Most probably you need soy sauce for asian dishes. Luckily there are a bunch of soy types. Maybe you could check out sweet soy sauces, perhaps those have lower sodium content.
I am not referring to soy sauce, I don’t know about gochujang but I have not seen low sodium versions of doubanjiang anywhere, maybe I can’t look around
are you by chance an enterprising individual? it sounds like you’ve stumbled onto an underserved and untapped market: healthier alternatives to traditional base ingredients. i’d be very surprised if there were not methods waiting to be discovered for prepping bean paste, fish sauce, doubanjiang etc in more health-conscious ways. the question is, who can combine culinary expertise, fermentation knowledge, cultural respect and a drive to innovate?
i’d be very surprised if there were not methods waiting to be discovered for prepping bean paste, fish sauce, doubanjiang etc in more health-conscious ways.
i think the problem is all of these pastes are fermented and i at least don’t know how to ferment something without using a lot of salt. even make your own doubanjiang paste will tell you to use a lot of salt to ferment the beans
i don’t know either, but i do know that with the kimchi and kombucha trend train taking over the west, learning about fermentation should be much more accessible. maybe there are some creative alternative prep methods, like pairing less salt with celery juice, or even seaweed - or starting with leftover whey/brine from a previous fermentation. if i were you i’d try a deep focused dive on fermentation methods around the world and experiment. hope you figure something out and when you do, brand it and revolutionize cuisine!
Just wanted to note that Indian cuisine is as varied as cuisines from China or many other countries. My wife is Goan, and her family loves meat, especially pork. Their dinners are very meat or fish centric.
Korean cuisine tends to be salty, hot, sour and/or sweet. Something like jjimdak is primarily salty and sweet, maybe with a bit of heat. Kimchi is of course sour and hot.
Keep in mind, those Ninja things have whacky blades, but they differ. One is a “processor” blade, and another is a “blender” blade. I’d venture a guess this is just processed.
Anyway, to your point: the secret to sauces is sifting and filtering. It’s kind of a quick 3 step process:
marinate
heat (heating is somewhat optional in some cases)
blend
sift/filter
If you want a smoother sauce like you’d find in a bottled product, you have a few different ways to go to finish:
What’s the real difference between a cheese cloth and an old worn out tee shirt? I keep a bunch for mostly lint free free rags when etching circuit boards and soldering. I might try that.
Cheesecloth has different weave tightness grades, is not dyed, and I guess I would call it food safe. Couldn’t speak to what kind of material any given tshirts could be made of and say the same I guess.
If alterations are allowed, fried rice is better with old rice. I think leftover mac & cheese fried with some garlic salt is better than fresh.
There are some desserts I make that need to be chilled for a few hours, those are mostly better after a few days and the porous parts can spend time absorbing flavor.
Very recently learned this after wondering why my fried rice was coming out so clumpy and mushy. It needs to sit in a fridge overnight for the starches to calm down and dry
I agree, but only about the rice. Fried rice made with day old rice is better, but with day old fried rice the added components dont maintain their integrity as well.
Buying olive oil is tough, the industry is rife with oils that don’t contain what they say they are. Look for where it was Made in (not Imported from) and check for a bottling date to make sure you aren’t getting old oil.
See if you have an olive oil store in your area, these places buy in bulk and then bottle it for you so you should have the chance to taste the options. A specialty food store would also be an option, they are at least likely to know their product and can guide you to a choice that fits your preference.
Yum! I’m making a real bastard Indian-American fusion “Butter Paneer Pizza” tomorrow. Got the paneer marinating in the fridge (first time marinating paneer!) and the preferment for the dough is bubbling away on my nightstand (rest of the house is too cold for it to get properly frothed).
I saw the original thread and was wondering if it used prepared mustard or dry mustard - I had guessed dry. I was also guessing there would be cheese in or on it. Wrong on both counts.
I think it depends on the oil/fat. I think the word “rancid” conjures up the idea that it would taste like pure garbage, but that isn’t really the case. What you are tasting is oxidation (and technically some other reactions, too), and not all flavors of oxidation are “bad” flavors. Sherry, for example, is partly defined by the oxidation.
Most “refined” oils (e.g., soybean, peanut, canola) are going to be fairly resistant to oxidation because they don’t have many compounds that oxidize easily. Something like extra virgin olive oil or flaxseed oil, though, has a lot of compounds that can oxidize. That’s why some oils come in opaque containers, and warn you to keep them away from heat. Some, you even need to refrigerate. If you did side by side testing, you’d probably pick it up. Oxidation is one of the reasons you get rid of old fry oil; the heat speeds up the reactions.
Whole wheat, I can definitely detect the difference, and I’ve definitely had rancid avocado oil before. Nuts, I’m not sure about, but I think the flavor of an oxidized nut wouldn’t really be bad, just not as good.
The taste of oxidation is often described as “wet cardboard”, which I agree with for a lot of things. “Fishy” is another word I’ve seen for oil that’s gone rancid
Interesting that you’d mention fishy. I recently read where some described canola as always being fishy to them.
Is the oxidation bad for you after a certain point in general? I seem to recall, when trying to fry doughnuts and such years ago and things would talk about what was happening with the old fry oil that you mentioned, somehow it was supposed to be not great for you. I remember it would deepen in color, and maybe it could have been described as something like wet cardboard.
I agree about the fishy canola odor, especially around the threads of the bottle where spillover gets exposed to air. The oil inside is fine, but that first whiff is offputting. I’m learning to wipe the threads after pouring.
You always need to salt each element individually to get the correct salt level. When you are cooking most vegetables you add the salt on top when you first add it to the pan. Same with meats but those usually get some salt earlier or as part of the marinating process.
While soy sauce is a source of salt it is more importantly a source of glutamate which is a flavor enhancer. Other items such as anchovies, mushrooms, miso, kelp, etc. contain glutamate naturally which was refined into MSG. MSG is just the crystalized form of naturally glutamate from kelp. I use soy sauce usually when things are simmering or as a finishing touch. I usually add it right at the end after adding my finishing touches of an acid. If your food tastes flat it usually missing an acid first before adding more soy sauce since you should add only a few tablespoons or so to most dishes.
In addition to what Jet said (agar, xanthan gum, gelatin,); you can add starches like corn starch or potato starch. a little goes a long way.
another thing is, for sauces, you can just cook off most the liquid and call it good. Especially for pan sauces made by deglazing fond- drain off excessive oil/grease and then add in some sort of liquid- vinegar, lime juice, straight water. scrap the pan and whisk until the fond is smooth.
Edit to add: you can also mix and match, to get the texture you want. Like with pie thickeners, it’s usually a mix of sugar, corn starch and some gelatin; to give it the perfect texture
Just to add to this, fruit can be used to both cut out a lot of the sugar and to thicken sweet sauces as well.
Also, I just realized I could make date paste. (Something that never crossed my mind til reading your comment, 🙄. I’ve blended them fresh, but have never softened them).
As for caramel, I can find lots of things about sugar-free, but nothing on lowering the sugar content. “3 Ingredients Sugarfree Caramel Sauce” However, this video makes me think I could easily thicken and lower the sugar content of at least a buttery caramel. (Mental note to self; give that idea a try).
A trick I use with questionable fish is to soak the fillet in milk after it thaws for 20 min to 2 hours. Pat it dry and glaze/season. It usually takes any “fishyness” smell/flavor out of it.
Sounds like they might be drying out, maybe while they’re waiting to be cooked. You can keep them under a moist towel while waiting if that’s the issue. They might also be cooking too long. I don’t have a great sense of what doneness looks like for tortillas, but I imagine knowledge mostly comes from experience.
I think both of these might be problems. I definitely didn’t cover the dough and the ones I cooked at a higher heat for a shorter time did come out slightly better.
Thanks for the tip. I’ll be sure to post again if I get anything worthy. 😁
cooking
Top
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.