Redditor FattyGobbles wanted to talk about the best of menus, no matter how it's prepared, they asked:
"What food tastes great cold as it does hot?"
Chinese food.
I can eat chinese food frozen.
OK, that's exaggerating, but it is just as good cold as hot.
That's a scientific fact.
Aloha
"Those sweet Hawaiian rolls." ~ tsundereed
"King's Hawaiian is the brand name. They are the sh*t." ~ OnTheEveOfWar
Giphyphyllo dough
"Baklava." ~ t1dogsandweights
"As long as you use store bought phyllo dough, making baklava from scratch is actually not particularly difficult."
"Just layer the dough sheets in a baking dish with melted butter and a nut/cinnamon mixture, slice it, bake it, and then pour the syrup over it just as it is out of the oven. The sound of it crackling when the syrup is poured on is just. Wow. One shouldn't eat it just then, though, because you want to wait for the syrup to be fully absorbed." ~ HootieRocker59
Soups on...
"Soba noodles. Cold soba in the summer is refreshing, and hot in the winter to keep your warm." ~ Sasazaki222
"Soupy noodles in general seem to fit the bill (at least from my Japanese standpoint). Soba, udon, hiyashi chuka/ramen... I'm starting to get hungry." ~ sassafrankimberly
"I get the soba sauce and noodles from my local H Mart and then just takeout tempura from the Japanese place near me when I want soba. Incredibly low effort for the payoff, and you can totally make an individual serving size fresh a few nights in a row instead of a large one for your family." ~ waterfountain_bidet
The Best of Life
"Chocolate." ~ CupOk3383
"Many years ago I found myself in Madrid visiting a friend. I didn’t know this before hand, but if you ever get the opportunity to go to Madrid, stay up all evening eating tapas and end the night with hot chocolate. My initiation into this involved going down to a basement level establishment in central Madrid around 3 in the morning,."
"Walked past a guy stirring a huge pot of chocolate, aromas of cacao beans and flickers of candle light bouncing off stone walls escorted me to a solid wooden table. Sit, talk, drink amazing chocolate. If there was a choice to live in a world with either chocolate or coffee. I choose chocolate." ~ bayous2mountains
That Hour
"2 am snacks." ~ TheFriendlyDrunks
"I’ll crush 11 Oreos and a glass of milk at 2am no problem." ~ letsgobruins
GiphyWhy do things taste better at 2am?
The exact hour we should NEVER eat?
It just all goes down so smooth, though.
It's All American
"Pie." ~ anb1017
"I don't think anyone enjoys hot and cold pie equally but I do think both sides have large and loyal fanbases. I'm team cold." ~ basedlandchad14
GiphyBOOM. Delicious.
"Soft bread." ~ frenchjolynekujo
"I mean this works a couple ways too. Like a piece of bread and butter, with good bread, and a quality butter, is delicious on its own Toast that up first, BOOM, delicious! But a fresh slice, from a fresh baked loaf thats still warm, well." ~ Aksi_Gu
Such good dairy...
"Cheese." ~ Yippyskippyhippy
"I like (almost) every kind of cheese more when it's melted. But my mother hates when cheese is melted on anything but pizza. Like, years back, she asked if I would make her a sandwich when I was going to go make one for myself."
"I said sure, made them both, heated them just enough to melt the cheese, and she reacted to it in disgust. Not in a rude way, I don't even remember if she asked me to remake it or not, but I was left always remembering that she cannot stand melted cheese." ~ waltjrimmer
Meats
"Ham."
~ Sceptile4president
"Among meats, also chicken and corned beef. As for ham, I sometimes cut it into 1/2 inch slices and broil on each side. It's supposed to be for sandwiches, but I snack on them cold. Only works with cuts from a 1/2 ham, pre-cut ham slices are too thin. Does anyone else hate that pre-cut ham slices are slicing off the best part before you buy your rump end ham?" ~ JustaRandomOldGuy
Just gimme...
"Brownies." ~ SpectralDM
“'A nice warm brownie' and 'a nice chilled brownie' sound equally delicious in ways most other foods do not." ~ TheAndorran
GiphyBrownies.
Eat brownies, wherever, whenever, however you can get them.
And pasts, pasta is great in all states.
I love carbs.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
I've never really been food adventurous so I don't have to worry. I won't even touch a pepper whose color I haven't looked into. And when it comes to hot sauces, once the name on the bottle starts getting convoluted... I'm out. Apparently some people like to throw caution to the wind with meals.
Orchard Issues
mr t conan obrien GIF by Team CocoGiphyTurns out, I'm allergic to apples!
My kid has OAS too. She reacts to certain apples, but not others, which sounds totally crazy. It's such a weird one. She can't have peaches which gives her the sads.
Shroomed...
Accidentally ate a poisonous mushroom on vacation when I was 5. I was non responsive and ended up in the hospital for a couple of days.
To clarify: Nobody knew it was poisonous until I didn't react to anything later that night when I was already laying in bed. Yeah exactly. I though the hospital was a dream at first and tried to take of my IV and walk away lol. I was on vacation we got a pan full of mushrooms from some friendly locals for dinner. All of them were fine except the one I ate.
Potassium Fail
Bananas. Apparently, I'm allergic to them and didn't know for the first 28 years of my life. My daughter was describing how bananas make her throat itchy and that's when my wife told me that wasn't normal... still love them I'm just a bit more careful as to how many I consume.
Lethal
psilocybin mushrooms shrooms GIFGiphyGyromitra esculenta. Poisonous mushroom that can be lethal if not parboiled correctly, but I trust my mom. She makes AMAZING mushroom sauce from them. One of the best thing I've eaten.
Rattled
Fried rattlesnake! The guy didn't tell me it was still filled with dozens of tiny ribs which lodged in the back of my mouth.
I had to reach in with my hand and pull them out before I felt safe to breath again.
Edit: It was lightly flavored and flaky like fish
I'd eat it again.
See now, half of those it just makes common sense to be sure about before stuffing your face. I get wanting to try something new... but come on. You know what else is new for a one and only time? A coffin. Just saying. Let's see what else is on the menu.
Like a Kardashian
Those round red and white striped mints they give out at some restaurants. Choked so bad my dad had to stop the car on our way home and check if I was alright. Then my parents banned me from eating those for a few years.
Oh and a few years ago while eating sushi, I accidentally ate a big chunk of wasabi, I didn't see it on my chopsticks. My lips swelled up so much I'm sure the Kardashians would've been jealous. This almost happened again on Saturday.
Eating Jaws
Fermented shark. The taste itself was enough to make my stomach quiver, but worse were the flavor burps that lasted for two days that no amount of toothpaste/mouthwash could destroy.
So my husband and I tried it on our honeymoon in Iceland. We tried it because that's basically the only place in the world we'd try it and it's a traditional food there.
The guy who is us try it told us to imagine it being like a super funky cheese. I had an immediate gag reaction, as soon as it hit my tongue my body said it absolutely wasn't food. However my husband, while it's not a thing he'd just snacks on, didn't think it was bad. But he also like funky cheeses like limburger.
Swole Up
GiphyThis one time I had a turkey sausage and I guess I was allergic to something in it because my lips swelled so big I looked like a botched lip filler surgery victim. I ended up going to the hospital and now I carry an epipen.
MSM
Methylsulfonylmethane or MSM. It's a dietary supplement that some people take to treat joint issues. My FIL was taking it and wanted me to try it because it has a very peculiar taste. He gave be a spoon that probably only had 1/8-1/4 teaspoon of the powder on it. I took it, tasted it, it was very bitter, and swallowed.
Within a few minutes my throat began to swell, I had some tightness to my chest and some wheezing plus some hives awhile later. I had started into anaphylaxis. Luckily it didn't proceed too far.
That's how I discovered I was allergic to sulfur and/or sulfur compounds.
It's also what I joke about with my FIL - the time he tried to kill me for marrying his daughter.
Nuts
Hungry Lets Eat GIF by youngnailsincGiphyCashew bar. Didn't know your tongue could itch. Or that you could feel your throat closing up. First time I cried in front of my mom in years.
Yeah, I'll stick with my less "sophisticated" palette. My biggest adventure is different sushi roles and even then I'm super careful. But at least I live another day to try something else. And without a debilitating reaction.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Even closely following a recipe can be frustrating when the finished product just doesn't capture that burst of flavor found in the foods we eat at restaurants.
Why is that? What are these online recipes cruelly leaving out? Are we doing something wrong?
Usually, an excess of butter or salt should do the trick, but even those quick fixes don't always apply.
Fortunately, chefs online were generous to share some of their secrets from the kitchen when Redditor liberta0407 asked:
"Chefs of Reddit, what's is your single favourite ingredient and why?"
Maybe Not In Your Pantry
Think outside the box and your palate will be awakened.
"Sweet Sticky Heaven"
"BLACK GARLIC!!!!. MAKES EVERYTHING 100x better. Most of what I see here is staple pantry items. IF YOU DONT HAVE BLACK GARLIC, GET IT. Crush it into a paste and make a compound butter or anything. B L A C K G A R L I C. SWEET STICKY HEAVEN"
"Garam Masala! I find it to be sooo good in many savory dishes. I replace cumin with it whenever it's called for. It's INCREDIBLE in chili or any Asian-influenced dishes!"
– ABeld96
People Share The 'Dirty Secrets' That Their Bosses Don't Want Customers To Know
Reddish-Purple Powder
"Sumac. Seriously, get yourself a huge bag for like $15 bucks and thank me later. It's lemony and salty, sweet and smoky and earthy and beautifully red. Sprinkle it on toast, curry, chicken, steak, tacos, devilled eggs, ice cream... Just about everything."
"You can also brew it like tea and it has an intense wild-berry flavor."
Not All Households Have It
"My mom is half Iranian, so we grew up eating sumac with our rice all the time. My parents thought it was hilarious when little me asked for some while at a friend's house, and of course they had never heard of it."
Savory Dried Herbs
"zaatar is amazing. you can have it with olive oil; dip a small piece of pita bread in olive oil then dip that same piece in a separate bowl with zaatar (obv another bowl from the storage container) for breakfast and thank me later."
For Pasta Sauce
"Bay leaves. Like salt you don't want them to be the dominant flavor in anything, but they make a night and day difference in stews, pasta sauce, you name it."
For Baking
"Not a chef, but a baker. Cardamom. It's still not super common in American baked goods, and while I love cinnamon, that flavor isn't special to my palette anymore. Cardamom gives such a warm, floral scent/flavor to whatever you make, and can be paired with so many things. Treat yourself: add some cardamom and orange zest to your next batch of banana bread."
Flavor-Deepener
"Cardamom is incredibly inviting. The fragrance and the flavor add dimension...I really don't know how to put it into words. It's so easy to recognize even though it doesn't overpower. It's wonderful and as you said goes ups the flavor of a wide spectrum of foods. Whatever cardamom is added to,it deepens the flavor experience."
It's About...
"Thyme"
"Thyme pairs well with meat, tomatoes, and beans."
"It is the main ingredient in the classic French herb combinations Bouquet Garni and Herbes de Provence. These herb blends are frequently used to flavor meat, stews, and soups."
"Can't imagine not having thyme on my side when cooking a wide variety of dishes."
Taking Stock
"Best life hack I ever learned was adding chicken stock cubes to cut potato's boiling in water. Seriously will up your potato game in ways you can't imagine. I've also done it with rice as well where the rice was going into something else."
Nice Pour
A touch of the following can add so much flavor. Just careful with portions.
Queen Of Oilseeds
"roasted sesame seed oil, it adds a light nuttiness and saltiness to a dish."
Use with care though. It's amazing, but it can overtake a dish fast if you use too much."
"Nice Umami"
"Chef of 25 years. Personal favorite is worcestershire sauce."
"Use it more at home than in restaurants I've worked. Such a nice umami though."
The Missing Ingredient
"Vinegar. It is often the thing that is missing when people go for more salt and spices in their cooking wondering why it doesn't taste quite as good as in a restaurant."
Just A Squeeze
"Chef here"
"Lemon juice, enhances flavour in almost anything. Vinegar is too dominant for me."
– mons388
One amateur chef who appeared to be overwhelmed by many of the options contributed something else to consider.
This person suggested, "beer," but not as a secret ingredient for use in food.
"I drink 4 or 5 before cooking and my food tastes 10 times better!" they joked.
Not my personal method, but beer is most definitely a wonderful addition to your recipes if you want to bring out the flavor of meats and vegetables. Just substitute it with water as a simmering liquid.
I'm no chef either, but beer is also an excellent baking agent that adds lightness to your favorite baked goods like banana bread, muffins, or pancakes.
Now go out and get your culinary imaginations brewing.
As long as you can follow recipe directions and paying attention to measuring ingredients, the tasty dishes you prepare should be an accomplishment you should be proud of.
But what about the details that are not necessarily mentioned in cook books that can lead to better results?
Redditor Tw1sted_inc asked:
"Chefs of Reddit, what are some cooking tips everyone should know?"
Unless you are running the Food Network on your TV, 24/7, it appears there is a lot to learn. Got your cooking aprons on? Let's go!
That's Sharp
"a falling knife has no handle."
"The worst cut I've ever had was from trying catch one on reflex. I got sliced across all my fingers, great tip to internalize."
Spicing Things Up
"Two things for beginners:"
"First, taste as you cook. At various stages of cooking, while safe (not raw meat) taste your food as you cook it. This let's you know if you have too much of something or too little. It also helps you develop your palette for what different seasonings do."
"Second, if you're just starting out and don't know which spices to buy. Pick a specific cuisine you like. Are you a fan of italian food? Focus only on Italian recipes for a while. Most use similar herbs and spices because the cuisine of the area used what they had available to them."
"This will let you learn several recipes without having to buy massive amounts of spices to make it work. Eventually you will build up a good stock and be set to handle most things."
Highly Flammable
"Oven mits can in fact catch on fire."
"A good kitchen should be equipped with a plentiful supply of clean dry towels."
– Ben_zyl
Never Ever Do This
"Whatever you do do NOT put your coconut in the microwave."
"If it's a whole coconut I feel like the coconut water might as it evaporetes create a huge pressure inside of the coconut shell which will build up until it's strong enough to physically shatter the hard shell, at which point it's also strong enough to f'k sh*t up. But pure guesswork :P"
Restaurant Quality
"Three or four times the amount of butter and salt is a big part of why your food doesn't taste like restaurant food."
Don't Drain The Boiled Water
"For thick and nice sauces, use the water you cook your pasta with."
– IZiOstra
Master These Concepts
"Salt is seasoning. It makes food taste more like itself. Acids, like citrus or vinegar can act the also do this. If your food tastes flat, or like it is missing something, try some salt or acid. Acid is also critical for balancing very rich fatty foods. The reason Americans love tomato ketchup so much is the fact that it adds acid and salt to their food. Adding a bit of 'heat' like a pinch of cayenne can also accentuate a the flavor of a dish. Spices are something else. They bring a new and different flavor to the dish."
"In sweets, sugar often takes the place of salt and is usually balanced by acid - see passionfruit, raspberry, citrus, etc. But salt plays an important role in sweets as well - often in unexpected ways. Try putting a pinch of kosher salt into your next batch of whipped cream."
"I could keep going but I'll leave it there. If you can master these concepts you will have a big advantage over most home cooks."
Timing Is Everything
"The amount of garlic flavor is dependent on WHEN you add the garlic. Add it early for light flavor, add it late for bold flavor."
In Honor Of The Best Chef – Mom
"I've been crushing the home chef game since [the virus] started. Mom was a massive cook, always cooking up the best sh*t at the church potluck, always giving folks who were sick some Dope a**, none-caseroll, Wildly delicious Puerto Rican-Iowan farmer fusion type sh*t. Everyone agreed she was the best cook they had ever known. So I grew up hearing this and started paying attention when I realized none of my friends moms even cooked at home other than one or two meals a week."
"My mom was making up every single meal from scratch. Oh you want oatmeal? 'I'll bake my own, it's cheaper and better.' Or 'let's make tacos next week, I'll start sprouting the oats so I can grind my own flower for the tortillas' woman was insanely talented. Never made mistakes. Knife skills off the charts. Pressure cooking bones and veggies for a whole day before the chicken noodle soup (at which, of course, she made her own noodles from scratch). Mom's even had her own (massive) garden, and we butchered our own chickens (small hobby farm).
"So when this pandemic hit, I started throwing the f'k down in the kitchen. Well... needless to say I've been using garlic a good bit because—let's be honest if you're not using garlic, you're not cooking most meals right—it's f'king delicious. And this one tip is going to level up my game so f'king hard it's not even funny. RIP, mom. You are hugely missed. I'll keep cooking till I die and every time I hit the recipe/idea just right, imma think of you."
Go with Wood.
GiphyPlease don't use hard cutting boards like glass. Go with plastic or wood. Melissa-Crown
Mom is mad.
Don't leave anything on a hot stove, melted a whole plastic spatula. Mom is mad. dr302
Years ago, I had two housemates who, less than a week apart, both managed to melt Tupperware containers onto stove elements that THEY had just been using (so they both KNEW the element was hot), did half-fooled jobs of cleaning it off, and were then surprised I noticed.
I'd literally never known anyone do anything like that ever before, and it's never happened again since. I am still dumbfounded at how they managed to do it, especially the second one, because... Well, the first had just happen happened. nipaka
=/=
High heat =/= faster cook time you'll just burn the outside and inside will be raw. ReasonableBeep
I'm not sure I like this as general advice. I think people cooking with too little heat is a far more common problem than people really cranking up the temps. 454trltljrlj
Do Better.
Don't do what my wife did and put hot bacon grease in Tupperware. Had to have a long conversation with her on that and why you don't put knives blade side up in the dishwasher after one went an inch into my finger. I love her. Krigsgaeldr
Rules.
- Not sharpening your damn knives
- Not storing your tools in a clean place. If you got it out of a dirty drawer and didn't wash it, guess what, it's dirty
- Overcooking pasta
- Undercooking rice
- Using cheap or substandard ingredients. If you cook something yourself, you have control over everything that goes in. So don't use something like a sad, tasteless tomato in a salad or chocolate chips that don't melt because they contain barely any real chocolate. Taman_Should
Fluff It.
Stirring rice. When you're cooking rice on the stove and you bring the rice to a boil, just stick the lid on and turn the heat down the loan and don't touch it. Take it off the burner after 15 minutes and fluff it with the fork. If you stir it it'll make it sticky. OnlyPopcorn
Mamma Mia....
My mother doesn't time pasta she just tosses it in the water and "It's done when the sauce is done" which means whenever she happens to walk by and see the sauce is boiling. It never occurred to me until I moved out and started cooking for myself that her pasta is criminally over cooked.
She asked me why my pasta always tastes so much different than hers and I told her I cook it the amount of time the package says to. She had never thought to look on the package for cooking instructions, and I think that really explains why a lot of her meals turn out the way they do. Vixenstein
Dashed.
GiphyA "dash" of salt is NOT a "dish" of salt. esquemo
This is why so many recipes say season to taste. Obviously not possible for raw meat, but after a while you'll gain a pretty good sense of how much to use. PiesangSlagter
Be Free.
Don't be stuck in your ways. Every moment is a learning experience, sure... you can have that go to recipe, but taking input, criticism and just being generally aware... you can pick up new tricks and ideas like a new download app. Different situations can be rectified by different solutions, varying on time, equipment and care. discordia39
Hold the Water.
GiphyDon't use water to put out a grease fire. IAmAChronicLiar
Better options are to suffocate the fire if it's small enough to cover completely with a lid, or using a lot of baking soda.
If it's a big fire you might get in a commercial kitchen you probably have a dry chemical extinguisher on the wall near by. Retired_cyclops
Oh the Fat.
Don't pour hot fryer oil down the drain. Especially if you have pvc pipes. m31td0wn
I usually pour all my fats and oils into a separate dish, where I refrigerate it and throw it out as a solid with the trash.
Problem is, each time I do this, I go "I'll pour a little more in so I save some water and not wash this dish now".
Basically, I have a bowl full of solidified grease and fat in my fridge at home. fantastictechinique
The Meat.
Don't store raw meat with cooked meat. ParadoxXYZ
One time this fool who I was seeing decided to put cooked chicken shish kebabs on the same plate as the uncooked ones. They were just all touching each other and mixing their spices and things. I couldn't tell there were uncooked ones because they were coated... Until I took a huge bite out of some raw two day old chicken.
For various reasons, including this one, I want that man's diving tank to have structural instability. Soggy-Job
Dairy Issues.....
Not paying close attention when you're boiling milk. One second there's no bubbles, a couple seconds later it's boiling all over the place. DeathSpiral321
Oh yeah. You can usually tell when it's about to boil with how the surface changes. arrowowl
Knives Out....
catching a falling knife. don't even TRY to catch it. step back, and let it fall my guy. novaizawave
This is what killed the night king. AtheistCreationist
Click.
You have to click the tongs several times each time before you use them. Otherwise they won't work. Terror_Beer
You also have to take 1 pair in each hand and pretend you're zoidberg for 5 minutes before actually using them. Fruitbat3
taste test....
Not seasoning as you cook, not tasting as you cook. ukexpat
Made onion rings the other day. They were so good and I ate so many from the paper towel where they were cooling that I couldn't even eat my burger. Forget me they were delicious, though. naranjaspencer
For the love of God.....
For the love of god, you will keep your metal utensil away from the non stick pan.
I will take that utensil from you an poke you with it. JoeHappy
Mix it....
GiphyNot mixing your thickener (flour, corn starch, arrowroot, etc.) with something (usually water) before adding to the liquid, unless you like unexpected spaetzle. Horatio_ATM
Yep. Saw a chef do this and I was absolutely dumbfounded. I told this story on reddit and a bunch of people argued with me calling it a roux even though a roux is supposed to be made with butter in another pan. Never put raw flour in a sauce. Iceehawk