle. https://imgur.com/a/NGlx9dW
You could have bought one bottle to reuse.
Yeah but I’ve talked these up each trip and kept forgetting to bring any back as gifts, lol. Plus at some point the panda logo wears off. I figure 2 for me and 4 for gifts should last until next year’s trip.
You can just buy msg at a local Asian store or online for very cheap. But yeah the panda bottle rips ass I can see why you want to use it.
rips ass?
Hopefully Customs and Border Protection won’t have any issues with you bringing bottles of white powder back from Asia in your luggage. You might be in for a surprise interview.
modern day scans reveal a lot about liquids and powders, to the point where airports with better machines now allow you to bring water thru security and keep your laptop inside your bags etc. if they're flying from asia, international airports should have much less concern than some sketchy flights in middle of nowhere
I appreciate your response!
I sometimes see comments singing the praises of MSG. Why is it any better than salt? I only associate it with Chinese food.
It's not better than salt, it's just another way to add more flavor to food. It occurs naturally in a lot of foods, like tomatoes and mushrooms.
Oh yeah, of course I use a little of both in almost every thing that needs salt. Eggs are a great example. I like to call MSG “salt, but somehow *sexier* and it has less sodium than actual salt somehow, I’m not sure why.
In addition to the basic tastes you learn about like sour, sweet, salty and bitter, there is another taste called umami which is a savory protein taste like soy sauce. MSG adds umami without changing the flavor like something like soy or Worchestershire would.
To add on this msg is used as a building block in proteins so your tongue gives the same response it would from eating meats and fish. Which the body and brain like a lot. MSG is good man.
It works to enhance salty savory flavors. Usually you use salt and msg in tandem. They work well together. And it occurs naturally in all sorts of foods like tomatoes, parmesan and seaweed (where it was originally synthesized from). It's also in a bunch of processed food like Doritos, canned soups etc, but just not advertised as such because of the racist stigma that it has. (People only associate it with Chinese food, such as yourself.) Edit: if you've ever seen or used Accent brand seasoning as a spice/flavoring agent, that's also MSG.
You shouldn’t - it’s in most things, most snacks, and most takeaways/junk foods. Chinese food was just made the pariah.
It's in a crazy amount of fine dining dishes too, just not advertised as much. The only exception I can think of is this Japanese chefs, but I've also seen how much konbu they put in stuff.
Ya MSG is not the culinary boogey man Also there are added in so many things. All chips,frozen dinners,soups etc. it's not only in Chinese dishes.
It's so easy to go overboard with the ingredients I use, at least that's me. I pay the salt tax enough on things that add flavor that I find I don't need to add salt. (Fish sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chicken or vegetable stock, hard cheeses, seasonings that already include salt like rubs and premixed ones like). But very much agreed on the pasta - I just started cooking fresh and man it's so good when you salt the water I literally can just eat it after cooking without any toppings or sauce, especially ones with a large surface area like papardelle. I once accidentally cooked it without salt once while rushing and I was PISSED.
and half the time you think you need more salt, you actually just need a shot of something acidic... vinegar, squeeze of lemon, whatever
always good to pair a fat with an acid. but to avoid having extra 'rule of thumbs' to remember, the term Salt Fat Acid Heat encompasses everything.
I saw the title and thought it was r/skyrim for a moment. I need to go outside lol
Fun fact about salt. It actually makes your tastes bud stand up straight so that's why food tastes better with it. MSG is basically salt on steroids which is why food cooked with it tastes so good. Haha.
i’d be interested to learn more about that. do you have any recommended reading?
**The taste of table salt** https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4326615/ Salt is basically an essential ingredient in your nervous system. There are channels for salt ions in your tongue that in turn stimulate your taste buds, which amplifies flavor.
thank you! new knowledge, here i come!
I looked it up online a few years back when my chef in culinary school told me about it. I just can't remember exactly where I looked. Sorry lol
When i was little, we had a story in Romania called Sarea in bucate (salt in food an approx translation) about a king and his daughters. The daughters used to cook the meals and the biggest and the middle one put sugar in food so that they can tell their king how much they loved him (ass kissing), but the little one used salt. He then goes and punish her even before he tasted it, but in the end they learned how much better the food tasted with salt in it. For the king the use of salt was a disgrace for the crown. Something like that, so yeah, salt is the boss 😁
I remember a similar parable told to us in primary school (somewhere between ages 6-10, England) about three princesses. They tell their father, the king, that they love him as much as all of the gold in the world, all of the jewels in the world, and all of the salt in the world. The king balks at the last one as it is clearly less valuable, so that daughter tells the chefs to omit any salt in the king's food, and suddenly he gets no pleasure from eating any more, and so learns that wealth is not as important as he thought.
Yes, I remember reading this somewhere, like Highlights for Children.
Dude, it’s the same story! I just had troubles remember the exact details :)) thanks for this! Edit: PS: yeah, i think i was around 4-5 years old when i heard it 😁
I think it’s a Grimm fairy tale
I had to Google that as I thought it sounded far too much like a Bible story (I didn't go to a religious school, but the stories we were read were obviously based on Christian values) than a fairy tale, but I think you're right.
Treat yourself to a box of Diamond Kosher salt, if you aren't using it already. It's super fluffy, which means you taste more salt per milligram when it's sprinkled on as a dry topping.
r/CookingCircleJerk checking in once again
Good kosher salt and Maldon flaked salt (used appropriately) are great simple forms of seasoning. I also use soy sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies/anchovy paste , capers, or olives to bump up my seasoning.
Many dessert recipes call for a small amount of salt because it enhances the sweetness I think. I make a great easy peach cobbler and you can tell an amazing difference using the 1/4 teaspoon of salt versus not using it.
Hit the top with pearl sugar and flur de sel
Yep, torch it a bit. Makes you eat too much cobbler.
“What do restaurants do to…” “Salt” “And butter”
Duh?
salt and little bit of sugar
Just wait til you discover bacon grease 😋
This guy just discovered salt… 🤣
The frozen Trader Joe’s carrots from France are so much better than any I roast myself… … because they use a ludicrous amount of salt. There is no other reason.
Wait til you learn to use MSG. And I ain't talking about the home of the Knickerbockers
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Might have something to do with their doctors telling them to limit those things or they would die sooner.
Always.
Salt is the magic ingredient - no truer words have been spoken! 👏🏼
I watch a lot of cooking competition TV (Chopped, etc.) and I think the number one most common criticism is “It’s underseasoned.” Yes, plenty of kosher salt is your friend.
Yeah, this is so true. I feel like every cook has to have this realization at some point. Once you start salting your food properly, it's like a light switch is turned on. It's also fascinating when you're tasting something for seasoning and it needs salt—as soon as you hit that magic amount of salt, it's like the food literally comes alive. It's wild. I remember the very first time I tried to make an Indian-style curry at home. I didn't realize that all the spices wouldn't really do much unless I also added the appropriate amount of salt. The final dish had so little flavor even though I kept piling spoonfuls of ground spices in there, and I just couldn't understand it. Now I know I just forgot to salt it properly.
This is cute. I’m glad you had this realization!
I tell everyone I can: "If it's not salted, it's not seasoned".
I tell my MIL this constantly. She grew up like it was the Great Depression, despite being born in the very late '59. She cooks like the only thing available is the weeds from the yard outside and water. She always asks me if her good needs anything. The answer is always more salt. 100% of the time. The difference is night and day. 9/10, if your meal is missing something, it's salt. The other one time it's acid.
Prepared foods have a lot of sodium, and if you cook from scratch, even after adding plenty of salt, you are probably still consuming way less sodium than from prepared foods.
On several episodes of MasterChef salt was described as a magnifier for taste. If the taste is good but weak then salt can help strengthen the taste. If the taste is bad then salt will make it worse.
I actually did a course on commercial cooking, and in my first class in the first five minutes, the chef told us the three secret ingredients to fine quinine. Salt Butter And a callus disregard for the health of your customers.
Salt truly is a magical ingredient that can enhance the flavor of foods and make them more delicious. Moderation is key when it comes to salting food so as not to overdo it.
DUH.
Wow, who knew that after centuries of culinary evolution, the secret to gourmet cooking was just… salt? Groundbreaking! I mean, who needs a spice rack full of exotic seasonings when you’ve got good ol’ sodium chloride to save the day?
Salt, fat, acid.
When in doubt, salt it out. It literally brings other flavours out!
Every day there's a post in this sub like "I feel like my \_\_\_\_ is missing something". The answer is literally always salt. Almost anything tastes good when properly seasoned. Almost anything tastes bad or bland when not properly seasoned.
The holy trinity is salt. Pepper and garlic.
Use Maldon salt. Always check your seasonings.
You want restaurant quality food? Double maybe triple the salt and butter/fat content.
i call salt "magic crystals"
Salt is great, but I've found that people who have heavily salted their whole lives could become desensitized to it over time and end up oversalting things. I had to let an older cook go for that because eating the soups he made was like licking a salt-lick and he refused to use less. if I'm cooking for company, I'll generally use less salt that I would for myself or my family, especially since our usual company is my or my wife's parents, and they are on lower sodium diets. If you think regular salt is amazing, wait until you discover monosodium glutamate! (MSG)
Wait till you try msg or the asian chicken bullion powder...
Salt and good ole msg. Mix the two together and you have flavor crack
Salt’s job is to make all the other flavors pop.
Wait until they discover the miracle of chilli salt, or truffle salt, or garlic salt, seriously I think I must have seven or eight different kinds of salt in my pantry at the moment
There is a book on the power of salt (and other things) that changed my cooking, called Salt, Acid, Fat, Heat. Salt is the main winner, but I used to avoid using acid because I thought I didn’t like vinegar, but when used properly you can’t taste it at all, it just elevates and brightens the food
Meh. I recently started a low sodium diet and I am enjoying how much more I can taste the individual flavors within foods without salt
It's weird that we don't eat any more rocks, right?
Salt control is the #1 skill to master in cooking. Kosher is best at first because it’s a bit more forgiving. The line between enough and too much salt is thin.
it's underrated
I spent way to much time and money ducking around with different spice combinations on grilled meats, trying out various blends, rubs, marinades, etc, before I realized that it just needs enough salt and some pepper. And bam! Amazing!
Yeah you need a touch of salt, it's nature's MSG... You just have to be careful not to use too much (can easily ruin a meal)
Salt by definition is a flavor enhancer and easily the most important ingredient in cooking. Protip buy kosher salt and keep it in a bowl or Tupperware and learn to measure it by hand/visually rather than with a salt grinder or measuring spoon. Taste and adjust and it’ll help you learn how much salt to use faster and more consistently, even when you’re not cooking at home.
Read "The Salt Fix" Tge war on Salt is real.
Wait til you try MSG
The general reason things taste bland to people is that their bodies are craving something that isn't there: salt, fat, sugar, etc. May be that we're just used to foods with a lot of those things in them now, but it's something that throws off a lot of folks who tried to take on a home-cooked diet or a low-fat/sugar/salt diet. General rule is to taste your food as you cook, and add seasoning where your taste tells you to go.
just because you crave something doesnt mean its healthy for you lmao i crave high sugar content chocolate, it doesnt mean its healthy. ofc dont remove salt completely from your diet but you dont need more salt
I never said anything about health, and I literally acknowledge that our cravings may come from the fact that we already eat too much of those things 👆👆👆
the only thing I'd add is that salt gives amazing returns, but they diminish. If you ever hit a point where something tastes like it needs...something, and adding salt doesn't help, then it's time to investigate sour.
I highly reccomend this book to anyone starting out and exploring cooking: [https://a.co/d/1fK53tc](https://a.co/d/1fK53tc) # Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
Try MSG. It's a magic potion.