Reddit mentions: The best meat seasonings

I do! I was born into a family that owned a Thai restaurant, which I took over from age 18 to 27, and I’ve also a total whore for Asian cuisine so I can definitely help with soy sauce suggestions!

So here’s a great tip: you should have at least two different kinds of soy sauce including a light soy sauce and a dark one, with perhaps two or three additional kinds of specialty soy-based seasoning sauces. While that sounds like a lot, generally soy sauce is an inexpensive ingredient, even for more high-quality brands, and a bottle will last you for ages. I’ll give you a few recommendations for each category. As a side note these are Amazon links, but if you have access to an Asian grocery store then I absolutely suggest buying them there instead as you would save at least 50% off the prices.

Light Soy Sauce: this is your workaday soy sauce, the kind you would add savory saltiness to stir-fries or dip your sushi in.

Pearl River Bridge Golden Label Superior Light Soy Sauce - is a great standby favorite of Asian chefs the world over, especially in the seafood palaces of Hong Kong. It’s less jarringly salty than say a Kikkoman, with more complexity. Pearl River Bridge is a really well-respected brand of Asian condiments, generally all of their products will be either good to excellent. Note that they produce two different varieties of light soy sauce, the “Superior” and the “Golden Label” - always go for the Golden Label, it’s just better in every way than the “Superior”.

The second light soy sauce I’d recommend is San-J Tamari - which is made wholly of soybeans without any wheat. While this is good news for anyone with gluten sensitivity issues, the flavor has a more pronounced umami because of it.

Dark Soy Sauce: think of dark soy sauce as a soy balsamic vinegar - it’s a highly-concentrated, almost syrupy sauce that also has a bit of sugar for a hint of sweetness. It is ideal for marinades, salad dressings, glazes, I’ve even used it in desserts!

[Pearl River Bridge Mushroom Flavored Superior Dark Soy Sauce](16.9 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M6A03MU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ImLPDbGVGZ3K0) - is an umami bomb to your tastebuds, rich with portobello mushroom notes and a perfect accompaniment to red meat dishes like wok-seared ribeye with gai lan aka Chinese broccoli.

Healthy Boy Thai Sweet Soy Sauce White Label - as thick as molasses, this sweet soy is essential in traditional Thai noodle dishes like ผัดซีอิ้ว (pad see iew) and is also good when you want to add a little savoriness to sweet recipes. I once made sweet soy brownies with a healthy dollop of this and they were utterly fantastic.

Miscellaneous Soy Sauces: these are usually different varieties of flavored soy sauces from around Asia.

SHIMOUSA PONZU - ponzu is a mixture of soy sauce and yuzu, which is the juice of a Japanese citrus fruit. This bright sauce adds a lemony kick to salad dressings and jazzes up seafood. Try it as a marinade for salmon crudo or as a dipping sauce for your favorite sashimi.

Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce - oh my god do I love this stuff, it tastes like my childhood as my Dad would always cook my favorite meal (pineapple fried rice with shrimp, chicken, veggies and cashews) with this sauce. It’s a soy sauce with a very distinctive tangy kick, and I use it in everything from fried rices, eggs, soups, noodles, stir-frys, you name it. Everyone I have sample this wonderful sauce ends up being addicted!

I skipped over a lot of stuff, like the recent rise in artisanal soy sauces, many of which are even aged in barrels! But I think that this is a good start for someone who wants to explore beyond the disposable packets they get from the takeaway place. Let me know if you have any more questions! (Or if you want a recommendation for fish sauces, because I could literally write monographs on the subject!)

The 100% best solution is to have a propane burner along with a High Pressure Hose so that you can use normal propane tanks that you'd get for your grill. Then keep maybe 3 of those full and ready to go and that will maintain your ability to use your stocks for a good while. (Note: I didn't dig too deep into direct compatibility of those two items. I just listed them as an example so you could see what I was talking about.)

Barring that... it's a question of shelf life vs cost. Obviously MRE's would be one of the better options, but they're pricey and it's best to store them in cool environments which may not be doable for everyone. Mainstay 2400 Bars are available at Walmart for $5 apiece and are fantastic for BOB's due to their hardiness, but surviving on those for any length of time would probably be miserable.

Dropping into normal foods... yeah, a well stocked and rotated pantry is the way to go.

• Peanut Butter is high calorie, flavorful, and a thing most people can use regularly anyway. If you have forewarning you can try to snag extra bread from the grocery store. Barring that, YouTube how to make bread and get busy in the days leading out to the outage. I think whole wheats tend to last a bit longer, and I think things like wrapping the loaf in cling wrap then sealing it in Tupperware can help, but I'm not a baker so I can't say for sure.
  
  
• Canned meats are a good call as the next in lineup. Tuna is obvious, but you can get canned chicken as well. Add some crackers into the mix and whatever seasoning you like (I'm a fiend for Lemon Pepper ) and those are meals on their own, though a bit pricey. Spam and tinned ham, while less pleasant uncooked, are also edible.
  
  
• The good canned soups are fine right out of the can. Obviously they're less pleasant not being warmed, but that's actually something you can probably remedy to a degree just by having tea candles under them. There are also several camping stoves that do not require propane, and you can of course just have some sterno on hand too.
  
  
• After that... well almost anything canned can work. Refried beans or Baked Beans cold out of the can are edible if not the most pleasant way to eat them. Good return on calories for those, and if you have a large family they are available in #10 Cans which will save you a lot on cost. Canned Veggies can be added in to other meals without heating, though the calorie returns on them make them inefficient. Canned/Jarred Fruit on the other hand can be a delicious morale lifter.
  
  
• Bars of Velveeta keep for a surprising amount of time in the pantry, and there are about 2240 calories per full bar of them. That's another great option for throwing on crackers. Crack open a jar of salsa and add a bit to each cracker and that's tasty eating.
  
  
• While it's not my favorite thing ever, Summer Sausage is around 1600 calories for a pounds of it and is shelf stable for a while when unopened I believe, though check the packaging to be safe. I believe Hickory Farms Cheese/Sausage lasts for months, though if you're not eating it regularly I don't know how feasible it is to have on hand consistently or in time for a disaster like this.
  
  
• While the ideas could probably keep going, I'll end with trail mix. It's easily obtainable at a lot of locations, includes nuts, candy, and fruit so it's palatable, and tends to have a fairly high caloric return. Add in other snack foods like beef jerky, chips, and candy/energy/protein bars (also available at a lot of locations) and it should be fairly easy to find enough ways to get your daily calories in in the short term without needing to heat things up.

Potstickers are great, they're easy to cook, a lot of fun, and they leave a lot of room for experimentation.

You can make your own if you're feeling ambitious but if not Trader Joes sells a lot of great frozen ones (they generally call them "gyoza" though).

Pour some oil (I use ~4 tablespoons for the whole bag) on the bottom of the pan and lay out the potstickers with the largest flat side down in the oil. Cover with a lid and cook on medium high for a few minutes (I usually go until I can smell a little smoke but then again I like them crunchy). Then pour in about a cup to a cup and a half of liquid and cover again.

The liquid can be basically anything that you want to use to add flavor. Water is good if you don't want extra flavor and want to just focus on the flavor of the food but I usually use chicken broth to add a little extra. Once they're steamed for a few minutes and the water is mostly gone, scoop out, drain, and serve.

I personally love throwing in a small can of coconut milk and the juice of one lime in the pan instead of water or broth. The result is amazing, especially with some wasabi salt (you'll probably need salt of some kind anyways).

You can use virtually any liquid to change the flavor of the potstickers or add to them. Spices mixed in with the liquid also get cooked into the potstickers so you can add dry spices as well, just don't put them in before the liquid or they'll burn.

This is also a recipe that can be made vegan or vegetarian if you or someone you're cooking for has that as a requirement.

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Souasta is great if you want something simple but looks like it takes hours of prep.

Take all those cans of soup you know you have sitting in a cupboard and put a couple of them into a pot. Bring to a boil then just reduce until they thicken. The resulting sauce should be a little intense if you just taste it but it'll work perfectly with pasta. You can add spices while it's reducing to alter the flavor to your needs. (you can add thickeners in but I find that tends to mess with the flavor in "meh" ways). Now just pour over pasta once it has a saucy consistency. If it's a little runny, no problem, the pasta will absorb it.

The flavor will change when it sits for a while so it'll taste different (often better) if it's left overnight. The pasta shouldn't get soggy, if it does you need to reduce the soup more.

This is also a recipe that can be made vegan or vegetarian if you or someone you're cooking for has that as a requirement.

PS: DO NOT add browning liquid to this mixture. It may seem like a good idea but the flavor imparted is not pleasant so unless you have some pressing reason for doing so, leave it out. This is experience talking.

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With water and a pan (fry pans are best for this) you can thaw chicken, cook it, and make a sauce all at the same time in about 10 minutes.

Though it is best to do this with thawed chicken, you can start the chicken frozen if it's relatively thin and be ok but you'll have to monitor it a lot closer and you should never do it with chicken that's thicker than about an inch and a half.

Put a few centimeters of water in the pan (you can use any liquid but water works just fine considering you're going to be adding spices later and it helps keep the chicken moist) and turn it up to high. Once the water is boiling, put the chicken in and be sure it's one single layer, no stacking.

Then just flip it every couple of minutes until the chicken is done. While it's cooking, add whatever seasonings you want into the water (do it early though) and do try to get most of the seasoning in the water not on the chicken (otherwise it sticks and you tend to get patches of more seasoned meat).

If the chicken is frozen, you'll likely have to cut it into smaller pieces in the pan while it's cooking. It's a little awkward but it's necessary to ensure even cooking. If you have a piece where most of the sides are done but cutting it in half shows raw chicken, stand the piece up with the raw side down against the pan.

If you start running out of water before the chicken is done, add a splash (and I do mean a splash) of water and keep going. Once the chicken is done, pull it out and keep cooking the water until it's the consistency that you want; if you're doing chicken and rice a little more liquid might be good, if you just want the chicken maybe let it cook until it's a bit thicker. You can also let most of the liquid cook out and you'll see a dryish residue on the sides of the pan. Cut the chicken up into pieces and throw them back in the pan, moving them around as much as you can to pick that residue up. You don't want to do this more than maybe a minute otherwise you risk over-cooking the chicken.

Plate it and it looks like it came out of a nice restaurant kitchen. It's infinitely variable because you can change the liquid and the spices out for anything to alter the flavors and by varying the thickness of the sauce you can pair it with different things. It also takes very little time, it's very healthy (You're basically using chicken and water), and it tastes amazing.

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All of these are ridiculously easy, generally very fast, tasty, healthy, and can be modified and changed endlessly to suit your tastes and needs. They can also be made at virtually anyone's kitchen, even a poorly stocked one.

You got it, boo! The amounts are all from memory/eyeballed because I've been making these things for about three years now and no longer follow a recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups of brown rice (I like short grain)
  
  
• 2 cans of black beans
  
  
• 1/4-1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice, I like sharp cheddar
  
  
• 1 egg
  
  
• cumin, salt, pepper, Everyday Seasoning from Trader Joe's (don't buy it online, it's much cheaper at the store), garlic powder
  
  

1. First, plan ahead because brown rice takes eight thousand years to cook. I usually make these in the morning or the day prior to when I want to eat them. You'll see why. So cook that brown rice! I usually cook like six cups of rice at a time since I use the extra to eat with enchiladas. Food prep!
   
   
2. Put your cooked brown rice in a bowl. Set aside for now.
   
   
3. Drain and rinse your black beans and put them in a bowl. Add all your spices - this is the important part to get any flavor that is not bean or rice. Cumin is the key here because it's the 'meaty' flavor. Add as much or as little spices as you like. Mix in the spices thoroughly.
   
   
4. Next, add your egg. Mix it in.
   
   
5. Next, shred your cheese and mix it in as well.
   
   
6. Now comes the fun part: get a potato masher and start smashing the hell out of those beans. My GF likes when I put them in a food processor but I don't like the texture too much when they're made that way. I prefer some of the beans to be whole.
   
   
7. I don't know what kind of magic occurs at this part, but the black beans start to form a bit of a thick paste. You want to start adding your brown rice in, a little at a time. The reason I put a variance on how much rice you need is because you want to eyeball it -- too much rice will keep the burgers from sticking together but not enough will give you basically a bunch of bean and nothing else. Try to get it to be half and half.
   
   
8. Once your beautiful, delicious smelling burger mixture is nice and put together, you want to get some wax paper. You're going to be scooping the mixture onto the wax paper to form the patties, like you would with a meat burger.
   
   
9. The way I like to do it is get a heaping scoop of the mixture on my rice paddle, drop it onto the wax paper, and form the patty with the paddle. This is when you can decide how big/small you want your burgers to be.
   
   
10. Wrap up each burger and set aside. Watch as your pile of burgers grow!
    
    
11. Like I said before, I eyeball this whole thing so you may end up with more or less burgers every time you prep these. I usually get 7-8 burgers at a time.
    
    
12. Next, you divvy up your beautiful burger pile (I separate them into bags of two, one for me and one for the GF) and place them flat in the freezer. I have found that freezing these for minimum four hours (though like I said earlier, I tend to eat them the following day most of the time) helps encourage the burger to hold its shape better when it goes in the oven. The originally recipe I used for these called for pan frying them, but they just soak up a shitton of oil and take for-fucking-ever and don't cook evenly. Don't pan fry them.
    
    
13. Hurray, it's the next day now! Preheat your oven to 450F. I like to eat my burgers with tater tots or steak fries, so get those out as well and spread them on a baking sheet. If you have a big enough baking sheet, you can put your burgers on there as well. If you don't, put them on a separate one.
    
    
14. Cheese it up dawg! Unwrap your burgers, set them on the sheet and add a bit of cheese on top if you like.
    
    
15. Bake for 30 minutes. It will smell so damn good.
    
    
16. Take out the burgers (they may stick to the pan if you, like me, forget to pretreat the baking sheet or just have crap sheets)!!!!!!
    
    
17. Dress them up however you like. I like to use spinach or arugula and Trader Joe's (yes I fucking love that store) red bell pepper/eggplant spread.
    
    
18. That's it! You will have some delicious burgers that have a lot of the texture and mouth-feel of a traditional beef burger.
    
    Enjooooooooooy!

Red bell pepper and dried paprika peppers come from different (though related) fruits; while similar in flavor. I buy the one I want when I am planning dinner, but am not above subbing one for the other as I taste the developing dish and want to emphasize an element.

You can buy more of the blend and begin to work out the best elements for you. Never having had this item, I have no idea how to replicate it specifically and as you mentioned Google goes off into Chinese stir fry, but I have spent a lot of time replicating stuff.

Start by identifying the "big" things, the first 3 or 4 on a spice blend ingredient list are the flavor backbones; in the US, they are listed in descending order of volume. Get a pleasing balance of the first 3 or 4 and then bit by bit, with awareness of the decreasing volume rule season with the rest, until you get down to the purely chemically sounding names. Those chemical ingredients are important for making tanker car size batches to stay shelf stable for as long as chemically possible, but will not likely matter in a home kitchen, but use some judgement about the dividing line: citric acid is a flavor element as well as a preservative, so Google up unfamiliar sounding ingredients.

To taste test, mix a bit with some hamburger and nuke it. Probably a T of ground meat and a 1/4t of seasoning for the "nuke it" stage - but this is never going to be precise at home, nor is it going to give you a perfect presentation of the blend, but you can do it every 5 minutes until you are pretty sure it is good for less than $1 in spice and protein cost, well less if you guesses were good.

When you think you have it nailed, grab a likely steak and season a couple of ounces with your blend, cook and taste. Refine if needed and cook another couple of ounces until happy, making notes as you go, for probably less than $5 in development cost. If you both like to cook, the development of a recipe/copycat can be a great date day. ... though the wine/beer bill should be more than $5 for the day ...

Congrats! This may get a better response at r/homstead or something similar. Many people have very different ways they like to process animals, but here's how we do it:

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Put the chicken on a board, stretch its neck, and sever it with one blow with a sharp hatchet.

Hang the body upside down by the feet (we built a T shaped stand with hooks) to let the blood out into a bucket.

Use a crawfish boil setup to scald the bird.

Use a Whizbang plucker to get the feathers off. It's a kit, and you can build it yourself.

Clean out the bird and put it in an ice chest full of ice water.

When you are done put all the birds in a big sink and let them drain, pat dry.

Shrink wrap birds in bags made for this. The Whizbang site has some.

Store in freezer.

Offal and blood go to the hounds.

Cooking:

If you have an 8qt Instant Pot you can put the whole frozen bird (we've sawed off the end of the leg bones before) in there with your favorite seasonings and a cup of water and cook for 45 minutes. It will be falling off the bone. Cool slightly then broil in the oven, either whole or in pieces (or spatchcocked) for 7-15 minutes and it will be perfect. Works for turkey and duck too.

If no instant pot, defrost bird in fridge. Rub with dry brine. Wet brine works fine too but it takes up a lot of room in the fridge to have a big tub of submerged bird and it's no better quality. A dry brine can be any seasoning combo with a lot of salt. Let sit, covered, for a day or so. Roast in oven, either whole, in pieces, or spatchcocked, probably 45 mins to an hour at 400, or 350 degrees.

My favorite seasoning that I use as a dry brine is here. I also adore TexJoy Steak Seasoning, but that's just nostalgia. Cajun seasoning like Tony's works well too.

Spatchcocked on grill works as well.

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Notes:

I have experimented with all phases of letting the chicken rest through rigor mortis, covered, uncovered, in wet brine for days, etc. None of it mattered in my chickens, turkeys, or ducks. The above is what I do for all three types based off of much testing. My goal is to maximize meat quality while increasing ease of processing. This is my happy balance.

As a side note, you could keep a few hens and a rooster and have a sustainable meat/egg source.

Goodluck!

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Edited to add: Don't feed the birds the night before/morning of slaughter so processing is easier and cleaner.

If you like Thai food, pick up some Golden Mountain sauce. You could always mix brown sugar with a light soy sauce in a pinch, but I like having the real deal on hand.

I love (spicy) banana ketchup on all kinds of stuff, especially non-asian food (my favorite is breakfast street tacos with spicy banana ketchup). nom nom nom

Filipino spicy vinegar is also one that I buy a lot of because it lasts forever. It's great for dipping and marinades or using in place of rice vinegar to spice up a dish.

For hot sauces, I always have sambal oelek or chili garlic at the table. Both are also great for cooking/marinades.

If you can find it for cheap, pre-made bulgogi sauce is great for when you need to whip up a large/fast/delicious meal for friends.

Never had this soup myself but I love trying to make a vegan/vegetarian version of existing dishes.

I found this recipe on google:
https://girlandthekitchen.com/avgolemono-soup-greek-chicken-soup-lemon/

Swapping the chicken broth for vegetable broth is one option, but I’ve also seen some vegan chicken broth products. We use one that comes in a powder form from a local health food store. There are some on amazon as well.

Something like this:
Better Than Bouillon, No Chicken Base, Vegan Certified 8 oz. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N7YKQK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_bgojDb6Z55B60

You could also make your own vegetable broth. Homemade broth is really tasty.

For the chicken meat, I’ve had good luck with butler soy curls in a soup. They stay together well and don’t turn to mush In a soup like a lot of fake meat products. I usually brown them in a sauté pan first. If you hydrate them in your broth they take on its flavor. They also sell a vegan chicken flavor seasoning for it (same brand) but I’d imagine your broth will give enough flavor on its own but you can experiment.

Butler Soy Curls, 8 oz. Bags (Pack of 3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HAS1SVU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_thojDbHX21G1Y

Chik-Style Seasoning - 10.75 oz Jar https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008UYIW8U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1iojDb88KXZ9X

The tricky part is probably the eggs. You’ll have to experiment here to get what you’re after.

It sounds like they’re being used as a thickener and making the soup creamy. The recipe calls for mixing the eggs with lemon juice almost like a mayonnaise or a hollandaise sauce.

A “flax seed egg” might work for you, google it and you can see how that’s made. I’d also consider puréed silken tofu. My mom uses silken tofu instead of egg in her cheesecake recipe with pretty good luck. Some combo of the two might even work.

Not sure if this soup has an eggy flavor from the eggs, but if that’s missing you can use a little black salt which has an eggy flavor.

It might take a few try’s and some experimentation but it looks like it can be done.

I'm not vegan, but I'm open to vegan and veggie meals. Finding a good broth is a great place to start - you can cook rice and pasta in it, make soup, etc. I like adding Mushroom Broth Powder to basically everything I make now, it's an easy way to add rich umami flavor! That's the one I get, but I find it at a couple of my local asian markets for a fraction of the cost.

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Check out vegan youtubers for inspiration!

I don't really have a recipe of my own. I'd rather just eat steamed crabs most of the time.

If I am cooking crabcakes, I use jumbo lump and I know this may disappoint you, but I do use this mix. I like the mix because it is only 1.24 ounces of seasoning and bread crumbs, and you only need 1/3-1/2 cup of mayo to hold it all together. Very little filler.

Regardless of what recipe you find, the trick is mostly in how you handle the crab meat. You'll want to fold the mixture in with a spatula, not aggressively mix it in with a fork or spoon. Keep the lumps of crab meat together. Then, hand form some tennis ball sized mounds of crab just a little so it's less of a crab ball. I usually get 4 good sized cakes out of 1 pound of meat. They should be good mounds, but make sure they are widened a little bit, but still have a mound to them.

Some like their crab cakes pan fried or deep fried even, which is fine if you're using regular backfin, but when using jumbo lump, it'll be too delicate to turn on a pan and you don't want to flatten it to a hockey puck shape. You'll just want to use the broiler because of how delicate the cake will be when handling it. Broil about 8-10 minutes on a nonstick sheet pan, until browned on top.

First off, you're going to need some equipment and some supplies.

Get yourself a pellet cold smoker like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Kaduf-Pellet-Tube-Smoker-Hexagonal/dp/B072J38RJB

And you'll also need some curing salt:
https://www.amazon.com/TSM-Insta-Cure-Prague-Powder/dp/B008XA03R4

For the smoker, make sure you're using hardwood pellets. The kind you use to heat your home are soft wood and won't cut it. If they're OK for use in a Traeger, they're OK for smoking.

Step one: Grab yourself a sealed pork belly from Costco. Usually runs about $25 for 8 pounds.

Step two: Get that bad boy home and cut it in half. Take one half and throw it in the freezer for later. The other half should get rinsed, patted dry, then placed into a 9"x13" baking pan.

Step three: Grab a small cup and add two tablespoons of kosher salt, two tablespoons of sugar (brown sure is fine, but use the real stuff for this recipe; no sweeteners, and one half of a teaspoon of the curing salt. Stir until fully mixed.

Step four: Rub the mix onto the top side of the pork belly, seal with plastic wrap, and then place it into the fridge for seven days.

Step five: Remove from the fridge, flip it over, then return to the fridge for another seven days.

Step six: After your two weeks of curing is complete, fill your smoker with pellets and put it into your BBQ with all the vents open. Light it with a blow torch on both ends. The blow torch will probably take a good solid 30 seconds of flame before the pellets will burn on their own. After the pellets have been burning on their own for another 30 seconds, blow them out. Place the pork belly into the BBQ, directly over the smoker, at as high a distance as possible. Wait until the smoker goes through all the pellets; between three and five hours.

Step seven: Slice and enjoy. Works out to about three or four dollars a pound, not counting equipment costs. Guaranteed some of the best bacon you've ever had, and some of the cheapest.

Cost

It was about $30 per pound for my entire order at Crowdcow, minus the shipping at roughly $10/lbs ground beef that came with my share. You can see my share here

Seasoning

I used Kansas City's Cowtown Steak and Grill Seasoning. It doesn't have anything too crazy to take away from the meat flavor. You can see the ingredient list here

How was it

It was really great, you order your share, they butcher it once the cow has been fully sold, and flash freeze it, so you get really fresh quality meat. Once I had it out of the water bath, I dried it off with a paper towel and seared with a little bit of bacon grease on top, let it sit for about 5 minutes and slice. The flavor was great, and the sear was perfect. Medium rare all the way through, with little gradient in the cook from edge to edge.

I will....do my best to not overload you lol.

Mushroom seasoning is a must. You can put it in pretty much anything savory and it adds a nice umami. The package will look something like this, and it is found more where the Vietnamese foods are. It's on the bottom shelf in my Hmart, so it can be kinda had to find!

I also pick up the vegetarian beef/chicken every time I go and keep some in the freezer. It's with the tofu, but it's not actually tofu, it's more of a seitan. The brand I like is called Nature's Soy. You can check out there products here so you can see what the labels look like and what to check for!

These dumplings. I hope you have them at your store because these are a must for me. There are a couple of other flavors by this same brand that are accidentally vegan, but these have been my favorite.

Sorry... I had to do just one more. Cinnamon Korean pancakes! Here's the package. These are so, so good. The scallion ones are excellent too if you're not big on sweets.

I watch a lot of videos from The Viet Vegan, Mommy Tang, Cheap Lazy Vegan, and Mary's Test Kitchen, so I also try to pick up stuff I see them use a lot.

Sazon Goya con Azafran is amazing. Old Bay is awesome, as is most any Cajun style seasoning- Tony Chachere's, Slap Ya Mama. TexJoy is also delicious and Tajin as well.

But salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cumin will work magic too.

Adding in a jar dried holy trinity (Cajun mirepoix) base makes good stuff too- onions, celery, and green bell peppers.

I like to do asian style. I season the belly with char sui rub (make your own or something like this), bag it and let it sit for at least a day in the fridge. At this point you can as well freeze so it can be dropped directly in a bath at a later date.

I then do either 68C/154F for 36 hours or if I have less time 70C/158F for 16 hours. The longer one has better texture but it is a small difference.

Then cooled, pressed, and cut into 2"x2" squares. Then brushed in char sui sauce that is slightly thinned with rice wine vinegar and put under a very hot grill (broiler) to caramelize the sauce, turning so all sides are crispy.

Serve with rice, stir fried bok choi, and quick pickled cucumbers to cut through the richness.

As mentioned by someone else also save some for the Kenji porchetta recipe as that is also very good. Also the chinese steamed buns (also a SE recipe) are good if you can get the buns from an asian market.

i'm not a great cook, but i can cook well. so spices mexicans use are like chill powder red pepper, cumin, garlic, oregano, use lots of chiles. what you can do is just buy some corn tortillas. make him carne asada. buy beef skirt steak, a few lemons, an orange and as for seasoning, we only ever use this in my house. (we shop at a mexican supermarket. they might or might not carry it at your grocery store.) first you marinate the meat by squeezing lemon juice on both sides of each piece of meat. squeeze lemon, add seasoning, turn it over and repeat. squeeze some of the orange here and there. when you're done let it sit for about 15 min. no less. the longer it marinates the better it'll taste. then cook it on a skillet, meat spread out. with high heat for like 2 min and lower it less than medium heat. flip it over like every 5 min. when i see that it's almost fully cooked i like to turn the heat up a little once again.

then make some pico de gallo. just chop up some tomato, onion, cilantro, and avocado. make some salsa. green or red. if you're willing, make some beans and rice too! And i don't really understand what you mean by "making queso"? lol

Recipe:

Note: I typically season everything by taste, so I can't really give you an exact measurement of each thing - sorry! :(

Buns:(2x)

-Bring water to a boil

-Throw in 1 brick of instant ramen noodles for 3 minutes. (I tried this with fresh straight ramen noodles which didn't turn out too great - needs to be curly)

-Strain and place in a mixing bowl.

-In a separate bowl, whisk 1 egg and then mix it with the noodles.

-Season with salt, pepper, sesame oil, tiny bit of sugar, chicken seasoning powder.

-On a clean plate, place cling wrap on the plate and then circular mold - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061UKLKC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

-Fill the mold with the noodles and use the cling wrap to flatten the top.

-Freeze for 15-30 minutes (Until you are able to remove the noodles without it falling apart).

-Fry both sides on medium/high heat with a neutral oil.


Burger:

-Ground beef, bread crumbs (To counter the moisture), Finely diced shallots, minced garlic, minced ginger, salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, chicken seasoning powder, and some mushroom seasoning (MSG substitute - https://www.amazon.com/All-Natural-Mushroom-Seasoning-17-11oz/dp/B004LAXGGU/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1522852266&sr=1-4&keywords=mushroom%2Bseasoning&th=1) for umami flavor. (FYI don't buy from amazon, they're super cheap in an asian market)

-Optionally, you can thinly slice and mix in the soft green part of a scallion. Save the lighter crunchier part for later to slice and sprinkle on your burger.

-Shape and fry on a pan


Garlic Miso Aioli:

-Mayonnaise, garlic, equal parts red and white miso paste

Bacon:

-Use thick cut bacon (didn't have any on hand)

-Make a mixture of brown sugar and equal parts of soy sauce & mirin (sweet japanese cooking sake) - Make sure the mixture is just a paste so slowly add in your wet components.

-Apply paste to both sides of the bacon and bake at 400 degrees.

-Alternately, if you want the bacon crispier, bake the bacon first - half way through. (Applying to early may cause the sugar to burn)


Toppings:

-Thinly sliced cucumber

-Pickled carrots and daikon, recipe can be found here: http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/vietnamese-pickled-carrots-daikon/

-Sunny side up egg

-Thinly sliced scallion (crunchy side, closer to the root).

i make my fried rice with leftovers. it is awesome.

here is what i do.

1. oil wok, heat it up.
   
   
2. if you are using raw/frozen meat/veggies, throw them in and cook them first. marinate, season them, whatever. add chopped green onion to the heated oil. this is what makes it have that "chinese restaurant" taste.
   
   
3. add the rice. this allows it to absorb the oniony goodness. i prefer using cold (cooked) rice that has been left in the fridge from the previous day.
   
   
4. add soy sauce to taste. i prefer this stuff (http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Mountain-Seasoning-Sauce-oz/dp/B002TRBNOO) but kikkoman or maggi will do just fine.
   
   
5. mix that mothefucker up.
   
   
6. to add egg, make a hole in the middle of the pile of rice, cook the egg in said hole. dont worry if it gets on the rice, you're mixing it into the stuff anyway. use a spatula to stir (not scramble) the egg so it cooks better.
   
   
7. at this point i would add the (cooked) leftover meat (costco rotisserie chicken is amazing) and other leftovers i think would taste good with it. (vegetables, bacon, just hunt in your fridge for things you think would be good)
   
   
8. when the cold stuff is warm, you are done. chow down.

I don’t think there’s one right way to make it. Yours sounds interesting, but looks like it may come out too saucy or wet? Here’s my interpretation of it.

Same way as yours just no paste, no coconut milk, no garlic. Use Madra’s Curry Powder, with oyster sauce, some “mountain sauce” and fish sauce, and a little sweet soy for, well sweetness. I like to add an egg to it as well.

Madra’s Curry Powder

Mountain Sauce

Sweet Soy Sauce

Thanks for the reminder = of course!

Please excuse the cut & paste [hopefully the formatting doesn't get too scrambled]

Boneyard BBQ All Purpose Dry Rub: ##

4 parts Montreal Steak Seasoning

1 part ground paprika

1 part celery salt

1/2 part New Mexico Chile Powder (NOTE: New Mexico Chile is NOT Cayenne Pepper. Don’t use Cayenne unless you want it HOT. A heat index “middle ground” would be Ancho Chile Powder.)

1/4 part ground cumin

1/8 part chipotle powder

1/4 part hickory smoked salt or Bourbon smoked sea salt

Also, I'll add a few packets of stevia powder to this rather than sugar to add some sweetness because sugar tends to burn/scortch/over carbonize in high-heat grilling conditions (note: this explanation was pre-keto so obviously sugar would be a no-go here). I'm not sure what "ratio" that would be to the rest but you can adjust for sweet balance to your liking by adding and testing as needed.

A batch is where the “1 part” = ½ cup and make LOTS. We use it on tons of stuff so…

*edit: formatting, knew i'd screw it up...

No-chicken fingers:

Soy curls

Butler chik-style seasoning

Batter:

• 3/4 cup flour
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp onion powder
  
• 1 tsp garlic powder
  
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
  
• 3/4 cup water
  
  Preparation:
  
  

1. Soak soy curls in water for 10 minutes, drain, and squeeze out the water
   
2. Sprinkle chik-seasoning over the curls using a sifter (seasoning likes to clump up)
   
3. Sautee soy curls in vegetable or canola oil until lightly browned
   
4. Heat a pot of oil to 365F
   
5. Mix dry parts of the batter in a bowl before mixing in the water
   
6. Dip curls in the batter and quickly dunk into the hot oil.
   
7. Fry until brown, allow to drain in a sieve or mesh bowl
   
8. Sprinkle with salt or your choice of dipping sauce
   
   Edit: formatting
   
   Also if desired, I'll post other recipes like:
   
   

• Sweet & Sour No-Pork
  
• Not-Chicken Motza Ball Soup
  
• Stuffed Mushrooms
  
• Hearty (not-beef) Bolognese Lasagna
  
• Not-Beef Stroganoff
  
• Vegetarian Sausage and Chicken Jambalaya

Not a recipe but if you're looking for a good seasoning to make that boring sautéed chicken taste amazing look no further than chupacabra rub. It tastes amazing.

If you're looking for something quick and easy this soy sauce is absolutely delicious and you can find it at most Asian supermarkets.

Something more involved? Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium sauce pan over high heat, when it's smoking hot add two whole cloves, two cardamom pods, and a cinnamon stick. Stir continuously until they pop. Add 1/4 cup diced onion and cook until translucent. Finally, add dry rice, a bit of salt, and however much water it takes to cook. Bring to a boil then simmer until all the water is absorbed, fluff with a fork and enjoy.

Yummy and easy comfort food. Gotta add some chả lụa or Chinese sausages as well.

Edit: Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce is basically the staple Vietnamese soy sauce. Grew up with it and nothing else really compares.

Super simple:

• 1lb ground beef (or we usually use ground turkey)
  
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  
• ~1 bag of frozen tater tots (I personally prefer the tater rounds myself, but whatever)
  
• A couple shakes of Montreal Steak Seasoning (optional)
  
• However much grated cheddar cheese you want.
  
  Brown ground beef/turkey. Add cream of mushroom. Transfer to 9x13 baking pan. Cover with tots. Bake at 425 for about a half hour. Top with cheese.
  
  Optional: Top with Secret Aardvark Habanero Hot Sauce
  
  You could always get fancy and add some garlic and onions or bacon or frozen corn to the beef, but we usually keep it pretty simple.

Onion soup mix is what I use when I make pot roasts in my crock pot. Not sure if you've ever been to the burger joint called Red Robin, but they sell the seasoning they use on their fries and that goes great with burgers as well. I'll have to whip up some Worcestershire sauce next time I pull out my Foreman grill.

I can't stand the squeak on fresh green beans so I'll usually cook them longer. Broth, some smoked pork (bacon, or ham hocks if you're making a mess load), minced garlic and onion, butter, salt, pepper. Cook them forever. I also like adding some apple cider vinegar and some brown sugar (enough to counter the vinegar). And if you can find this in your grocery store, then you'll be alright. Depends that smoky, porky flavor.

You could always roast them. Set your oven to like 425. Cover the green beans in olive oil, generous salt (I use garlic salt), and pepper. Spread them on a cookie sheet. Cook them for about 30-45 minutes.

I don't see how you can avoid salt, and keep it flavorful. You generally need some. That said, while this is insanely overpriced, I got something like it at my local Korean store (<$10 for more than a quart, which will last me practically forever, I think), and it's pretty good. It's, "MSG-free," in the sense of having the natural glutamates, and it also gives mushroom flavor.

It's a herb! Also called perilla or beefsteak plant. You'll see the green leaves fairly often on a plate of sushi etc., but the red version is the one that makes things bright pink. Has a slightly basil-ish flavour.

You're most likely to find it in the form of furikake (which is just dried shiso with salt and sugar) but it's also very easy to grow if you prefer fresh herbs.

Looks great.

Going to try this one this weekend.
Uses honey for finishing.

http://blog.sousvidesupreme.com/2012/04/char-siu-sous-vide/

edit: This is the marinade...

http://www.amazon.com/NOH-Chinese-Barbecue-2-5-Ounce-Packet/dp/B0001IOSDQ

edit: after first try this recipe needs just a little heat and would benefit from charcoal sear.

you wouldn't want to use the jar of sauce for cost reasons mainly. Buy the packet, mix with water to make the marinade, will be much cheaper, especially if you are marinating a bunch of meat (typically pork). You can use the jar, like OP did, for a small batch, but even there it would be better to marinade using a packet, then toss or glaze with a small amount of sauce after cooking.

These are the packets I use, a 12 pack from Amazon runs $22

http://smile.amazon.com/NOH-Chinese-Barbecue-2-5-Ounce-Packet/dp/B0001IOSDQ/

As a fake meat I like Butler Soy curds that to my palate do not have that soy after taste that plagues many fake meats. I marinate it is Hot sauce, garlic and onion powders and maybe a little bit of liquid smoke. I fry the drained soy curds in peanut oil and sprinkle on their Chik-Style Seasoning as a breading and it works really nice in stir frys or with Better then Bullion I can come up with a pretty mean chicken noodle soup. I like the soy curds better then Gardein and they are much cheaper.

Braaaaaaaaaaap. Nice contest!

Edit: 0 months for me

One for /u/sweetiebud3, one for /u/drusual, one for /u/rarelyserious to spite his face. I'd prefer platinum-190

Golden mountain seasoning sauce - good for cooking dogs.

Edit: you cheeky monkey. Thanks for the gold!

As someone that loves both beef and chicken, I have to admit that they really don't play well with each other, unlike most every other meat. Cajun will put almost all the rest of God's creatures in a gumbo, but never chicken with beef.

That said, try some Golden Mountain sauce for a deep flavor that plays well with chicken. It's the secret to Thai cooking to add savory/umami flavor without the heavy hand of traditional dark soy sauces.

I am trying to be better about always having this stock on hand: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/02/hearty-vegetable-stock-vegan-recipe.html.

This time, I charred some various pho seasonings (onion, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, corriander, and a tiny bit of fennel), added it to my Instantpot with the stock, some dried shiitakes, sugar, mushroom seasoning, salt, and Golden Mountain sauce. I let that simmer while I was at work, and added the broth to some rice noodles, homemade seitan, and whatever herbs I had around (Thai basil, mint, cilantro), sriracha, and hoisin.

I'm always tinkering with the pho flavorings, and I think this combo was one of the better ones. Next time, I'm going to add some vegan fish sauce to funkify it a bit more. I wasn't very well stocked on my usual pho fixings either, which ended up being a bit disappointing.

Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce

I get this for about $4 at the local Asian grocery store, and they are almost always sold out. It's the best I've run across thus far.

Red Robin Seasoning, it's $3 for a bottle from the restaurant or $6 online.

http://www.redrobin.com/merchandise
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Robin-Seasoning-Signature-Blend/dp/B007IWGDAE

It is by far the best seasoning salt. Lawry's and Johnny's don't even come close.

This is what Google turned up:

A refreshing, herby variety of furikake, shiso furikake (commonly referred to by the brand name ‘Yukari’, which was originally coined by Mishima Foods Co.) is made of seasoned, dried red shiso (or perilla) leaves. Known for its distinct red/purple colour as well as its flavour, shiso is often used as an outer covering for sushi rolls and onigiri rice balls.

And Wikipedia has this:

Shiso
Perilla frutescens var. crispa, or shiso (/ˈʃiːsoʊ/, from the Japanese シソ), belongs to the genus Perilla, in the mint family Lamiaceae. ...

Red shiso
The purple-red type may be known as akajiso (赤ジソ/紅ジソ "red shiso"). It is often used for coloring umeboshi (English: pickled plum). The shiso leaf turns bright red when it reacts with the umezu, the vinegary brine that wells up from the plums after being pickled in their vats. The red pigment is identified as the Perilla anthocyanin, a.k.a. shisonin. The mature red leaves make undesirable raw salad leaves, but germinated sprouts, or me-jiso (芽ジソ), have been long used as garnish to accent a Japanese dish, such as a plate of sashimi. The tiny pellets of flower-buds (ho-jiso) and seed pods (fruits) can be scraped off using the chopstick or fingers and mixed into the soy sauce dip to add the distinct spicy flavor, especially to flavor fish.

At Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Furikake-YUKARI-Shiso-Leaves/dp/B07RZVWF7J
and
https://www.amazon.com/JFC-Shiso-Fumi-Furikake-Seasoning/dp/B0006G5KE4

steamed lentils from trader joes and rice makes a good base. 2 weeks worth of food for about $6. Add to that any veggies/pico de gallo or whatever. Today and yesterday I added chicken. It was nummy. Next week- broccolli.

Add vinegrette + everyday seasoning to the base after microwaving.

Don't see a lot of Asian representation yet, so here are some of my go-to lazy dinners. Basically the "Hamburger Helper" type recipes for our Asian household.

Char Siu Chicken Wings:

1 packet Char Siu Seasoning Mix

1-2 lb chicken wings

Dump the mix on the wings and mix and make sure to NOT add water. Mix and cover the wings thoroughly. Leave it in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Bake at 400 for 45min on a rack. Broil for extra crispiness at the end if you like.

Bonus photo of the finished product, I like mine broiled a bit extra for that char flavor. Side of roasted brussel sprouts + rice.

---

Lazy Korean BBQ Chicken

1-2 lb boneless chicken thigh meat cut to 2-3 inch strips

Jar of Korean Chicken & Pork Marinade

Essentially the same instructions as the wings. Dump the marinade on the thigh meat and leave in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours. Bake at 400 for 45min on a rack, finish with a broil if you like. Great with a side of kim chi & rice.

---

Slow Cooker Japanese Curry

1 box Japanese Curry Sauce Mix

2-3 lb meat of choice (chunked for stew)

2 yellow onions, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, large chunks

~6 cups water (however much you need to just cover the ingredients in the slow cooker)

Sear the meat first if you like. Dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Cook on low for about 8 hours. Serve over rice. Note that you could also prepare the curry sauce mix on the stovetop as per the instructions on the back of the box. I just normally go for the slow cooker method when I want to set it and forget it.

It's a sauce that's similar to soy sauce, but it definitely imparts a very Thai flavor to your dishes. I find it's kind of a secret ingredient that kicks my stuff up to restaurant levels.

It's in a green bottle, and you can find it at most asian marts. If you live in an area with a larger asian population, you might even find it at a regular supermarket.

You can get it here. Not exactly a little bottle... but you can easily put it in a little bottle and keep the rest up in the cupboard.

But if it must be in a bottle, here. It's more expensive than the 1lb bag though.

never used it... this is the only prime one I found on amazon.. any good? or is this even the right thing?

Super Seasoning Aji-No-Moto (MSG) 3.5 oz. Shaker

Thank you so much!

• Sliced my chicken breast in half, lengthwise.
  
• Tenderized it with a meat tenderizer so that it was even.
  
• Season with Mrs Dash Salt-Free Original Blend seasoning, Trader Joe's Everyday seasoning, salt, pepper, and Goya Adobo seasoning. I just eyeballed the amounts, but the Mrs Dash seasoning was the main component, then the TJ every day seasoning, and then just a light sprinkle of the adobo seasoning, and salt+pepper to taste.
  
• Use a napkin soaked in half vegetable oil and half olive oil to oil the pan.
  
• High heat and cook the chicken breasts until it's done.

How expensive is it? Amazon shows for like $13.33 a container which seems very steep.

Ok for carne Asada 99% chance all you need is this stuff https://www.amazon.com/Chef-Merito-Seasoning-Carne-Asada/dp/B001SB0LI6
Season well and fry up on a griddle with a bit of oil and chop up and enjoy.

My mother would look at me with shame for recommending it but your berto taco shop almost always goes that rout.

http://www.amazon.com/Goya-Concentrated-Flavoring-8-Count-Packages/dp/B000HQOSQE

I like it in lima beans. Ham flavor without the added fat.

I'm a big fan of the $1 snack items at walgreen's- dried fruits, nuts, sunflower seeds, and sesame chips.

Get the lettuce of your choice- I keep a vinaigrette in my desk from Sam's that's got mustard in it, but dressing or no dressing depending on your choice. It's fairly easy to eat loose spinach leaves or break up a head of lettuce with your fingers.

If you have hot water, you should be able to make minute rice as a main dish. Maybe invest in something like this http://www.amazon.com/Harmony-House-Foods-Dried-Vegetable/dp/B0039QXWPM/
When I worked in a hotel we did oatmeal cups- dried quick oats in little cardboard bowls, with brown sugar and a couple dried fruit or nut options, and then people could add hot water- you could make those and have them portioned out in tupperware or something, and do something similar with minute rice or rice stick noodles, dried veggies, and maybe a bottle of some type of sauce-

According to elderly hmong ladies in my community, this is what you buy instead of soy sauce. http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Mountain-Seasoning-Sauce-Ounce/dp/B002TRBNOO/ It's much cheaper at asian food stores.

I like to cut the breasts into smallish pieces and cook them over medium low heat with onion. Seasoned with salt pepper and whatever you like really, I prefer Chupacabra.




I prefer soft tacos with white corn tortillas. Spray with pam and microwave for 1 minute if you are short on time.


Taco bar style with:



Tomatoes



Lettuce



cilantro



Pico de Gallo



Guacamole / avacado



cheese




Salsa

not a condiment but an essentaly cooking ingredient.
Mushroom seasoning.
http://www.amazon.com/All-Natural-Mushroom-Seasoning-17-11oz/dp/B004LAXGGU#

I add a table spoon of Bull Head BBQ sauce to my beef soups... (it my secret ingredient!)

Or try some Golden Mountain Sauce for some major umami and not as much soy flavor as soy sauce.

Depends on the amount of chicken, but typically;

• Two cups of Kikkoman Soy Sauce
  
• An eighth of chicken seasoning
  
• A quarter cup of liquid smoke https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000TA3SK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• A third cup of Montreal Steak Seasoning https://www.amazon.com/McCormick-Grill-Mates-Montreal-Seasoning/dp/B0014D1E1Q/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1523635226&sr=8-3&keywords=steak%2Bseasoning&th=1
  
  I mix all that in with about a quart of water and let the meat bathe in it over night.

What is Golden Mountain Sauce?

Edit - Found it.

Amazon has a 12-pack of it

Here

Porchetta

• Any competent supermarket butcher should be able to bone out and butterfly a pork shoulder for you.
  
• Browning sauce looks like THIS or THIS look for it near the gravy mixes
  
  You can probably deglaze with wine (or vermouth) for a hell of a pan sauce. I would suggest some sort of acidic side to go with the pork and polenta to cut the fat. Perhaps roasted asparagas spritzed with lemon or something. The only speed bump i am seeing is the pork uses the oven as do the fries i am not sure how long your fries take to make but i bet you could to them while the roast rests and you are making the pan sauce i mentioned

I got this seasoning packet and a block of seitan from the Asian grocery and just followed the instruction on the packet. Marinated for 24 hours. cooked in the over on broil for about 45 minutes