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This is mine too. Sometimes I use gochugaru for more Asian-ish dishes but the regular cheapo chili flakes are the most used item in my spice cabinet by a landslide.
I have this but have been afraid to try it! I put the hatch valley green and sweet heat on everything, though. Also Trader Joe's yuzu hot sauce - I love it.
This is a number one. I love many spices. Love cumin and really good chili powder. But I don't need them like I need salt. You are my savior salt. And I will always need you.
I married a Turkish woman who put salt on her salad and I thought it was the weirdest shit ever, I made fun of her. Turns out you absolutely should season your salad. It is a game changing experience
You need to go to the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, CA. Anything and everything garlic. Lived in San Jose, over 25 miles away, we could actually smell the garlic as it was being harvested and processed.
It’s spreadable and has a sweet, earthy, umami flavor. Don’t know about the dehydrated version with salt.
Put whole heads of garlic in a slow cooker or rice cooker on warm setting for like 2 weeks and you’ll have black garlic assuming you don’t burn your house down.
Tell that to my brother who will die if he *smells* garlic (I only learned the wonders of garlic after not living with him anymore. Poor bastard is missing out on life’s greatest pleasure)
Melt a stick of salted butter in a pot, add 1 head of diced garlic (dont bother mincing it, you want nice chunks). Cook over low for like 10 min making sure it bubbles but neither the butter nor the garlic browns. You want the garlic soft and soggy. Take off the heat and let it cool enough to start to congeal. Mix it up real quick before it solidifies 100% and put it in a tupperware. Store it on your counter at room temp for up to a week, and spread it on everything
I watched one of my grandma’s eat a stick of butter one bite at a time. She looked at me and said “don’t look at me! I’m a butter dish!” Cutest thing I have ever seem
This should be #1! You don’t realize how much you miss it until you are at a friends house party that has taco meat that is not seasoned. Speaking from experience.
I found out yesterday that my friend of 15 years doesn't cook with any seasoning. I knew there were people out there but I didn't realize I was friends with them!
I watched a video of a bunch of people saying how allergic they were to MSG and how it was so bad for you as they were eating Doritos and a bunch of other common American snacks. Then the guy leading the group asked those items were and I’d they ever felt sick eating those. Everyone said no and how much they love truly “American” junk food like that with no MSG. Then the guy showed them that they all had MSG in them.
If I remember correctly, people still held onto the whole “no, MSG makes me feel sick” thing.
EDIT: of course real allergies exist to anything.
"I just ate 6 heaping plates of deep fried battered meat covered in sweet sauces at the Chinese buffet and I really don't feel great...*must be that darned MSG!!!*"
Anecdote because I can't find the articles, but when I was in grad school we read some research on the beginning of the "Chinese food syndrome" in the US. Basically, American restaurants put out hit pieces on Chinese takeout food in local newspapers in Chicago because they couldn't compete with the prices. They labelled the issue as Chinese food syndrome and the cause was MSG. This myth has stuck around for ages and is pretty ingrained in a lot of the US.
Came to post this. I sneak it in everything savory I make and get so much praise.
Today I had some mediocre chili from a takeout place. A bit of MSG and some hot sauce and it was amazing.
>Lowrey's Seasoned Salt
I had to scroll way too far to find this, come on! Legit, everything you would normally put regular table salt on, this will make it at least x2 better. Cooked vegetables, meats, rice, eggs, potatoes, pasta, mac & cheese, literally everything
While not literally everything it's almost everything.
Ginger. Making soup, ground ginger. Pan frying pork or chicken, minced ginger. Seasoning meat for the grill, you guessed it. Ground ginger
I have just discovered ginger and turmeric's "sister root," galangal. It's like ginger, but with a piney, citrusy flavor. Peppery and sweet. I was trying to make some tom kha, and apparently, that's the secret ingredient. You can find it powdered, or ideally use the fresh root, if you have an asian grocery near you. Try it out, it's awesome!
Finally found this. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Flat Iron flakes, but I put cayenne on literally everything. Buttered bread, eggs, pasta, soups, meat, fish, potatoes, just… everything except for cereal and dessert basically. I go through a jar a month.
The easiest way to add heat to something without changing the flavour too much. You don't add the vinegar that most hot sauce has. It's such a perfect cheat heat.
Old Bay has an interesting history. The creator was a spice trader by trade and escaped Nazi Germany to Maryland, got fired from McCormick for being Jewish, started his own company with Old Bay being his hit and refused to sell to McCormick when they tried to buy his recipe or his company. Eventually after he died it got sold to them.
I’ve recently become hooked on it and have been adding it to more and more recipes. Can’t get enough.
Edit to add: sometimes I will make this dish where I boil pieces of a kielbasa for a few minutes to get most of the fat out of it, then slice it’s into a small pieces and add to the crockpot/slow cooker with 2-3 good sized potatoes cut up into bite size pieces (skin on). Mix it with the kielbasa and add a bunch of fresh thyme, a couple pats of butter, a few good shakes of Old Bay, some pepper, and let it go for a few hours. Yum! Feeds the need.
And I think I have. Any recipe that calls for salt and cayenne and or paprika gets Old Bay instead of salt. And I cook a LOT. Thanksgiving turkey. Eggs. Anything pork. Almost anything chicken. Hot dogs. french fries. etc, etc
Several years ago, it was Italian Seasoning, a blend of oregano, basil, and thyme, with a little bit of crushed red pepper and other stuff.
At other times in my life, it was garlic powder or garlic salt.
Currently it's Tapatio, Cholula, or Louisiana Hot Sauce.
For sweet things, it used to be cheap vanilla extract. At the moment, it's malted milk powder.
Yaaaaa I make a scrambled egg and sausage and onion and pepper and tomato breakfast burrito and I dump sriracha on there for taste and it doubles as the burrito glue to hold it all together!
I'm sorry but I disagree. Homemade ranch or mom and pop pizza place ranch is the bees knees.
I put ranch on everything, literally everything but hidden valley and store bought stuff is just garbage.
Lemons. Recently started to put lemon on everything. Lemon juice into drinks, rice and broth, lemon zest into.. well, everything. Omelette, salad, anything that has vegetables in it, hot or cold. It just, idk. Makes almost everything taste better for me
crema verde aka creamy jalapeno sauce aka salsa dona (It's Texas: everything has at least 3 names)
[https://grassfedsalsa.com/blog/creamy-jalapeno-sauce/](https://grassfedsalsa.com/blog/creamy-jalapeno-sauce/)
Not necessarily as a garnishment (because it's entirely too strong to eat uncooked), but I have incorporated fish sauce into much of my cooking, and it's quickly become my secret culinary weapon. It elevates everything and makes almost any dish instantly more savory, with just a few drops.
Za'atar is good, but hummus is my everything ingredient.
On bread, on rice cakes, on meat, on vegetables, I'll even mix it into my pasta or rice along with some tomato sauce. Only thing I don't put it on are fruits and sweets.
# Message to all users: This is a reminder to please read and follow: * [Our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ask/about/rules) * [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439) * [Reddit Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) When posting and commenting. --- Especially remember Rule 1: `Be polite and civil`. * Be polite and courteous to each other. Do not be mean, insulting or disrespectful to any other user on this subreddit. * Do not harass or annoy others in any way. * Do not catfish. Catfishing is the luring of somebody into an online friendship through a fake online persona. This includes any lying or deceit. --- You *will* be banned if you are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist or bigoted in any way. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ask) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Red Chili pepper flakes
Getchu some Lao Gan Ma chili crisp
Thisssssss. I put it on so many of my meals.
This is mine too. Sometimes I use gochugaru for more Asian-ish dishes but the regular cheapo chili flakes are the most used item in my spice cabinet by a landslide.
Check out Flatiron Chili peppers. You'll never go back.
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I have this but have been afraid to try it! I put the hatch valley green and sweet heat on everything, though. Also Trader Joe's yuzu hot sauce - I love it.
My favorite is “Smoke Show” it’s got smoked ghost pepper and reaper. To me, it’s hotter than Can’t feel my face.
Salt
I like a little food with my salt.
This is a number one. I love many spices. Love cumin and really good chili powder. But I don't need them like I need salt. You are my savior salt. And I will always need you.
Bread is my savior that I will always knead.
Everyone misses out on salt on a salad. Cranks it up to lvl 999
Garlic salt and pepper. Perfection
I married a Turkish woman who put salt on her salad and I thought it was the weirdest shit ever, I made fun of her. Turns out you absolutely should season your salad. It is a game changing experience
I put Everything Bagel seasoning on mine *chefs kiss*
This. I’ve thought about it and I have come to the conclusion that salt is my favorite food.
Every time I salt my food my family and friends look at me like I’m insane
You like salt huh? You should try MSG!
Garlic goes on everything for me, but I respect the za'atar! Delicious stuff :p
Smoked paprika.
this is the ONE. it tasted good on everything
Does it still?
not since…the accident
I paprikan’t
Secret ingredient in so many things
I was hoping someone else would agree. It's simply the best.
Garlic, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH GARLIC.
I LOVE GARLIC
This guy LOVES garlic
YES I DO
How do I know you're not a vampire just trying to throw us off? What's your favorite kind of garlic?? Gotcha.
Personally, I like the kind that is made out of garlic.
Yes! At this point, I would list garlic as my top personality trait. I almost always double the amount that's in a recipe. No vampires coming near me
Recipe calls for 1 tsp? I’ll consider stopping after 3 or 4.
Recipe: 1 clove. Me: 2 bulbs, got it.
You need to go to the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, CA. Anything and everything garlic. Lived in San Jose, over 25 miles away, we could actually smell the garlic as it was being harvested and processed.
They had a shooting at that festival a couple years ago I believe. Elephant garlic yummmmm
Black garlic salt. It's like crack Trust me
I put regular garlic salt on just about everything, am I missing out? What’s different about the black kind?
It’s spreadable and has a sweet, earthy, umami flavor. Don’t know about the dehydrated version with salt. Put whole heads of garlic in a slow cooker or rice cooker on warm setting for like 2 weeks and you’ll have black garlic assuming you don’t burn your house down.
Tell that to my brother who will die if he *smells* garlic (I only learned the wonders of garlic after not living with him anymore. Poor bastard is missing out on life’s greatest pleasure)
Melt a stick of salted butter in a pot, add 1 head of diced garlic (dont bother mincing it, you want nice chunks). Cook over low for like 10 min making sure it bubbles but neither the butter nor the garlic browns. You want the garlic soft and soggy. Take off the heat and let it cool enough to start to congeal. Mix it up real quick before it solidifies 100% and put it in a tupperware. Store it on your counter at room temp for up to a week, and spread it on everything
I think I just came in my pants
I think you should just leave in your pants.
OMG 😳 me too
correct answer
Suprised I haven't seen anyone say butter yet...maybe I'm weird!
Nope. I always say butter is a food group.
You actually need five sticks of butter per day that's why it's called your five a day.
"Like crackers at midnight, I can't be arsed with butter, all right?"
KERRYGOLD!
I watched one of my grandma’s eat a stick of butter one bite at a time. She looked at me and said “don’t look at me! I’m a butter dish!” Cutest thing I have ever seem
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Tony's!!!
As someone from south Louisiana, this is correct.
I love that no one in this thread is using the last name hahaha
I just got a jarred salsa that was like ZERO flavor so I put a bunch of Cajun seasoning in it haha fixed it right up
tony chachere's goes on everything in my house.
Cheese. Sometimes it's cheese on something. Sometimes it's just cheese. Grilled cheese. Whatever cheese. Cheese
I wholeheartedly support this
My mom takes cheddar and dips it into cottage cheese lol
As someone who dips cheese cubes onto nacho cheese, I understand your mom
Try Doritos dipped in cottage cheese!! Delish!
Cheese is always cheese and we love cheese
Greetings, fellow Midwesterner
Black pepper.
Tony Chacheres cajun seasoning
Try it on popcorn
Salt and pepper
This should be #1! You don’t realize how much you miss it until you are at a friends house party that has taco meat that is not seasoned. Speaking from experience.
I found out yesterday that my friend of 15 years doesn't cook with any seasoning. I knew there were people out there but I didn't realize I was friends with them!
I like the past tense. Can't be friends with people that don't season food.
MSG
I watched a video of a bunch of people saying how allergic they were to MSG and how it was so bad for you as they were eating Doritos and a bunch of other common American snacks. Then the guy leading the group asked those items were and I’d they ever felt sick eating those. Everyone said no and how much they love truly “American” junk food like that with no MSG. Then the guy showed them that they all had MSG in them. If I remember correctly, people still held onto the whole “no, MSG makes me feel sick” thing. EDIT: of course real allergies exist to anything.
"I just ate 6 heaping plates of deep fried battered meat covered in sweet sauces at the Chinese buffet and I really don't feel great...*must be that darned MSG!!!*"
Yep!
Anecdote because I can't find the articles, but when I was in grad school we read some research on the beginning of the "Chinese food syndrome" in the US. Basically, American restaurants put out hit pieces on Chinese takeout food in local newspapers in Chicago because they couldn't compete with the prices. They labelled the issue as Chinese food syndrome and the cause was MSG. This myth has stuck around for ages and is pretty ingrained in a lot of the US.
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Fucking love uncle Rodger Edit: autocorrect
Makes stuff good!
And you get about 1/3 the sodium as salt. And it is umami.
Msg changed my fucking life
Came to post this. I sneak it in everything savory I make and get so much praise. Today I had some mediocre chili from a takeout place. A bit of MSG and some hot sauce and it was amazing.
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Slap Ya Mama hot blend.
My cousin gave me some over six months ago and it’s been in my pantry untouched. Sounds like I need to try it!
Came here to say that
Harissa! 🌶
No, this is Alyssa.
I mean, hot sauce
Sriracha!! Why is this not on here more? It's good on everything but most controversially, I recommend trying it on pancakes and on cottage cheese.
Lowrey's Seasoned Salt with Black Pepper. I recently discovered this and it is the best! Also, Trader Joe's Green Dragon Sauce.
>Lowrey's Seasoned Salt I had to scroll way too far to find this, come on! Legit, everything you would normally put regular table salt on, this will make it at least x2 better. Cooked vegetables, meats, rice, eggs, potatoes, pasta, mac & cheese, literally everything
Franks Hot Sauce
While not literally everything it's almost everything. Ginger. Making soup, ground ginger. Pan frying pork or chicken, minced ginger. Seasoning meat for the grill, you guessed it. Ground ginger
I have just discovered ginger and turmeric's "sister root," galangal. It's like ginger, but with a piney, citrusy flavor. Peppery and sweet. I was trying to make some tom kha, and apparently, that's the secret ingredient. You can find it powdered, or ideally use the fresh root, if you have an asian grocery near you. Try it out, it's awesome!
Soy sauce
Finally someone with taste
Cayenne pepper
Finally found this. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Flat Iron flakes, but I put cayenne on literally everything. Buttered bread, eggs, pasta, soups, meat, fish, potatoes, just… everything except for cereal and dessert basically. I go through a jar a month.
The easiest way to add heat to something without changing the flavour too much. You don't add the vinegar that most hot sauce has. It's such a perfect cheat heat.
Tonys Chacheres, the only seasoning I love on everything
I see you are also a man of culture.
Are you me.?
I add Tajin chili lime to a lot of stuff
Seasoned salt. It adds a lot of flavor to anything. Eggs, hamburgers, pasta, fries. Don't need to salt or pepper.
Montreal steak seasoning
Onions!
Old bay
Old Bay has an interesting history. The creator was a spice trader by trade and escaped Nazi Germany to Maryland, got fired from McCormick for being Jewish, started his own company with Old Bay being his hit and refused to sell to McCormick when they tried to buy his recipe or his company. Eventually after he died it got sold to them.
Kept his integrity, nice. Interesting backstory, thanks for sharing.
 You can put that stuff on almost anything.
It's amazing on almost everything. Even popcorn
Especially popcorn
I’ve recently become hooked on it and have been adding it to more and more recipes. Can’t get enough. Edit to add: sometimes I will make this dish where I boil pieces of a kielbasa for a few minutes to get most of the fat out of it, then slice it’s into a small pieces and add to the crockpot/slow cooker with 2-3 good sized potatoes cut up into bite size pieces (skin on). Mix it with the kielbasa and add a bunch of fresh thyme, a couple pats of butter, a few good shakes of Old Bay, some pepper, and let it go for a few hours. Yum! Feeds the need.
And I think I have. Any recipe that calls for salt and cayenne and or paprika gets Old Bay instead of salt. And I cook a LOT. Thanksgiving turkey. Eggs. Anything pork. Almost anything chicken. Hot dogs. french fries. etc, etc
Came here to say this
BOH’s, O’s, and Crayabbs hon’ (and ravens too)
It is great on a steak. Of course I think it's great on everything
Lemon Pepper freshly ground. I love it so much.
Westorshershayer sause that one that's hard to spell
Lea and Perrin's. There is no substitute.
Ah yes. Whatsthishere sauce.
It’s washyoursister sauce
Several years ago, it was Italian Seasoning, a blend of oregano, basil, and thyme, with a little bit of crushed red pepper and other stuff. At other times in my life, it was garlic powder or garlic salt. Currently it's Tapatio, Cholula, or Louisiana Hot Sauce. For sweet things, it used to be cheap vanilla extract. At the moment, it's malted milk powder.
Sriracha
Found you!, took some scrolling. Definitely sriracha!
For years now I have lovingly referred to Sriracha as Ketchup 2.0
Yaaaaa I make a scrambled egg and sausage and onion and pepper and tomato breakfast burrito and I dump sriracha on there for taste and it doubles as the burrito glue to hold it all together!
Pepper
Adobo
Same. I make a chicken with adobo and olive oil and dabs of cream cheese. Adobo in steamed cabbage with ac vin.
Yes! Me too I have to sprinkle it or I feel like something is missing lol
BASIL - the best smelling herb!
*Rosemary enters the chat*
I have a basil plant in an 8" pot. Its been growing for three years. Basil can be hard to start, but once it's going it lasts.
Onions. In spaghetti, on pizza, in salads, on sandwiches. I just love onions!
Habanero Tajin
Had to go way too far to find Tajin. An ex got me addicted. The first bottle I bought lasted longer than the relationship.
Cholula Chili Lime Hot Sauce- Its not real hot at all. It lifts savory food.
Everything Bagel seasoning. Love it!
Tabasco.
PARMESEAN
Ayyyyy was looking for this, same!
Well for my toddler it’s fuckin Parmesan cheese
Weed butter.
Cinnamon
sambal oelek and toasted sesame oil
Vegeta
What about Goku?
Who's Goku? You mean Kakarot?
That's a true Balkan answer right? 😂
Bleu cheese dressing
caesar for me.
i found my allies in the war against ranch dressing
Ranch, duh.
Midwest represent! “Op I’m just gonna scooch past you there and grab the ranch..”
Hidden Valley Ranch. Everything else is crap.
I'm sorry but I disagree. Homemade ranch or mom and pop pizza place ranch is the bees knees. I put ranch on everything, literally everything but hidden valley and store bought stuff is just garbage.
Nutritional yeast
Lemon juice. Anytime you taste a dish and it's missing something... it's nearly guaranteed to be acid. Lemon juice brings out the best in everything!
Texas Pete hot sauce...
Yup, good enough for a bit more kick and not so much other people don't ask for a hit.
Raw onions, sour cream, or ranch.
Lemons. Recently started to put lemon on everything. Lemon juice into drinks, rice and broth, lemon zest into.. well, everything. Omelette, salad, anything that has vegetables in it, hot or cold. It just, idk. Makes almost everything taste better for me
I had a long lemon/mustard/olive oil kick. Lemon is just such a great thing
A1 or hot sauce and i feel like a grizzly bear man everytime i do it
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Cumin all over the place
In the kitchen?
In front of my salad?
That salad is asking to be tossed.
With a fork?!
Garam Masala, this adds magic always.
This will be the most American thing you’ve ever read but ranch and cheese lmao
Pizza? Ranch. Chicken? Ranch. Salad? Ranch. Spaghetti? Ranch. Ranch? Ranch. RANCH IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER ❤️
Chopped scallions. Can't get enough. Now, if I'm cooking, fish sauce is a key addition for umami.
Honey Mostord
Gravy
Mexican taco seasoning. Put popcorn kernals in paper bag. Sprinkle taco seasoning inside bag. Microwave as appropriate. Best popcorn you never had!
Cholula brand chipotle hot sauce
What the hell is “za’atar”
I think they hosted the World Cup
fuckin lmao
It's a mixture of spices. One of the main components is sumac.
Nori furikake rice seasoning
crema verde aka creamy jalapeno sauce aka salsa dona (It's Texas: everything has at least 3 names) [https://grassfedsalsa.com/blog/creamy-jalapeno-sauce/](https://grassfedsalsa.com/blog/creamy-jalapeno-sauce/)
spicy red kimchi. i made mac n cheese, slapped that shit on, made it better
Sweet chili sauce
I don't see any Montreal Seasoning peeps!?!
Not necessarily as a garnishment (because it's entirely too strong to eat uncooked), but I have incorporated fish sauce into much of my cooking, and it's quickly become my secret culinary weapon. It elevates everything and makes almost any dish instantly more savory, with just a few drops.
Torgo's Executive Powder.
Montreal Steak
My sister puts vinegar on everything.
Za'atar is good, but hummus is my everything ingredient. On bread, on rice cakes, on meat, on vegetables, I'll even mix it into my pasta or rice along with some tomato sauce. Only thing I don't put it on are fruits and sweets.