Yes! I also really liked that the examples of how to use them were not the first thought/origins of them, either! Would never have thought to put fish sauce in a tomato sauce or tahini in a dressing!

I really, really, *** really **** liked this new series. Because we will have more of this, right? I wish we should have just two ingredients featured and do more than one recipe, for the normal visual (slow) learners like me.

@@RockRPSN agreed! My dad puts fish sauce in his guacamole and it’s a game changer. Wouldn’t have ever done that but it adds so much.

I would like to see more explanation on why they work though. Like, I think tahini works because the increased fattiness helps the flavours stay on your tongue better but I would like to understand if that is correct. I feel like that would help me know when to use them better

THANK YOU for addressing that. I completely agree!!! The competitions, the chaos, the badges, etc. Can be fun, even though they're starting to get really really old, but this video is one of the best in a long time.

Mike 😆

Three? Obvs ben but Jamie left and I thought poppy was a sorta guest star

@@emregungor1248 Chef Kush, Chef Ben S. and Ben.

@@emregungor1248 They also have chefs behind the scenes who help develop recipes for their videos, website, and cookbooks

@@emregungor1248 Not only did you apparently not watch the next few seconds of the video where he named the chefs, but you also mixed up Jamie and James. I'm almost impressed

100%

Just go for it, don't wait for anyone to tell you it's okay. The worst that can happen is you eat some food that doesn't taste good.

@@jameshill2450 that’s something most people don’t want to risk ever happening though. It’d personally kill me as well if I made something that was inedible. I’d be absolutely wrecked that I’d have to throw something out.

I’d like to add to the last comment and note that sometimes people can’t afford to risk having their cooking turn out inedible, due to some reason or another having either food in general inaccessible, or even when not looking explicitly at a lower income perspective, specific specialty ingredients may not be easily accessible, so wasting that ingredient on something that may not turn out also means having to wait months to try another successful attempt. So having a resource to say “this works great here” is incredibly valuable. Especially if the why is described like in the video here, so you can then apply it to other cooking situations (Much of my food experimentation comes with the basis of knowing the core components of an ingredient and what it does in the dish - like I may add a bit of ketchup to something that I want to have a bit more sweetness or tang, or miso if I want to bring in some nice, fermented umami notes, just as some examples).

Yes, the problem is that we all hate food waste and so are worried about using an ingredient in an unusual place for fear of making a dish that inedible.

Ooh, that's brilliant! Especially yes to [how to add depth of flavor to old favorites]... with unexpected, sneaky, and are-you-serious ingredients, of course!

Love this idea!

Fantastic episode

Oooo, yes- cheese omelette stuffed with kimchi. Nom, nom!

Kimchi and gochujang for me. Fish sauce we already have next to our vinegar and soysauce bottles.

i recommend finding some South African biltong powder. I had never heard of it until i saw it in a shop in Leeds market. It goes well with anything, but especially chicken.

and a spoonful of ssamjang

I use it to dip my doritos in lol

Yes! There are definitely some simple, low-entry preserving or pickling things that really level up cooking. Salted lemons and quick picked red onions are two of my favorites.

Yes. But also WHAT THE HELL IS SALTED LEMON???

@@cftyftyufyfuyfty it's fucking amazing.

@@cftyftyufyfuyfty It is lemons, that have been salted. Cut a lemon half through, rotate it, cut it half through again from the other side, squish it down into a jar, cover in salt and repeat until the jar is full. Make sure there is salt all the way up. Leave it alone in a cool place for a year. Use the peel in slow cooked stews or braises. Also, even though the standard is lemon, you can do this to any citrus.

Confit garlic can give you botulism poisoning if you eat it after two weeks so be careful with that one!

I think it helps keep away air / oxygen from the ferments, as if when you do lactofermented cucumbers or cabbage (aka sauergurken & sauerkraut), you don't want them to be exposed to the air, and anything lactofermented in salty brine needs to be submerged. Same principle, I guess. ETA: I keep such parchment lid on the top of my gochujang. The miso I could buy here till now was in lil doy packs (red and brown miso), but I could finally put my finger on some boxed miso (the didn't even wrote what kind, so I guess it's not white miso either) and when I finish current miso, I expect in boxed miso there will be that parchment as well.

That sounds divine! I would LOVE to try that

My mind went straight to the Mythical Kitchen "Roman pizza" video...

my uneducated guess is that fish sauce and "colatura di alici" (anchovy something liquid???)is basically the same thing

Isn't Worcestershire sauce also fish sauce?

I like foods with fish sauce but it's an ingredient I ban from the home having had a full bottle smashed in my kitchen! Dear Lord I thought I'd never get rid of the smell!

@@DireBearGeek yes it is but you would never know it from the taste or smell

Yes, I would love a whole video on a hero ingredient!! I would love to watch a new one every week

I’d love a whole episode of “level ups” with ingredients like these with just little tips and ideas to make your food extra special

Here I am with all the ingredients featured here already in my cupboard and use them all the time 😆🙈

I think it would make good content, but I’m not sure it’s fair that they only give one usage suggestion. With the miso alone I counted four solid suggestions how how you could use it on a regular basis.

I'd say for the fish sauce, I use it as a very basic staple in my kitchen. Anything that you'd put salt in, or something savory, you can use fish sauce. Add it to curries, soup, dips, bbq sauce. If you'd use worcestershire sauce, or soy sauce, or coconut aminos, or maggi, you can use fish sauce instead. You can use it in stir fry. You can use it as a partial replacement for vinegar. Want your burger to have more umami flavour? Fish sauce. Salsa ( or as Ben says "Sauca" ), add fish sauce.

Savory dish? Splash of fish sauce. It's like adding vanilla to baked goods. It's just what you do

Best not to let Uncle Roger know that then! 🤣

Fish sauce naturally contains some amount of MSG in it.

msg= king of flavour fish sauce= also king of flavour

How do you cook out the fishy smell of the dish? Can we at all?

Look for mushroom ketchup it's great in dress sauces etc

You are not missing anything at all, There are several things that have the same effect as fish sauce, I find Bovril works much better than fish sauce in any meat dish. It makes the meet tast so much more meaty and still adds the salt and depth of flavour.

I've been using the Italian version (basically modern garum) in my pasta for a few years now... it's great..

@@TheJasonbking Thanks for naming it. Memory is getting a little muddy in my old age.

I used it while making the san fransisco butter garlic noodles some days ago. Loved the dish but it definitely did have a fishy smell and i had put just a tsp anyway. Is there a way to cook out the smell? i can do umami it brings tho

Missed opportunity for sure. That’s a good one!

This sounds so extra - love it! 👊

True! I know you can't keep everyone happy but I guess I like sticking to familiar formats/intros lol

It had that nice food ASMR. I miss it.

I loved the classy simplicity of the cracking egg intro! :)

I confess, I miss ye ole "gooey in the middle" -- My top favorite these days is the pass it on intro montage! The MOMENT it starts, I'm just all one big grin... well, randomly interrupted by preemptive chuckles.

@@laurenc.590 I'm with you on both of these! And with Pass It On, always ready to sing along with James' classic, "Where's the dish?"

Great shout!

By pure chance, I was watching this episode while making custard...we just ran out of tahini though 😭

Hopefully this video gave you a few ideas.

I mix the chilli crisp with the Lee Kum Kee chilli oil 70/30 because its quite salty and a fair bit hotter, can definitely recommend trying. I put the chilli crisp on everything 😂

I fill it with what I use most of. Salt,black pepper, white pepper,, Italian, zatar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, herbs de providence, curry, poultry, everything bagel seasoning, red pepper flakes, dried chives , etc.

Black pepper (whole and grind in a mill) White pepper (same as with black p) Salt (flakes and boring type) Something to sweeten with Chili flakes and Siracha Broth cubes of various types Soya/tamari Vinegars (white red rice chingkian) The rest depends on your preferences and what you actually cook. Freeze fresh spices in ice tray cubes. Ketchup and mustard and mayonnaise are very handy fridge items.

Two seasonings I am never without now are smoked paprika and chipotle flake. Also ground bay leaf, less faff than fishing it out all the time. I notice the absence of it in soups and stews more than it's presence but I'm so used to it now.

@@MrGrimsmith Bay leaves are great. Def a staple here.

I would think that it would depend on your taste. Personally, I am never without garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, black pepper, pepper flakes and Old Bay. Everything else is extra.

Never have come across mushroom ketchup but I use mushroom soya sauce all the time.

Drooling 🤤

@@asquithmainlines699 I discovered it from another youtube channel, townsend. They do a lot of historic cooking. Mushroom ketchup was a major condiment during the 18th century. It's like worcester sauce, but with a heavy mushroom umaminess. I've made it a few times, though much easier just buying a bottle from tescos lol.

My mum used to have a bottle of that. She probably still has it - she never used it! It's a kind of Victorian Kitchen thing. But I have seen it in one or two supermarkets, and I do not live in London.

Didn't sortedfood use oyster sauce on a turkey,? duck,? a few years ago. Fish sauce smells like socks, oyster sauce is lovely to use.

or use Marmite, That's what I use. often not more then half a teaspoon. if not enough add about the same to it. I really love how it does the same but you don't really taste the marmite unless you really try.

Or you could try Japanese fish sauce, it's supposed to be a much more mellow flavor.

I'm a supertaster and I despise both fish and yeast. I can taste Worchestershire sauce in a completed dish. I'm guessing I would also unhappily recognize these other flavorings. I am willing to try....

@@MelissaThompson432 I’m that way about mushrooms. I can tell they were there even if someone has picked them out.

It’s fantastic for a soup base huh? 👊

But please don't cook miso paste at all or longer than a minute, I think the flavor is lost when miso is boiled.

They mentioned tahini in caramel, but miso in caramel is also absolutely beautiful; I make butter caramels with brown miso added, and it just brings this delicious maltiness to the table. I don't make them any other way nowadays... will have to try using tahini instead though, that sounds like it could be something special.

I use Tasmanian Native pepper leaf I don't find it hot it has a nice flavour. The dried berry from the same bush can be hot enough to blow your head off so you need to be careful. I have used Himalayan salt for years. I find it doesn't burn my tongue like table salt.

@@MazzyJC Interesting choice of ingredient. I like that.

id also suggest adding it to pasta sauces or any kind of dip (think miso-mayo type of situation)!

Its also great for a meat or tofu marinade

I've seen miso glazed salmon and Brussel Sprouts too

Balsamic vinegar is definitely one of my go-to ingredients. I love adding a dash to stews or casseroles, even bolognese - adds a smidge of sweet and a bit of acid that really adds depth to the flavours.

Loooooove tahini biscuits (cookies) especially with chocolate chips. I made some for my stepdads birthday one year. My mum nearly ate the whole plateful lol.

@@fionaclaphamhoward5876 ooh yes balsamic I add balsamic to anything tomato-y that needs a hit of sweet acid. Roasted tomato and balsamic soup is really good.

I mix gochujang with Kewpie mayo (never regular mayo though) and a splash of sesame oil and end up with the most wonderful sauce. And the best part is that ratio never matters because it always tastes so awesome anyway

Sorry if it's a silly question but how hot is it in comparison to something like English mustard? I love spicy things but anything hotter than that when mixed into food is too much for me and I can't eat it (I have a condition that makes swallowing painful so if I add spice to that it makes eating nearly impossible). I've wanted to try Gochujang for years but I'm a bit worried I won't be able to put enough to actually taste it into my food and still be able to eat it.

@@violetskies14 you can adjust quantity of gochujang paste to your taste and liking,for example for me one soup spoon of it is just right for big pot of stew to be spicy but not to burn, but i'm used to spicy food. You could add it with tea spoon in smaller increments, stir it in and taste it while cooking, then a little more until you get the heat you like and can tolerate with your condition. I would say that gochujang is hotter than mustard,but it is more concentrated and would only use it as ingredient to dissolve in stew or sauce, i wouldn't use it as a condiment on meat or sausage like i use mustard

Hello, fellow soy allergy friend!

If you're a fan of sesame seeds then tahini is amazing!! Extremely delicious, I'm a fan of it in sweets but it also goes great in salad dressings, sauces, and anything you want to add a nutty, toasty flavour too. One of my favourite things is tahini and and chocolate biscuits (cookies).

Oooh, and Susan Spungen at NYT Cooking does a gorgeous marbled tahini cookie using both ordinary tahini and black tahini.

@@fionaclaphamhoward5876 Oh that sounds good. 🍪😋

Never knew black tahini existed. Gotta get some on my hands asap. While we're at it, I'd put also Chinese Sesame paste in the mix, it's like tahini, but a bit less "runny" and made with toasted sesame seeds instead.

@@tbard Oh I'd forgotten about Chinese sesame paste, it does have a good flavour, will have to stock up again. Good call. I love the black tahini, spread even just spread on toast with butter is good,

He for sure already has an inventory catalogue of it.

As long as its not dried up or mouldy I’d think it’d be fine. It’s mostly salt.