Seasonings are the magicians of the kitchen, transforming ordinary ingredients into something truly delicious. Today, we'll discuss seasonings like light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, MSG, and chicken stock, and their impact on the flavor of dishes.
Light Soy Sauce: The Secret Weapon of Saltiness
Light soy sauce is a liquid version of saltiness, perfect for dishes that require a salty flavor without overpowering the ingredients with salt. For example, when pan-frying tofu, overcooking it can cause it to break, and dry tofu easily soaks up salt. Stir-fries like pork liver and stir-fried jun hua (a type of garnish) require time for the salt to infuse, so stir-fry the seasonings and ingredients together beforehand. Light soy sauce is also a great salt substitute for seafood and salads.
Dark Soy Sauce: A Double Benefit of Coloring and Flavoring
Dark soy sauce offers a moderately salty flavor with a hint of sweetness, making it particularly suitable for stewing larger ingredients. For stews like meat, beef, and pork elbows, dark soy flavors and color the ingredients, making the dish more appetizing. MSG and Chicken Stock: Umami Enhancement
MSG and chicken stock are both umami enhancers based on monosodium glutamate. Chicken stock contains chicken extract, giving it a chickeny aroma. When stir-frying vegetarian dishes or soups, chicken stock can be added to complement the umami flavor of meat, such as in stir-fried vegetables or tofu soup. Mushroom soup and tomato and egg soup are already umami-rich and don't require MSG or chicken stock. Meat stews don't require MSG or chicken stock, as the meat's inherent flavor is already sufficient.
Oyster Sauce: A Step-Up in Chicken Stock
Oyster sauce is a liquid version of chicken stock, with a rich chicken flavor. I rarely use it, but I've heard it can enhance the umami flavor of stir-fries.
Summary: The Use of Seasonings
Salt is the core of flavor; a dish can even be made solely of salt. MSG combines salt with umami, chicken stock combines salt with meaty umami, light soy sauce combines salt with umami in a liquid form, and dark soy sauce combines salt with caramel for color. Oyster sauce is a step-up in chicken stock. Scallions, ginger, and garlic: versatile spices in the kitchen.
Scallions: A versatile way to add a subtle fragrance and remove fishy smells. For example, eggs, whether scrambled, steamed, or in egg drop soup, often have a slight yolk smell. Adding a little chopped scallions before serving instantly improves the flavor. Overcooking scallions will lose their fragrance and become sour, so only add them right before serving.
Scallions: A plus version of scallions, they add a richer flavor and remove fishy smells. Scallions complement scallions, but they can't suppress the fishy smell of meat; only scallions can do the job. And scallions should only be cooked, as raw scallions have a pungent flavor and the aroma is contained within the scallion itself, not in the ingredients.
Ginger: Ginger's pungent, pungent flavor can neutralize unpleasant odors, such as preserved eggs, liver, crab, river fish, and seafood. These dishes are fragrant on their own, but often have a slightly unpleasant flavor. Add ginger when stewing or steaming for a long time, and add sliced ginger when stir-frying for a shorter time. So, according to this logic, you can stir-fry meat without ginger. Some meats have a "fishy" smell but no "unpleasant" flavor. Some soups can also be cooked without ginger, as common ingredients like mushrooms, tofu, and tomatoes don't have any "unpleasant" flavors.
Garlic: Stimulates the taste buds and adds a rich flavor. It can be used in all situations where you need to remove fishy smells and enhance flavor. It can be used with pork, beef, chicken, stews, stir-fries, and deep-fries. However, garlic needs to be cooked thoroughly at high temperatures for its most fragrant flavor.