Underrated foods....

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MarcelNL said:
an Umami bomb indeed, Trassi is quite similar! Same effect as sneaking in some Anchovy, but more POWERFUL!
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Awesome! I gotta track down a brick of trassi, I've never heard of it. Is kinda looks like belacan, which is Malaysian shrimp paste.
 
DitmasPork said:
...smells like something died—but can do umami magic once cooked.
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Speaking of which, I think Asafetida (aka Hing powder or the very appropriately nicknamed Devil's Dung) is underrated. Smells horrible raw, but fried in oil it transforms into a warm comforting flavor that's similar but not quite like sauteed onion or garlic.

It's one of those small things that makes mediocre dahl or chana masala taste instantly more 'authentic'
 
ACHiPo said:
Sounds like fish sauce on steroids!
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Stinkier. Whereas fish sauce is often used straight from the bottle into dressings and uncooked sauces—shrimp past typically benefits from heat to temper its pungency. @lemeneid told me of an awesome Singaporean dish of chicken wings slathered with shrimp paste before cooking.

My fave shrimp paste dish is 'Harm Ha Pork with Ong Choi,' ...afraid to cook it for fear of neighbors complaining.
 
DitmasPork said:
Stinkier. Whereas fish sauce is often used straight from the bottle into dressings and uncooked sauces—shrimp past typically benefits from heat to temper its pungency. @lemeneid told me of an awesome Singaporean dish of chicken wings slathered with shrimp paste before cooking.

My fave shrimp paste dish is 'Harm Ha Pork with Ong Choi,' ...afraid to cook it for fear of neighbors complaining.
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@KingShapton ; don;t laugh!

@DitmasPork Do you live in my street on the other side of my neigbors perhaps?

A week or two ago I was cooing up some Indian food and was busy toasting spices when my neighbor rang the doorbell, and started to rant about cooking smells....our extraction hood vents outside so anything they may smell has to come in through windows or vents on their end, new houses brick and concrete, well insulated...
 
MarcelNL said:
@KingShapton ; don;t laugh!

@DitmasPork Do you live in my street on the other side of my neigbors perhaps?

A week or two ago I was cooing up some Indian food and was busy toasting spices when my neighbor rang the doorbell, and started to rant about cooking smells....our extraction hood vents outside so anything they may smell has to come in through windows or vents on their end, new houses brick and concrete, well insulated...
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Hahahah. I live in a Brooklyn apartment—the hallway outside my door isn't well ventilated, therefore kitchen smells will probably live in the hallway for a while.
 
scrappy said:
Fermented natto. The stuff drives me crazy. Every Westerner I know who has had it (not too many) has found it revolting. It seems it’s even fairly divisive in Japan, a bit like Marmite here in the UK. I would travel miles to eat natto. It is the food of the gods. I got so fed up trying to source it, I even ordered some specially cultivated natto beans from abroad so I could ferment my own.
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My Japanophile sister-in-law gave me some natto once. I'm definitely in the Westerner majority. Not for me! But Marmite is delicious (grew up in Manchester)!
 
Some smells I can get used to. When I first started cooking with fish sauce, the smell and taste made me feel nauseous. Even a teaspoon of it would overpower any dish I cooked, so I halved the amount in any recipe. Now, some years later, I splash it on indiscriminately, even when it is uncalled for. Now I’m acclimatised, I adore the flavour. I think a Red Boat purchase helped. It is such a clean-tasting fish sauce. Though now, any fish sauce will do. In another couple of years, I’ll probably be injecting it.

MarcelNL said:
Epoisse needs to be Affiné-d by a good cheese specialist, then brought to the right temperature for eating...less than a week after reaching it's prime it creates ammonia (many cheeses do) and goes bitter.
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Thanks. That explains a lot. Initially, I really enjoyed Epoisse. I bought it with reasonable regularity. Then, on a couple of occasions, it smelled exactly like a public urinal in summer. Ammonia, basically. Now it makes sense. The cheeses must have been overripe. It’s a shame; I haven’t eaten Epoisse since. Bleuuurgh!
Greenbriel said:
My Japanophile sister-in-law gave me some natto once. I'm definitely in the Westerner majority. Not for me! But Marmite is delicious (grew up in Manchester)!
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I’m the other way round. I am crazy for natto but Marmite doesn’t do much for me. Not that I hate it. It just has to be spread very sparingly for me to even want to eat it.
 
scrappy said:
Is that the same as shrimp paste? About three weeks ago, I found an out-of-date jar of shrimp paste in my fridge. I put it on my kitchen window sill to wash out and recycle. It’s still there. I just can’t face the smell. Lol.

EDIT: Yes, it is shrimp paste. Misread the post. It does add real depth of flavour to dishes, but I feel like the smell disrupts me on a cellular level every time I open a jar. Infernal.
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I LOVE shrimp paste (Haam ha or mam tom in vietnamese, I think?)! I never use it in chinese cooking, but its amazing in vietnamese. I actually adore the smell. The smell is a lot stronger than the taste, especially after you cook it. Actually, after you cook it, a lot of the lovely aromas fade unfortunately. Sometimes with old vegetables, I add a little shrimp paste at the last few minutes of cooking to cover the old veggie taste.

ACHiPo said:
Sounds like fish sauce on steroids!
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DitmasPork said:
Stinkier. Whereas fish sauce is often used straight from the bottle into dressings and uncooked sauces—shrimp past typically benefits from heat to temper its pungency. @lemeneid told me of an awesome Singaporean dish of chicken wings slathered with shrimp paste before cooking.

My fave shrimp paste dish is 'Harm Ha Pork with Ong Choi,' ...afraid to cook it for fear of neighbors complaining.
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There's a great vietnamese dish that uses uncooked shrimp paste as a dipping sauce. I think it is offal (organ meats) with shrimp paste dipping sauce. Eaten with plenty of herbs. Very delicious. It takes a few bites for your mouth to get accustomed to the flavor, but its really delicious.

My favorite shrimp paste dish is pork and turnip stew with shrimp paste. Fry a few teaspoons of shrimp paste with chili peppers and oil. Add cubed pork butt and fry for a little. Add 1/2 of your turnip and some water and coat, then add the rest of the turnip. You don't want to add too much water, this isn't a soup. Add fish sauce to taste and cook for 1-2 hrs. Serve with rice. Its amazing. One of my favorite dishes. It makes your home smell delicious for days. Some people don't really like the smell, however. I got a few complaints from neighbors and co-workers when I brought some to work for lunch about backed up sewage.

If you've never had it before, I'd recommend not making it in the winter so you can open your windows in case you aren't as big of a fan as me. The delicious aroma tends to linger for days even if you do have good ventilation.
 
scrappy said:
Some smells I can get used to. When I first started cooking with fish sauce, the smell and taste made me feel nauseous. Even a teaspoon of it would overpower any dish I cooked, so I halved the amount in any recipe. Now, some years later, I splash it on indiscriminately, even when it is uncalled for. Now I’m acclimatised, I adore the flavour. I think a Red Boat purchase helped. It is such a clean-tasting fish sauce. Though now, any fish sauce will do. In another couple of years, I’ll probably be injecting it.
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I have this problem with dashi powder. I add a teaspoon into stews and the smell makes me gag and I have to add extra vegetables to try and cover it up. Never had the problem with fish sauce or miso or home made dashi. Its weird and sad.

scrappy said:
Thanks. That explains a lot. Initially, I really enjoyed Epoisse. I bought it with reasonable regularity. Then, on a couple of occasions, it smelled exactly like a public urinal in summer. Ammonia, basically. Now it makes sense. The cheeses must have been overripe. It’s a shame; I haven’t eaten Epoisse since. Bleuuurgh!
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I'm rarely bugged by overripe Epoisse, but when I am I use it on pizza or grilled cheese sandwiches with other cheeses. Just enough epoisse that you can taste it.
 
rmrf said:
I LOVE shrimp paste (Haam ha or mam tom in vietnamese, I think?)! I never use it in chinese cooking, but its amazing in vietnamese. I actually adore the smell. The smell is a lot stronger than the taste, especially after you cook it. Actually, after you cook it, a lot of the lovely aromas fade unfortunately. Sometimes with old vegetables, I add a little shrimp paste at the last few minutes of cooking to cover the old veggie taste.




There's a great vietnamese dish that uses uncooked shrimp paste as a dipping sauce. I think it is offal (organ meats) with shrimp paste dipping sauce. Eaten with plenty of herbs. Very delicious. It takes a few bites for your mouth to get accustomed to the flavor, but its really delicious.

My favorite shrimp paste dish is pork and turnip stew with shrimp paste. Fry a few teaspoons of shrimp paste with chili peppers and oil. Add cubed pork butt and fry for a little. Add 1/2 of your turnip and some water and coat, then add the rest of the turnip. You don't want to add too much water, this isn't a soup. Add fish sauce to taste and cook for 1-2 hrs. Serve with rice. Its amazing. One of my favorite dishes. It makes your home smell delicious for days. Some people don't really like the smell, however. I got a few complaints from neighbors and co-workers when I brought some to work for lunch about backed up sewage.

If you've never had it before, I'd recommend not making it in the winter so you can open your windows in case you aren't as big of a fan as me. The delicious aroma tends to linger for days even if you do have good ventilation.
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The pork and turnip dish sounds great!

I have a jar of the Vietnamese stuff, it's mellower than the Cantonese shrimp paste—I prefer the Vietnamese one. Similar, but looser, chunkier, is Filipino Bagoong, which I've had as a condiment, added to stews (kare kare, etc.) at the table.
 
rmrf said:
If you've never had it before, I'd recommend not making it in the winter so you can open your windows
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It sounds intriguing. I think I might like it. It’s not totally dissimilar to a dish I cook with daikon radish and fried tofu. A Japanese dish, it’s braised with ginger, mirin, sugar and soy. Anything with offal, apart from chicken, duck or goose liver is sadly a no-go for me. As a kid, I used to be fine with it, now, not so much.
rmrf said:
I have this problem with dashi powder. I add a teaspoon into stews and the smell makes me gag and I have to add extra vegetables to try and cover it up. Never had the problem with fish sauce or miso or home made dashi. Its weird and sad.

I'm rarely bugged by overripe Epoisse, but when I am I use it on pizza or grilled cheese sandwiches with other cheeses. Just enough epoisse that you can taste it.
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That’s strange that you don’t like dashi powder but you’re fine with homemade dashi. I love the stuff. That said, I’ve only ever tasted one dashi powder: Kayanoya. I order it on eBay and it ships from Japan. I find it almost indistinguishable from the dashi I make from scratch. it’s really good.

For pizza cheese, I’m a Gorgonzola piccante freak. I can’t get enough of it. I even eat the stuff with Digestives, a sweet-but-not-too, plain biscuit (cookie) from the UK. I know, I’m going to hell.
 
Shrimp paste is awesome in Chinese cooking. I've used it to liven up chicken in clay pot, but my favorite use is in a Ken Hom recipe that has snap pea pods with fresh shrimp, dried shrimp, and shrimp paste. So it starts with the great synergy between peas and shrimp, and piles on by layering three very different expressions of shrimp flavor into the dish.

I don't make it as often as I should, but that's only because it's hard to find truly fresh, not limp, not tired snap pea pods around here. Even in season.
 
I do remember the first time I brought home Thai fish sauce. I opened it, and figured I must have gotten a bad bottle. A really bad bottle.

Edit: I think someone should bring back garum. It's time.
 
PLease let us know what you think of Garum, I have wondered for a while now how it would compare to the modern day equivalents...
 
Rangen said:
Thanks! I signed up to be notified when it's available again. And, as it turns out, there's actually a garum on the US Amazon site, called Flor de Garum. Made in Spain, and apparently created based on residue analysis from Pompeii.

Naturally, I ordered some.
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Gotta try the spanish stuff!

I got two bottles of Noma mushroom garum last week from the first batch, and I've already used up one! Stupid expensive, but also stupid tasty. Not funky though.

.
 
Rangen said:
What did you use it with?
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Tried some improvised variants of their suggested recipes. Sauté mushrooms and then deglace with butter and garum will give a really intense mushroom flavour (surprise). Used it for pasta dishes and risotto. For a third of the price it would be a great everyday go-to umami enhancer. But I guess I could sell my second bottle for 60$ now :D

.
 
Michi said:
How does it compare to fish sauce?
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It's not funky. It's more like an intense, reduced and smokey mushroom stock.

If anything, it has spurred me to try to make something similar myself.

I mean, it's really great and effective and yummy and all that, but it's not magic or any kind of game changer. It won't make a tasteless dish great. But I guess it will push certain things to a higher level if used right (by a competent cook).

.
 
scrappy said:
Fermented natto. The stuff drives me crazy. Every Westerner I know who has had it (not too many) has found it revolting. It seems it’s even fairly divisive in Japan, a bit like Marmite here in the UK. I would travel miles to eat natto. It is the food of the gods. I got so fed up trying to source it, I even ordered some specially cultivated natto beans from abroad so I could ferment my own.
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Omg! For sure! I forgot about natto until I saw this. Back in the 90’s I tried hard to use it and like it. Don’t remember how i used it but I’m sure I had some recipes and guidance…… Don’t think I was revolted by it but I don’t think I liked it, maybe have to revisit it to see what’s up. Maybe Mitsuwa has it.
 
Borealhiker said:
Omg! For sure! I forgot about natto until I saw this. Back in the 90’s I tried hard to use it and like it. Don’t remember how i used it but I’m sure I had some recipes and guidance…… Don’t think I was revolted by it but I don’t think I liked it, maybe have to revisit it to see what’s up. Maybe Mitsuwa has it.
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It’s definitely worth trying again. Some say it is an acquired taste, a taste many never a quite at all. If you’ve tried it quite a few times already and it didn’t click, I wouldn’t hold out too much hope that it would do so now, but you never know.
 
Natto…I don’t like it but my Japanese wifey does so we always have some in the freezer.
F2C39A04-8E85-4A15-BDDD-02199663CCAC.jpeg
Our local Japanese market has plenty to choose from…
63837A76-4ED5-48DA-B583-B6407779E731.jpeg
 
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MarcelNL said:
How I wish we had Japanese markets...not just for Natto.
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Really? No Japanese markets in Netherlands? Any sort of big pan Asian markets? Jeez. lol, I know Dutch and Japanese cuisine are like polar opposites but man that’s crazy. Of course it’s really rare to find a Dutch or Dutch centric market here in the US. Pretty much all online. I made a Stamppot earlier this winter and couldn’t find the trad sausage…Rookworst?….so used Kielbasa.
 
After all this talk, I figured I had better try some natto.
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It's nice, I do like it. Mild yeasty/salty flavour, with a yeasty/cheese smell. The texture is interesting, somewhat slippery, not unlike some dishes that include gelatine. The packet included two small sachets with soy sauce and mustard, which made this into a nice snack.

I'll definitely be buying this more often.
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