Japanese cuisine is not only about tempuras and tofus and sushis. They also have a secret ingredient that is essentially a Japanese foundation, which is elegantly subtle and is perfected by careful, patient food artistry that brings so much depth of flavor or umami to your food.

What I’m talking about is dashi. Nothing is as simple as dashi as it uses only
two ingredients: water and base flavor. Dashi is used as a base stock for soups and noodle dishes, and as a flour seasoning for okonomiyaki and takoyaki.

The base flavor of dashi can be dried kelp (kombu, 昆布), bonito flakes or dried, fermented, smoked skipjack tuna flakes (katsuobushi,  鰹節), and dried sardines or anchovies (iriko or niboshi, 煮干し). It can be all three or a combination of two of them.

Now that you know what is what (from our Japanese 101 lessons), you can now make two quarts of dashi in one hour from Alton Brown’s recipe. Or make a home-made one
for two cups in 10 minutes.

You might be thinking to use powdered ones (hondashi, 出汁, だし) and MSG; that’s no problem. Because today, we’re going to learn dashi substitutes that you don’t have to use MSG.

Our dashi substitutes are super easy yet you have to be patient because some of them may take one hour to achieve dashi-level excellence. Well, the time in cooking or making it is one factor why dashi was invented by the Japanese.

5 Dashi Substitutes for Your Close-to-Authentic Japanese Dishes

1. White Meat Fishes

For a traditional Japanese cooking (washoku,和食), dashi is basically fish-flavored or
seafood-flavored.

A fish stock is called fumet (in French say FYOO-mit). It’s basically almost equivalent of dashi as it gives you the “taste of the sea” more appropriately.

We need mild, non-oily, white-meat fishes, like cod, snapper, halibut, bass, and tilefish. Tuna or mackerel (dark meat fishes) have stronger fish flavor and could overpower the dish you’re cooking. Remember that dashi is a flavor agent and should just be a hint, not all over.

What we’re going to use are the head and bones (with tidbits of flesh) only—they’re actually free from any fish market. Super cheap, right? You should wash them vigorously because any trace of blood or other inedible parts can make our dashi substitute stock tastes bitter.

In this parts is where the fish flavor is more intact than the meat. Why not try to butcher your own fish or have this guy fillet for you under four minutes. You can save the fish meat for other recipes.

In a 7-8 quart stockpot, you should:

• Sauté aromatics first with a tablespoon of any cooking oil you prefer. They are one large or two small pieces of onions, leeks, garlic, celery, fennel, parsley, tarragon, and bay leaves. Tie the leaves in a string and dice the veggies in very small cubes or have them thinly sliced—we’re into fast cooking so the smaller/thinner the better.
• You may opt to use water or white wine or a mix of them. Once you have agreed with your liquid, you may add half a cup of wine or 2 quarts of water the aromatics. Just remember that your liquid should almost cover the fish scraps.
• Add the fish scraps in the liquid with aromatics and let them simmer for about 20 minutes to one hour.
• If you’re going to skip the aromatics, flavor your fish stock with splashes of soy sauce, mirin and a little sugar after heating up the fish scraps.
• After 20 minutes or 1 hour, our fish-based dashi substitute is done.
• Press everything in a fine strainer and keep that gelatinous fish extract in a clear container. You may freeze and store it up to a month before using.

2. Shellfish

Just like the fish scraps, we’re going to use the scraps of shellfish (head, tail, shells). In this recipe, shrimp or prawns are best to be used.

• Prepare your aromatics: 2 cups onions, 2 cups carrots, 3 stalks of celery, and 2 cloves of garlic. All of them finely sliced or diced in small cubes but you should mince the garlic.
• In a large pot, put 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the one pound large shrimp scraps (uncooked) with the aromatics (except for the garlic) for 15 minutes or until they brown.
• Then, add the garlic and cook it for 2 minutes (garlic comes late because it easily cooks and burns).
• Now, add 1 ½ quarts of water, ½ cup of white wine, 1/3 cup tomato paste, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper and 10 sprigs of fresh thyme (with stems).
• Bring everything to a boil and simmer for one hour.
• Then, use a sieve and press everything to extract that luscious red juice.
• You can make about one quart of this recipe that you may store in your fridge or freezer for future use.

3. Vegetable

Our vegan readers would love this next dashi substitute. It’s a mixture of kombu and shiitake—yes, seaweed and mushrooms!

You can use the packed dried seaweed and mushrooms. You can follow the instructions on the pack, which is usually 15 grams of kombu (about 1 1/2 4-inch or 10 cm squares) to 4 cups of water.

Leave this amount on the pot for 30 minutes; no heating yet. Use a spoon to know the taste of the “tea” and take a feel of the leaves if they are slippery.

After 30 minutes of soaking, put the pot on to the stove and bring to a boil, then let it simmer for 10 minutes and it’s ready. You may want to check if the water is evaporating too quickly, so you may add a little to get the amount of stock you want.

With the dried shiitake mushroom, all you have to do is use the reconstituted liquid from the soaked mushrooms as your dashi substitute that is actually have a strong umami flavor. I think it could be for about 10-30 minutes. Just pinch the mushrooms to see if they’re soft enough and it’s good to go.

When I mean go, I don’t mean you should throw them away. The dried kombu and shiitake can be reused for several times. You just need to store them in a clean plastic bag and into the freezer.

Furthermore, you may even use any vegetable you fancy or already have in your cupboard. Just boil them all in just 20 minutes and strain all those juicy goodness. With a sprinkle of salt and pepper, you’ll have the veggie stock dashi sub in no time.

If you’re going to ask about veggie scraps, well, stay away from them because peelings and damaged parts create a bitter taste.

4. Chicken broth

You’re very lucky if you stock on chicken broth in your kitchen, because chicken broth is your easiest and fastest dashi substitute.

You just have to make sure the chicken broth is a little subtle than it should be when you decide to use for cooking dashi recipes.

It doesn’t really give you the “taste of the sea” but it would actually be a great emergency dashi because it had done the long-wait-for-slow-cooking-and-straining process for you.

If you would ask about beef broth or stock, I highly suggest you steer away from the cow. Beef broth or stock has a stronger taste that defeats the dashi’s simplicity, so it wouldn’t be match as a dashi substitute.

5. Powdered or cubed broth

You must still use the chicken or fish flavor if you only have the cubed or powdered versions of the broth.

They are very packed in flavor so add more liquid than necessary but do not add much as you may loose the taste and may end up adding salt instead.

Conclusion

From the words of renowned chef Eric Ripert, “it’s fantastically perfumed water…invisible but brings more depth”. You can elevate it’s flavor profile by adding more ingredients to make your cooking stock much more
flavorful, and well, it depends on what recipe you are cooking.

Our main goal for the dashi substitutes is to have the same level of elegance, clarity and depth of profile. The different stocks we have tried are best to be used if you’re veering towards curiosity and creativity.

You should also atleast try to make or eat an authentic dashi so you’ll know what it really taste like. That’s you’re guiding light in our dashi substitutes.

So which of our stocks have you tried making? How about using them as a dashi substitute? Share your stories in the comments section.

Stay tuned for our next kitchen hacks!

I have a sweet tooth for everything spicy or should I say I have a “spicy tooth”? Oh that’s silly! But actually, I really enjoy the warmth (or sweat) of eating something with chili powder.

From barbecue to sauces, a sprinkle or a bottle, chili powder is my “exciting” agent. It does bring so much brightness to the dish, right?

What is Chili Powder

Chili powder is a usual kitchen spice that comes from grinding smoked or dried one or more kinds of peppers. Then it’s blended with other spices like oregano to achieve even deeper flavors.

With so much flavors enhancements the chili powder can bring to your dishes, it really is a must-have in every kitchen. You can even make tons and tons of recipes with chili powder.

So it’s no wonder you may ran out of this ruby seasoning. Don’t fret ‘cause I got you covered with today’s list of chili powder substitutes!

Today, we’ll be having a trip to the chili world to find ways on how to make chili powder substitutes. This is so fun to try because they are very easy to do and so exciting as to how spicy your options can be.

Before we start, I know that you’re probably worrying of the “behind” problems of eating too much spicy food. Well, this study by National Center for Biotechnology Information debunks the old tale that eating spicy foods leads or worsens hemorrhoids but it actually does not and can not.

Eating chili peppers may even bring you longevity. The family of bell peppers are rich in Vitamin C and can lower the risk of death, according to the research study by University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Substitute for chili powder

1. Fresh Chili

Let’s start the list with something fresh–fresh chili peppers! All those processed chili condiments come from fresh pepper fruit that are either smoked, dried and then canned, bottled, or even hanged (for good luck).

There are more than a hundred of chili pepper varieties and Guinness even has the world record for the spiciest of them all.

Fresh chili pepper is a great chili powder substitute because you can enjoy the actual bite of fiery goodness and by removing the seeds, you can lessen the spicy action you want.

You should use fresh peppers as a chili powder substitute in recipes that use chili powder as garnish, like in salads. You can also use fresh peppers as your star ingredient in recipes like chili con carne and  bell pepper ones .

Plus, you can enjoy more colors in your cuisines because chili peppers are not just red and green anymore–there are yellows, purples, and even brown and white!

Here, Pepperhead will help you get started with chili farming and preserve them however you want to.

2. Chili Paste

Now that we know the kinds of fresh peppers, it’s time to head to another easy way to replace the chili powder–chili paste!

Many countries have their own spicy paste to call and it’s available anywhere nowadays, so you don’t need to worry where to buy one.

Chili paste is a great chili powder substitute because you don’t need to wait for the powder to dissolve or worry about its gritty texture. Just use a scoop and you can easily enjoy your spicy meals.

Making your own paste is so easy! Start with a primer, puree a bunch of dried chilies and there you have it! This 20-minute recipe for red chili paste is a good guide on how to make one.

You can just alter the kind of dried peppers, the kind of oil you’ll cook it with, and if you prefer with or without seeds will give you a wider range of spiciness and flavor. Start using your chili paste with these recipes.

3. Chili Flakes

From the name itself, chili flakes is the almost-there version of chili powder. Except that the blend of chili flakes are all dried chilis and chili powder is a blend of other spices.

Chili flakes are also interchangeably called as “red pepper flakes” or “crushed peppers”. The seeds are very obvious with the flakes than with the powder.

It might not be 1 to 1 ratio of chili flakes-chili powder substitution because you might prefer being hotter or smokier, but 1:1 can be as close as you can be in alteration.

You might probably think chili powder recipes are limited to savory and garnish. Well how about a Nigella Lawson-inspired chocolate chili cake that uses chili flakes instead of powder? To get you started, buy some here now!

4. Whole Peppercorns

Tired of grinding and pounding? Let’s try whole peppercorns!

Peppercorns are berries or seeds that have been dried up. They are usually used as a condiment or seasoning.

Rising from a wide variety of colors and taste is Penja pepper. Hailed as Michelin-star grade in taste and is even protected by EU.

Penja pepper grows in the Penja Valley of Cameroon, West Africa. The rich volcanic soil in the valley gives its exotic pure taste, compared with the usual varieties that have a “commercialized” taste.

These beady jewels release their kick when you bite them and so it’s a really exciting chili powder substitute to try.

Depending on the dish and the kind of peppercorn, use equal amounts appropriately to your taste.

5. Hot Sauces

And now there’s an even easier way to have a chili powder substitute–hot sauce! You can substitute a splash or a spoon of hot sauce to equal amounts of chili powder requirement in your cuisine–still, depending on the hot sauce and your preference of spiciness.

Whether green or red, dried or fresh, hot sauce is cooking peppers with other fruits or vegetables, seasonings and vinegar (as a preservative). Some hot sauces are used right away after cooking and some require long aging process to give it depth of flavor.

All hot sauces differ in taste, flavor, aroma, texture and aging process. Having the right understanding is your best guide in choosing which is best for what recipe.

Danielle St. Pierre of BEST gives you 2017’s best hot sauces brands. And try these recipes to match these best hot sauces in town.

6. Ground/Powdered Spices

Paprika is the ultimate chili powder substitute because it’s of the same smokiness you’re looking for in a chili powder; not so spicy, though. Also, paprika has the fiery red color that brightens the appearance of your dishes.

You probably had a grocery dilemma with chile and chili powders, right? They’re almost the same, except that chile powder is more “pure” than the chili blend.

Chili powder blend’s usual ingredients are ground chiles (seeds and all), cumin, garlic powder, oregano powder, onion powder, and salt. Habanero or cayenne are the usual (and much hotter) varieties of chile powder.

You can use a 1 to 1 ratio but you are also free to tweak the portions if you deem saltier or less saltier flavor of your chili powder.

By blending other ground or powdered spices, you can create your self-made chili spice. So get a spice grinder and powder away your own chili powder blend!

Just remember, chili powder can lasts 2-3 years in your shelves so make sure your chili powder substitute would be stored well and use well, too.

7. Old Bay Seasoning

Crab lovers would tell you more about Old Bay seasoning and it’s actually a wild card to our chili powder substitutes because it does have the smokiness of paprika yet not too hot to replace chili powder. Still, it’s flavor-enhancing element qualifies it in our list.

Old Bay has its own famous flavor, so try to keep it with original recipes when you have to use it as a chili powder substitute.

Conclusion

Chili powder is a wonderful spice that all kitchens should always have. And for cooking emergencies, these chili powder substitutes can make your way through.

You should always be mindful of the level of spiciness, saltiness, smokiness and color of the choice of pepper you’ll going to use. Adjust it to your preference because it may not always be the same equal amounts when you use these chili powder substitutions.

So enjoy your fiery flavors with our chili powder substitutes and reinvent your traditional dishes to bring new flare. And remember to adjust accordingly to your palate or it’ll blow your heads off.

Tell me about your chili powder substitutes in the comments section below and keep on watching for new tips and tricks in the kitchen. See you again!

What is Balsamic Vinegar

I have been cooking for years now and I have proven that some things in the kitchen are better when they are aged.  There’s nonna and her cooking, there’s wine, there’s cheese, and there’s vinegar.

But this aged vinegar is not just your ordinary vinegar and it’s actually more like a wine than vinegar–it’s the sweet, tangy, glimmering black liquid of balsamic vinegar.

What is in balsamic vinegar

What is balsamic vinegar made of/from: From Trebbiano white grapes must (whole pressed grapes together with juice, skin, seeds and stems), balsamic vinegar is a prized Italian possession that has a royalty background since 1000 AD.

Health benefits of balsamic vinegar: You know why it’s a prized possession? Because making this delicate condiment is painstakingly laborious yet equally heavenly satisfying when tasted.

With countless of recipes you can do with balsamic vinegar, it’s no wonder you can run out of it. You may also think twice of buying one because of its “royal” price range when there are commercial-grade ones, which do not match the level of delicacy.

When I mean “royal”, I mean $400 a bottle of the so-called Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale of either Modena or Reggio Emilia, Italy. So, it’s really important to have the slightest idea of the taste and kind of an original, traditional balsamic vinegar to be on the right
path of flavor or color substitutions.

This is also one of the reasons why we have substitutes for balsamic vinegar–the authentic is just super expensive and the taste is way incomparable with the ones at your local grocery store.

So, our list includes balsamic vinegar variants and some recipes you may have to whip it up yourself. These recipes do not involve any barrel and will not harm your Cinderella tippy toes, so don’t worry and let’s begin.

7 Balsamic Vinegar Substitute

1. Fruity vinegar and sugar

For me, the easiest and the fastest substitute for balsamic vinegar is 1 tablespoon of apple cider mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar. This equation can replace 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

You have the tanginess of apple and the molassey-sweetness of sugar that almost replicates the sweetly sour balsamic vinegar. You may also opt to use fruity vinegars in place of the apple cider.

Make sure you mix them well to dilute all that sugar crystals and have a perfect dressing for your salad.

2. Red Wine Vinegar and Sugar

Considered the best substitute for balsamic vinegar is red wine vinegar. For 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, you need one 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of white or brown sugar.

Brown sugar has that oaky taste of the balsamic vinegar’s barrel but you can also replace the brown or white sugar with honey (using the same measurement for the sweeteners) for your fish recipe.

Why not give sherry wine vinegar a try and to replace red wine vinegar in this recipe? It will surely give a different flavor profile to your dish.

You might think red wine vinegar is exactly what balsamic vinegar is, right? Well, you’re absolutely mistaken. From origin to production process, down to its color and taste, there are lot more differences than similarities with red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar.

3. Non-fruity Vinegar and Sugar

You have probably used this white acidic liquid in your cooking as often as the seasons change or you have probably used it for life hacks instead, am I correct?

Well, I don’t blame you because even Reader’s Digest has 150 uses of vinegar and even cooking is not one of them.

So in a small pot, you’re going to use 5 cups of any vinegar mixed with 1 cup of sugar that you will cook in low heat until all the sugar is dissolved. To match the color of black beauty of balsamic vinegar, you may use brown rice vinegar or Chinese black vinegar.

Both brown and Chinese black vinegar came from rice and is meticulously prepared like their cousin. You can also make your own homemade brown rice vinegar.

Let it cool first before using with your roasted vegetable lasagne or just drizzle to your brunch meal.

4. Balsamic Vinaigrette

The only difference of the balsamic vinegar to its vinaigrette counterpart is olive oil. Basically, it’s 3-to-1 ratio—3 parts oil and 1 part vinegar. If you watch this, balsamic vinaigrette is so easy to make and is best to replace balsamic vinegar as a salad dressing.

5. Malt vinegar

If balsamic vinegar may have an oaky flair to it, malt vinegar has some barley beer-y goodness to it. Malt vinegar is an excellent substitute for balsamic vinegar if you’re going for a more intense taste than a mellow one.

Just tone the malt vinegar down with some sugar (according to your taste) to achieve the balance in balsamic. Make sure to complete dissolve the granules before using.

It’s an incredible gastrique to try with your balsamic vinegar recipes.

6. Lemon juice, molasses, soy sauce

This recipe is not only easy to make but easy to remember, too! You just need equal parts of lemon juice, syrup and soy sauce.

For 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, you just need 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of molasses, and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. If you don’t have or can’t find molasses, brown sugar syrup or brown rice syrup is good to go.

No need for heating so just mix everything in a bowl and whisk with a fork. Adjust accordingly to taste: too sweet—add more lemon juice, too sour—add more syrup.

You can now create a gastronomic balsamic vinegar dessert like no other.

7. Balsamic vinegar from wine

In this recipe, you can use any kind of red wine but make sure it’s less than 12 % alcohol content. Wines with higher alcohol percentage than 12 will not metabolize the vinegar bacteria.

Before starting, you need to prepare:

• 1 purpose-made vinegar crock
• 100 percent nebbiolo wine, such as barbareso, barolo or roero riserva
• 1 mother of vinegar (mycoderma aceti)
• Cheesecloth
• Coffee filter
• Sieve or fine strainer
• 2 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 gallon glass jar

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

• Dilute the wine with a wine-bottle full of distilled water.
• Add the mother of vinegar (gelatinous acidic strain of bacteria in vinegar) to a purpose-made crock with a spigot at the bottom.
• Pour in the wine.
• Cover the wine with three layers of cheesecloth and use rubber bank or kitchen string to secure them to the vinegar crock.
• Place the vinegar crock in a dark room with 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. The basement, attic and even the closet works. You can set the crock inside a cardboard box in a room with the required temperature range.
• Leave the crock alone for 3 months and you’ll now it’s ready when you smell it.
• Strain the vinegar through a sieve lined with a few layers of cheesecloth over a new container. Dispose the mother of vinegar.
• To make sure no more impurities, strain the vinegar once more using a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
• Put the vinegar in a saucepan and add 2 1/2 cups of sugar.
• In medium heat, simmer the vinegar mixture and let it reduce by half in quantity. Now, transfer the vinegar to your sanitized 1-gallon glass jar.
• Using clean and dry cheesecloth, cover the glass jar with three layers of cheesecloth. Return the vinegar in the dark area to age for at least two months. The longer the aging process, the deeper the depth of flavor.

Conclusion

It’s never easy to substitute something to as unique as the balsamic vinegar. But in case of running out of the authentic one, these substitutes are a dish savior!

You might want to stock one expensive, authentic bottle of balsamic vinegar and be
creative with the 7 cheap and easy options we had today. Here’s a plus recipe for
Balsamic reduction, in case you went all-out with your balsamic vinegar.

Now you have the tricks of the trade, you better watch out on how to properly use balsamic vinegar.

I know you have some tricks of your own. Can you share your tips with us in the comments sections below or tell me which substitute for balsamic vinegar did you find most interesting? Most clever? Or most unexpected?

Tune in for more exciting substitution technique next time!