# That one special ingredient you add to the dish **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123 "2017-04-09T17:45:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/21 "2017-04-09T23:41:05Z")
Fish sauce to stews and marinades. Sriracha to most savory things. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/22 "2017-04-10T00:02:47Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > The right ingredient in the right amount. Yes. While I cut to the chase and go straight for the MSG, Vegemite works pretty much in the same way, and has a bit of additional flavors to go with it. It’s supposed to be smeared very lightly on a buttered bun (though I tend to like it thicker than most people.) It’s a wonderful addition to stews and any savory dishes where you desire “meatiness” (umami.) Same deal with the fish sauce. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/23 "2017-04-10T00:07:33Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Interesting. I hate eating parsnips, but I’ll try adding one next time I make chicken soup. Can I throw the parsnip away when the soup’s ready? > > Dill is a given. Parsnip is pretty much standard for my chicken soup. For my vegetable portion, I grew up with carrot, parsnip, and celeriac. It’s pretty much required in any Eastern European chicken soup recipe. I grew up with Polish chicken soup, and that was the usual group of vegetables. Same in my years in Hungary. Sometimes they’d throw kohlrabi and a quarter or half a cabbage head in there, too. Also, for Polish style chicken soup, a few allspice berries was typical. I’m not exactly sure how allspice got into Polish cuisine (and there it is known as “the English spice”), but it’s pretty standard in chicken soup. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/24 "2017-04-10T00:32:51Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > When I make scramble eggs, I put plenty of pepper in, but no salt. I do, however, add parmesan cheese in the last few seconds of cooking. Just gives a little extra dimension to an everyday dish. > > Of course, you can add all sorts of stuff to scrambled eggs (sausage, mushrooms, veggies, whatever), but the parmesan cheese goes well with whatever else is in there. My favorite thing to add to scrambled eggs is sliced olives. The basic green ones with pimentos; save the fancy ones for eating by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/25 "2017-04-10T02:34:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Parsnip is pretty much standard for my chicken soup. For my vegetable portion, I grew up with carrot, parsnip, and celeriac. It’s pretty much required in any Eastern European chicken soup recipe. I grew up with Polish chicken soup, and that was the usual group of vegetables. Same in my years in Hungary. Sometimes they’d throw kohlrabi and a quarter or half a cabbage head in there, too. I’m aware that Hungarians and other Central Europeans do things with COOKED kohlrabi, but the absolute ace thing to do with kohlrabi is to peel it and slice it thin and sprinkle it with sea salt on a platter and have it as a pre-dinner course, with a glass of wine or a cocktail. Even better than radishes. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/26 "2017-04-10T02:38:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Straight-up MSG to appropriate dishes. Or fish sauce. Came here to say fish sauce. A dab’ll do ya but it packs a hell of an umami punch ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/27 "2017-04-10T02:43:33Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Absolutely. It gets mushy anyway. My kids like it, but I usually toss the veg I make the stock with and dice up fresh carrots, celery etc for the final soup. > > One-two parsnips, sliced lengthwise will do for a large stock pot of soup Ah. I put veggies into my stockmaking when I have only a small amount of chicken bits, but most of my stock comes from when I cook chicken once a month for my dogs. I put 5-6 pounds of gizzards, plus chicken thighs or anything else on sale into the stockpot, which makes profoundly chickeny stock, save the stock for the humans and recook the boned chicken with rice and vegetables for the poodles. To make it into soup for the humans I add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic, plus a bay leaf. And parsley and dill later on. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/28 "2017-04-10T02:55:39Z")
i have found there’s no dish that garlic (or more garlic if the recipe already calls for it) doesn’t make better! mc ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/29 "2017-04-10T02:56:13Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Ah. I put veggies into my stockmaking when I have only a small amount of chicken bits, but most of my stock comes from when I cook chicken once a month for my dogs. > > I put 5-6 pounds of gizzards, plus chicken thighs or anything else on sale into the stockpot, which makes profoundly chickeny stock, save the stock for the humans and recook the boned chicken with rice and vegetables for the poodles. > > To make it into soup for the humans I add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic, plus a bay leaf. And parsley and dill later on. My bits of choice for making stock are chicken backs and wings, plus a whole onion, parsnips, smooshed garlic cloves, carrots, celery, bunch of dill, bunch of parsley, whole peppercorn, and salt. Backs and wings give it a lot of gelatin and chicken flavor. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/30 "2017-04-10T02:56:34Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I’m aware that Hungarians and other Central Europeans do things with COOKED kohlrabi, but the absolute ace thing to do with kohlrabi is to peel it and slice it thin and sprinkle it with sea salt on a platter and have it as a pre-dinner course, with a glass of wine or a cocktail. Even better than radishes. Yes, they’re very good raw & sliced thinly. That said, I love a lot of the cooked dishes. One of my favorite is Hungarian stuffed kohlrabi. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/31 "2017-04-10T03:16:43Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I’m aware that Hungarians and other Central Europeans do things with COOKED kohlrabi, but the absolute ace thing to do with kohlrabi is to peel it and slice it thin and sprinkle it with sea salt on a platter and have it as a pre-dinner course, with a glass of wine or a cocktail. Even better than radishes. That is the best. My Hungarian BIL introduced me to that when I was young. Thinly sliced on buttered pumpernickel, with copious salt, is wonderful too. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/32 "2017-04-10T04:22:32Z")
I’ll add olive oil and coarse ground black pepper to almost anything. I’ll drizzle the olive oil on English muffins, bagels, toast, sandwiches, pasta, pizza. Pepper too. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/33 "2017-04-10T08:52:24Z")
Smoked paprika in anything savoury Verjuice instead of vinegar or lemon juice ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/34 "2017-04-10T09:20:40Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Vegemite! > > Really enhances a lot of sauces, chowders, stews, soups, and crockpot/pressure cooker dishes. Adds a lot of that lovely umami flavor, along with a touch of ‘salty beef dripping’ savor. Not a surprise coming from an Aussie I suppose, but I wholeheartedly endorse this. It’s the secret tweak to my bolognaise sauce and mushroom sauce in particular. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/35 "2017-04-10T11:11:05Z")
Vanilla It enhances chocolate (which seems counter-intuitive because of that white+vanilla, black=chocolate thing) and a lot of other things where you don’t expect it. Pepper Mill adds it to pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/36 "2017-04-10T11:20:16Z")
Salt. I drop it almost completely from my cooking. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/37 "2017-04-10T11:40:44Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Vegemite! > > Really enhances a lot of sauces, chowders, stews, soups, and crockpot/pressure cooker dishes. Adds a lot of that lovely umami flavor, along with a touch of ‘salty beef dripping’ savor. Marmite! Then what he said… ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/38 "2017-04-10T12:18:41Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Marmite! > > Then what he said… I save marmite for direct application onto English muffins and sandwiches. It’s too precious to put into a big stew. That’s what my 2.5 kilo bucket of vegemite is for. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/39 "2017-04-10T12:45:02Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Vegemite! > > Really enhances a lot of sauces, chowders, stews, soups, and crockpot/pressure cooker dishes. Adds a lot of that lovely umami flavor, along with a touch of ‘salty beef dripping’ savor. This. I babysat some kids who refused to eat the homemade beef stew because it didn’t taste right. In a sense they were right, they were used to Dinty Moore or the chunky canned soups. I sat and thought about the taste, and figured it out. Hydrolized protein. They use it n the canned goods to boost the flavors, and if you add a tiny amount of vegemite to homemade soups and stews it gives it that hydrolized protein backtaste. Problem solved, they then were willing to eat homemade isntead of canned glop 😃 So I tend to add vegemite to a lot of stuff to boost the umami. And I like a thin schmear on toast - it is really good if you take a thin slice of a good cheddar, a wedge of apple, a spoonful of Major Grey Chutney and you sneak in a tiny schmear of vegemite to the stack. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123/40 "2017-04-10T13:07:05Z")
Andy Taylor learned that the secret ingredient was oregano! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-one-special-ingredient-you-add-to-the-dish/784123.md?page=3)