A Salt Thread

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NameAlreadyTaken said:
Wow. That’s really interesting.
What is the Hawaiian red salt like?

That’s interesting about your Chinese cooking, I don’t think I use sea salt in any of my Asian cooking, I would season based on soy / fish sauce / oyster sauce / hoisin etc. What types of Chinese dishes are you using sea salt in (so I can understand if I’m missing something)?
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For the red salt, a "clay character" was my best attempt. It doesn't sound appetizing, when put that way, but I don't know what else to call it. It's really tasty when it's sprinkled on something mild at the last minute.

I don't use sea salt in my Chinese cooking (except maybe rarely, in a stew, when it needs a bit more bite); I use Kosher salt. Generally that's in marinades, or stir-fry sauces that adhere to the food, or stews. It's in a lot of recipes where it would be too overbearing, flavorwise, to get the desired salt levels with just soy. Might be more common in Cantonese than in other regional cuisines, since there's a general desire to make sure the fresh flavor of the ingredients is highlighted.

Oyster sauce is in a category by itself; I don't think of it on the same axis as salt at all.
 
Rangen said:
For the red salt, a "clay character" was my best attempt. It doesn't sound appetizing, when put that way, but I don't know what else to call it. It's really tasty when it's sprinkled on something mild at the last minute.

I don't use sea salt in my Chinese cooking (except maybe rarely, in a stew, when it needs a bit more bite); I use Kosher salt. Generally that's in marinades, or stir-fry sauces that adhere to the food, or stews. It's in a lot of recipes where it would be too overbearing, flavorwise, to get the desired salt levels with just soy. Might be more common in Cantonese than in other regional cuisines, since there's a general desire to make sure the fresh flavor of the ingredients is highlighted.

Oyster sauce is in a category by itself; I don't think of it on the same axis as salt at all.
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Ahh cool, that makes more sense.
Totally agree that soy is pretty overpowering at high quantities.

Maybe I need to get a red salt to try it out, sounds interesting!
 
good vanilla ice cream, flakey salt and stellar EVO.

I usually get rock salt, no microplastics there, just some odd minerals likely ;-)
Additionally I have coarse salt for pasta water, grey (Guerande) salt for the same purpose, some Himalayan salt, black salt for the visual effect, smoked salt and flakes (Maldon or Fleur de Sel, whatever comes in handy and affordable)
 
MarcelNL said:
good vanilla ice cream, flakey salt and stellar EVO.

I usually get rock salt, no microplastics there, just some odd minerals likely ;-)
Additionally I have coarse salt for pasta water, grey (Guerande) salt for the same purpose, some Himalayan salt, black salt for the visual effect, smoked salt and flakes (Maldon or Fleur de Sel, whatever comes in handy and affordable)
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mind = blown..i am doing this.

i did vanilla with a Great Balsamic vinegar and it was damn great.
 
i am out of regular Mortons. i use it for essentially the water i boil pasta in..so it is okay i am out of it. i bet i have been without Mortons for a year
 
I used to use Morton’s kosher because that’s all my local stores carried. I since found a source for Diamond Crystal and prefer the smaller grain size. Other than that I have Maldon for finishing and a giant brick of Himalayan pink that I rarely use, but it’s fun to have.
 
I’m a fan of Redmond salt for cooking at home, does anyone else like it?
Brand: Espirit Du Sel is my fave brand for Fleur de sel but admittedly I’ve only tried maybe 5 or 6.
Celtic grey coarse is a lot of fun.
Maldon is tried and true and best bang for your buck.
To me it’s worth it getting into nice salts as the premium stuff you’re only paying $8-12 more than normal and this is something you can use daily and last for months.
I go out if my way to buy unsalted nuts, nut butters, can beans etc just so I can prepare the food at home with nicer salt.
 
M1k3 said:
I like kosher salt (prefer Diamond brand, other brands work) for cooking, plain sea salt otherwise. Weigh your salt! Volumetric measurements suck for measuring salt.

Maldon's I like as a general use finishing salt.

Grey salt, smoked and Hawaiian red salt are some more specialized, but, not too specialized finishing salts I like to use.
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They suck for everything. Just give me weights!

Anyway, on salt I've been using this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GHAYLZM
For a fair while. Don't remember why to be honest.
 
I started with Morton’s Kosher, but my wife prefers Diamond so that’s what we have in our house now.

Maldons is our finishing salt of choice at the moment.
 
Rangen said:
Yes. It is a superb book, and an excellent read. The author is a very good storyteller, with a very interesting story to tell. Cod, by the same author, is equally fascinating.
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Cod is great! I love food and I love history! I have a collection of what I call food reference books.

Recipe books are great but they are generally a collection of "popular" recipes at the time of publishing vs a reference book which give you a deeper understanding of a food product/regional style/cooking style etc.
 
Diamond kosher is the only salt I need . If I could get maldonneasily, I would use it for finishing ... But I can't. Smoked salt ? I make my own. Other salts? Meh, it's just salt
 
NameAlreadyTaken said:
Let us know how it goes in audiobook format!
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I've listened to the first 1.5 hours. It's good. The reader has a good voice and reads well, with good tempo and intonation. So far, there's been a lot of history around the economic and social importance of salt throughout the ages, starting thousands of years B.C. and going forward. Good history lesson on how salt and politics were intertwined in China, how the Egyptians used salt (sometimes for embalming), how salt was used as a preservative for meat and vegetables, etc.

The book is interesting and I'm t thoroughly enjoying it. Perfect sort of thing during a boring drive on the freeway.
 
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