How To Make Anything Taste Better
Red Boat Fish Sauce
Fish sauce is popular all throughout Asia. Yes, it stinks. Yes, it’s basically rotten salted fish. And yes, it’s incredibly delicious. A little goes a long way, but any amount can provide a rounded umami hit to your dishes. I like to add a few drops to sauces and soups. And I mean sauces like spaghetti sauce and soups like gumbo. Not just Asian foods! Red Boat is by far the best fish sauce on the market.
Buy fish sauce direct from Red Boat.
Black Garlic Mayonnaise
Black garlic is made by aging garlic until it turns black and sticky. The garlic loses its sharp bite, but gains intense earthiness, sweetness, and packs a hard umami punch. Blend that with creamy mayo and you get a delicious condiment and dip. I like to put a dollop on fried rice, eat it with fries, dunk chicken nuggets in it, etc.
If you don’t mind waiting in line, you can find it at Whole Foods.
Italian Bomba Hot Pepper Sauce
I love hot sauce, but it’s rare to come across a product that doesn’t rely on vinegar or some sour component to balance its heat. Bomba sauce is made from fermented Calabrian chili peppers. Fermentation allows the peppers to develop a much deeper, fruit forward flavor that, you guessed it, delivers a hit of umami. I have at least 3 jars of this in my pantry at any given time. I put it on everything except ice cream… but that’s only because I don’t have any ice cream.
Find Bomba sauce at Trader Joe’s and get all of the jars they have.
Chili Onion Crunch
Look at all the adjectives Trader Joe’s used to describe their own product:
The crispy, crunchy, dried garlic and onion creates a delightfully bold, verging-on-umami base, while dried red bell pepper and chili flakes build onto that with complementary smoky, slightly sweet, subtly spicy notes.
Bet you want to try it now! You can also make your own using this easy recipe from Bon Appetit. I would try my own recipe, but that one is already pretty simple.
You can find Chili Onion Crunch literally next to the Bomba sauce at Trader Joe’s.
Fried Shallots
You can find a bucket of fried shallots (or fried onions) at any Asian grocery store. Trust me, fried shallots are much better than the French’s French Fried Onions you find once a year on top of green bean casseroles across the U.S. I like to add a sprinkle of fried shallots on everything from rice to pasta to salad to soup. They add a light onion flavor and textural crunch to your foods.
If you can venture to any Asian grocery, look for Cock Brand fried shallots.