Spicy food is extremely popular, and there are many people who are constantly looking to challenge their spice tolerance. These people like to enjoy spice all the time, and many think that without spice food is bland and lacking flavor. Thankfully for these people, there are ways you can infuse spice into just about any dish. Additionally, there are some methods to take foods that are already spicy to the next level. Here are three tasty ways you can spice up a recipe and add some heat.
Utilize Fresh Ingredients
One of the best ways to infuse more spice into your dishes is by using more fresh ingredients when cooking. Packaged and dried ingredients lose a lot of their flavor and heat, making them much blander than their fresh counterparts. For example, a packaged pepper will add a lot less spice to a dish than a freshly grown pepper. Not everyone has easy access to fresh ingredients, but they aren’t impossible to obtain. Most farmer’s markets should have several different vendors selling fresh ingredients. Alternatively, you could try your hand at growing the fresh ingredients yourself. Be warned, however as growing your own ingredients takes a lot of time and effort. Regardless of how you choose to obtain your fresh ingredients, utilizing them more in your dishes will have a great effect on the spiciness of your dishes.
Include Sauces/Glazes
A great way to increase the spiciness of a dish is by slathering a spicy sauce or glaze over it. A really common example of this is hot sauce, something that can be put on almost any dish to make it spicy. For items that hot sauce can’t be used on, there are always options like habanero jelly for foods such as sandwiches. These sauces can take a bland food and make it spicy, or they can make an already spicy food extremely hot. If you really want to take things up a notch, you can create your own spicy sauce or glaze to top your food. Regardless of how you choose to get your hot sauce, adding sauces and glazes can greatly elevate the spiciness of a dish.
Add Spices
Another great way to infuse some heat into your recipes is by adding ground or dried spices. Every spice-lover should have a cabinet full of ground spices, allowing you to season your dishes in a multitude of ways. Blends like chili powder and crushed red peppers are some of the best spices to use to add some heat. Be very careful when adding these spices to your dishes, as a heavy hand could lead to too much being added. Too many ground spices can overpower the dish’s original flavor, ruining the flavor of the dish and likely making it too spicy.
It turns out that Westerners also have their own special spices. Some of them we may unknowingly often use to cook our daily meals. Inevitably, these spices are indeed a determining factor in the delicacy of each dish. If we forget just one spice ingredient, the taste of the food will definitely be different. The following is a list of various western spices, which ones have you used?
- Parsley or Parsley
This is what is called parsley or parsley. Apparently, this leaf is one type of spice that is a typical western spice. These leaves have a mild aroma, unlike mint leaves. Apart from being a garnish, parsley is usually used to mix salads or other European dishes.
- Basil
If this one leaf is similar to basil leaves. Smells and tastes very fresh. If the market is available basil in the form of fresh or dried. Usually this leaf is used as an addition in pasta dishes, soups, salads, fish, chicken, and others.
- Mint
Mint leaves have a fragrant and fresh aroma, just like the mint candies we usually eat, ladies. The cool and fresh taste of mint leaves turns out to be derived from the content of menthol compounds. Usually mint leaves are only used as a garnish for serving sweet foods or can also be used as tea.
- Tarragon
Is it a foreign name? Some people must also just know there is a western herb called tarragon. The shape of the leaves are long, like kale. The smell is also very sharp and distinctive. This leaf is believed to improve the taste of all types of cuisine, from processed eggs to even seafood. Westerners also like to chop up the tarragon leaves to mix into the mayonnaise for a better taste.
- Rosemary
The aroma of rosemary is very distinctive, so by using it a little bit the smell of food such as goat or fish fish will be reduced. Rosemary can be used in powder or fresh form. In addition to goats and fish, rosemary can also be used for BBQ duck, chicken, and turkey dishes.
- Oregano
Hmm, if you are a pizza fan, you must have often eaten oregano. Because oregano is a typical pizza topping. In addition to pizza, oregano is also served with many other Italian foods such as pasta, soup, salad, and steak. In the market, it is usually sold in the form of dry powder or fresh.
- Dill
These leaves are long and smooth. The aroma is believed to be able to eliminate the fishy smell in seafood dishes. In addition to seafood, dill is also commonly used to make pickles, salads, and soups. The aroma of dill will give off a stronger aroma if you use it fresh.
- Thyme
Usually you will see this thyme leaf used in cooking videos on social media. The shape is similar to parsley. So, thyme leaves are widely used for seasoning when grilling meats such as chicken, beef, or seafood. You do this by soaking the ingredients in a liquid seasoning that has been added with a solution of thyme and other spices. Also use thyme when making the broth so that the aroma can be more fragrant.
- Marjoram
Marjoram is shaped like oregano. Only if marjoram has wider leaves. Usually marjoram is used to mix ketchup and soup. The marjoram plant is believed to have originated in the Mediterranean. You have to go to big supermarkets and to the European spices section to get this marjoram. Usually marjoram is sold in bottles and is already dry.
- Saffron
If in other countries you usually use turmeric, abroad there is a natural yellow dye called saffron. The shape is like threads, dry, and red. The smell is also very unique. Usually this saffron is sold at a high price. Saffron itself is actually the essence of the crocus flower, which is one of the flowers in Greece.
