Questions tagged [ingredient-selection]
Questions about selecting desirable ingredients (e.g. checking fruit ripeness). Please do not use for "which ingredient should I use in my dish" - this kind of question is subjective and will be closed.
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Substitute directory?
Whenever I don't have an ingredient I thought I had, or it is not sold around me, I often find myself running to my old cookbooks which have substitutes in the back of the book(s).
I don't always ...
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Melon buying tips
I've just started buying rockmelons and they were only sweet a couple of times. The other times, they've been very low in sweetness and it felt like a waste of money. Are there any tips when buying ...
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How common are worms in dried mushrooms?
I was excited to try cooking with dried mushrooms until I saw some comments from people who found (many) dried worms mixed in with their dried mushrooms. How common is this?
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What are these small, fleshy, salty, fried things in my Chinese food?
I ordered some salt and pepper dishes from a Chinese restaurant. I know how these dishes are prepared because I've made plenty myself. Generally it's a wok-fried mixture of sliced onion, green pepper, ...
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Are frozen mussels/clams supposed to be slightly open?
I used to live in a coastal town and never worried about getting fresh mussels, but now I live in inland Ecuador and today bought a bag of frozen clams and a bag of frozen mussels. They all seem to be ...
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Key ingredients for classic Sauce Bolognese (Ragù Bolognese)?
What are the ingredients, both main and optional, for a classic Ragù Bolognese?
I tried getting an answer to this question. First I looked around this site. I found one question about a "secret ...
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Why add flour to grilled onions?
I enjoy a dirty rice recipe that has you sauté onions, celery and green peppers in sausage grease and then add a tablespoon of flour. What does the flour do?
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What is the rationale behind mixing light and dark soy sauce?
It's common for recipes to call for both light and dark soy sauce mixed together.
Is there a specific rationale for doing this, such as a specific interaction between these two ingredients when cooked ...
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Will artificial sweeteners work in a coffee syrup recipe?
Here’s the recipe for coffee syrup
Ingredients for 1 cup of coffee syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup strong coffee
Directions
Mix sugar with the coffee
Boil mixture down to the consistency of thick syrup
To ...
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Where to source Tapioca balls for Homemade Milk Tea?
Looking to make some bubble tea at home, not sure where to source the tapioca balls from.
Local grocery stores don't seem to have them.
Are these generally "balled" at home, or bought already in ...
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What spicy ingredients hit the sinuses?
My sinuses are constantly congested.
I know some spices can help with clearing them. However, I also know that some types of spice affect my nose and sinuses while others merely burn my mouth (not ...
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How is jin jun mei (a Chinese tea) made?
I'd like to know whether jin jun mei (golden beautiful eyebrow, a Chinese tea) is kosher. To know that, I first need to know its ingredients and how it's processed.
What are the ingredients in Jin ...
Shnitzman
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Are ripe meyer lemons supposed to be soft?
At the grocery store they were selling meyer lemons in mesh bags, they all seemed to be much softer than an ordinary lemon. Are meyer lemons supposed to be a very soft fruit? just touching them ...
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How can I tell whether my potatoes are waxy vs. floury?
Once in a while I get hold of a bunch of potatoes without any labeling and the least I want to know is whether they are waxy or floury. Is there a way to determine whether raw potatoes are waxy or ...
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What are the 'acidity controllers' used in canned whole tomatoes?
I was looking at the label on a can of Italian roma tomatoes (similar to San Marzano) and I noticed an ingredient called an 'acidity controller'.
This makes perfect sense to me, but it doesn't go as ...
user293
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Which sugar for brining?
I've come across various brining solutions that include sugars: white sugar, brown sugar, raw sugar, etc. Are these sugars interchangeable? Is one sugar more desirable for a certain kind of meat over ...
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Does sugar give moisture?
I have seen a discussion regarding a replacement for sugar in brownies to give moisture.
Does sugar give moisture when baking?
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What are the effects of using different types of ground mustard?
I made a cheese souffle recipe that called for 1 tsp of dry mustard. I used ground mustard that was 40% yellow and 60% black.(And it wasn't fine like powder) Everything went perfectly with the ...
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Is there a difference in the taste/seeds of egg-sized eggplants, and long and slim eggplants?
Is there a difference in the taste/seeds of egg sized eggplants or brinjals, and long and slim eggplants or brinjals?
They are different in shapes. Is there any other "known/visible" difference?
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Why do small things taste better than big things?
Small berries have more flavor than large berries, small scallops have more flavor than large scallops, cherry tomatoes have more flavor than beefsteak tomatoes. I can't think of any cases where the ...
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How do I tell guar gum from xanthan?
I purchased both guar gum and xanthan gum in little unmarked baggies from the bulk section of my local health foods store.
This was months ago and since I foolishly forgot to label them, now I have ...
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Culinary term for non-flavor defining ingredients
In a strongly flavoured soup/stew, curry, or sauce, or salad, you sometimes add other ingredients (eg mixed vegetables) that do not strongly influence the flavor of the end result, but are chosen for ...
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Shirred eggs elements
I've found a number of recipes online for shirred eggs.
Some have a fat (cream, ham) beneath the eggs; others don't (except for a bit to grease the ramekin).
Some have a cheese (Parmesan, Cheddar, ...
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How important are ingredient ratios in pasta-making (as compared to baking)?
It's well-known that the ratios of ingredients matter a lot in baking -- tiny changes in ingredient ratios can create big changes in the quality of results.
However, there are other situations where ...
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How much star anise should I add to a stew?
I’m making a stew with about 700 grams of meat and it will have a lower rather than higher amount of water. I will be using star anise for first time and I hear a little bit can over power the whole ...
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"Rose Flavoured Water" vs "Rosewater"
I would like to try a few recipes which call for rosewater. I have made these in the past but it seems difficult to get rosewater here. Many places seem to sell "rose flavoured water".
To me this ...
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What went wrong with my yuzu cheesecake?
Having seen an episode of The Great British Bake Off, I decided to bite off more than I could chew and made a yuzu cheesecake. As yuzu was described, on the program, as having a taste somewhere ...
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What is the difference between preserves and conserves?
I will start off by admitting that I do see technical definitions here, but I did not actually learn that there was such a thing as conserves until today. I am used to putting jelly, or jam or ...
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What is the "Chili sauce" ingredient in this recipe?
I want to make this Copy Cat A1 Steak Sauce but I'm not exactly sure what one ingredient is.
What is it calling for when it says Chili sauce?
Also, if it turns out I don't have the chili sauce they ...
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Should I use raw turmeric that turned rubbery?
I have some raw turmeric, which has become rubbery lying in the deep freeze. Can it be used for cooking? If yes, does it require any special processing first?
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Is it normal for raw farm onions to smell like manure?
I bought onions from a truck passing the streets in Mexico and even after peeling the onions smell like manure all the way to the core.
Is this normal? If so, why don't grocery store onions have ...
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Where to find Tara gum?
I'm looking for a source for "tara gum" powder. It is used like xanthan and guar gum, but reportedly
increases the general benefits and adds a "creamy" taste. The only providers I have located only ...
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Baking or Cooking - why orange and not other sweet citrus fruit?
In most of the recipes that have any sweet citrus flavoring, it is usually Orange (zest and juice). In fact I've hardly seen a recipe that uses a substitute like mandarin, grapefruit, etc. Is there a ...
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Did post-war Hovis bread contain treacle or black strap molasses?
I totally concur with the opinion of YouTube chef Titli Nihan that the modern Hovis loaf tastes nothing like the bread I remember as a child. TN has an interesting theory that the Hovis bread of that ...
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How does "Brownulated" light brown sugar compare with regular light brown sugar?
I'm assuming that the granulated sugar in the bag is easier to work with and won't turn into a hard block. It's also more expensive than the boxed kind. Are there any other differences, e.g. in the ...
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Which salsa ingredient makes it taste like dirt?
I suppose it could also be considered "earthy".
There is an ingredient that is often added to "authentic" salsas that often ends up making it taste too "earthy".
Which ingredient is it?
Is it ...
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What is the function of salt in chocolate?
Iv'e recently seen, for the first time, chocolate coins filled with caramel and "Atlantic salt". I did a bit of searching and found some more of these types of sweets:
To the food simpleton that I am,...
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How to pick ripe plantains for maduros?
I'm trying to make sweet fried plantains (maduros) but I'm not having much success. I've tried frying on low, medium, and high heat and with varying amounts of oil. The plantains never come out soft ...
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Mnemonic tricks to remember all cooking steps correctly
I am looking for some advice on what some mnemonic tricks could be for remembering the following, when memorizing or preparing to cook a recipe by heart:
oven temperatures
procedures (remembering the ...
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How should I prepare the coffee to be used in my tiramisu?
I'm making tiramisu. Coffee is a large component of the recipe, so I imagine that the choice and preparation of the coffee used will have a big impact on the final taste.
Or will it? I'm not a coffee ...
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What is the measure for scaling cinnamon if you double a recipe?
I love bread and butter pudding. We came across a recipe, and had plenty of ingredients, so decided to double everything, including double the cinammon.
This almost worked out perfectly, except that ...
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Is it normal for collard greens to be red?
The collard greens that I have received are red. Is this normal/healthy? Image attached.
Google searching this gives me zero results that are anywhere near relevant. I also can't find any images of ...
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What ingredients can I add to food or gum recipes to add grittiness without any carbs?
I have a sugar free gum recipe that I'd like to add some grittiness to so that it scrubs teeth while it's being chewed. I need help finding an ingredient to add this grit, meeting the following specs:
...
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Marinara Sauce recipe
I've been trying cook Marinara Sauce for a while now, I visited the states and had that sauce in their pizza hut. When I got back i tried cooking the same Pizza hut Marinara sauce but can never get ...
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How much "compounded" asafoetida to use?
I have a UK-Indian recipe that calls for asafoetida (1/4 teaspoons). I have bought this:
This says it is "compounded" asafoetida powder. Is this any different from what would be used for my ...
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Where do you find gums, acids and glucose ingredients?
If I find a recipe that contains any of those, I just won't make it because I don't know where to find such ingredients but now there's a series of desserts I want to make that use most of them. I don'...
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What flour for crepes should I use?
What type of flour should I use for crepes? What are the differences? I want to cook both sweet and savory, but not American style pancakes, just French thin ones.
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Using cloves in stocks/broths
I have a (somewhat) recently purchased spice jar of cloves in my pantry that isn't getting much attention. I've seen stock/broth recipes that call for whole peppercorns, and am curious if subbing ...
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What could be the basic ingredients that potentiate sourness and bitterness?
When it comes to basic tastes (saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, sourness, and umami), I can easily think of very basic ingredients that could be considered the essence of a given taste, something ...
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What ingredients are used in peri peri Powder?
I have been looking for possible ingredients that are being used to make peri peri powder.
Is there any significant difference between peri peri powder and peri peri sauce. Interms of ingredients?
