The Spice or Paste That Changed Your Cooking This Year

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Sometimes one ingredient shifts your whole kitchen orbit — a new masala blend, a chilli paste you’d never tried, a Middle Eastern spice that suddenly becomes indispensable, or something lurking in the back of a cupboard that you finally opened.

What’s the one spice, paste, blend, or seasoning that changed how you cook this year?
Why did it earn a permanent place on your bench?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I'll kick off with Doenjang.

Doenjang (된장) is Korea’s deep, earthy fermented soybean paste — miso’s wilder, more rustic cousin. It’s aged for months to years, so the flavour is bold: savoury, salty, slightly funky, and packed with that unmistakable fermented depth.

It’s the backbone of dishes like doenjang jjigae (comfort in a bowl), but it also shines whisked into dressings, folded into marinades, or stirred into vegan broths for instant richness. A spoonful adds serious umami to anything from roasted veg to noodles.

It’s one of those ingredients that quietly rewires how you season food — once it’s in your kitchen, you start seeing possibilities everywhere.

 

[TastyReuben]

Oh, I’m afraid I generally go the other direction.

Thanks to the forum, I’ve used things this year I’ve never used before (saffron, MSG, harissa, red chili paste, rose water, etc), but I haven’t liked any of them enough to really explore using them in other ways. Most of them, I’ve used just the once, and have either given away or tossed (after a certain amount of time).

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Also Doenjang! Thanks to vernplum who has been very helpful on the ingredients front.
And Japanese white miso. Never fully clicked with miso before but like the Japanese one I bought, it’s sweet and light and even Mr SSOAP who hates miso enjoys it.
The very new to me Korean Chilli Flakes. They have a great flavour not just heat and I already know they’re a keeper.

 

[karadekoolaid]

I'm venturing into new territory, thanks to a couple of Indian food festivals I've been involved in.
South Indian cuisine involves some interesting spice mixtures (masala) that I've never really investigated. Both Festivals I've been involved in demanded 4 proteins: chicken, lamb, fish/seafood and pork. I'm 90% vegetarian, so this was a challenge, and I cooked 3 lamb dishes, 2 por dishes, 2 chicken dishes and 1 fish dish that I'd never made before.
Never mind the proteins; the spice mixtures were incredible. Coconut and lentils used as spices. Coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, black pepper, star anise and poppy seeds, toasted and ground. Sometimes fennel seeds, curry leaves and dried chiles were included in the mix.
The masalas are completely vegan, because they're basically spices with lentils, nuts or grated coconut.
Incredible, rich, intense and profound flavours.

 

[SoCalZone10]

I used to cook Indian food so I still have a few bags of masala, but I realized I suck at it. I gave up on cooking Indian food. Now I use just the curry powder when I cook Indian curry. In fact, the Bangladesh restaurant near our hotel in Cambridge told us the secret. He just used the powder.

 

[badjak]

Fish sauce....
I know it's not a spice, but I hardly ever used it, till a holiday in Thailand.
Now I use it most days
Kashmiri chili has been a new discovery this year. I use it very often
I often make spice pastes for my cooking. Generally in the mortar (& pestle), but freestyle, not much changes there.
I recently bought 2 jars with some Chinese spice paste. I don't know what they are and I haven't tried them yet, so who knows, they may be the ones

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Now I use just the curry powder when I cook Indian curry

Those are usually my worst dishes. We don't get on the curry powder versions. We have even disposed of (composted), some garam masala my OH purchased whilst I was deep in study. We stopped using it 100% because the mix was, well, yuck. Since November when I started having more time on my hands again, we have gone back to using garam masala a lot. We are already on my second batch of it!

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I have an untried paste in my sights and that’s sesame paste. Didn’t realise it was a thing until recently.
It’s not the same as tahini because the seeds are roasted first and it’s a thick paste rather than runny. Apparently available on Asian shops.
Looking forward to that one.

karadekoolaid the new spice mixtures sounds fantastic. Would love as they come up in your cooking if you would consider sharing

 

[karadekoolaid]

@karadekoolaid the new spice mixtures sounds fantastic. Would love as they come up in your cooking if you would consider sharing

Not to worry - when I get to make them, I'll post the recipes.

 

[Barriehie]

Making my own Thai red curry paste amazed me. It wasn't the process that was amazing it was how much fresher and brighter the flavor was. I use it a few times a month whereas before maybe only several times a year.

 

[SoCalZone10]

I bought a jar of Tahiti, i must not know how to use it, Iwonder if my husband tossed it away already.

 

[TastyReuben]

I bought a jar of Tahiti, i must not know how to use it, Iwonder if my husband tossed it away already.

I buy tahini once a year, at the start of summer, make one batch of hummus, then it sits there until the next year, when MrsT says, “It’s finally warm enough to sit outside…you know what sounds good? Hummus!” - then I dig it out, think, “Well, I probably should buy fresh,” and I throw it out and it all starts over again.

I’ve tried it in a few other things (salad dressing, etc) and I just don’t care for it much. I made some little cookies using it that were pretty good, though.

 

[SoCalZone10]

I buy tahini once a year, at the start of summer, make one batch of hummus, then it sits there until the next year, when MrsT says, “It’s finally warm enough to sit outside…you know what sounds good? Hummus!” - then I dig it out, think, “Well, I probably should by fresh,” and I throw it out and it all starts over again.

I’ve tried it in a few other things (salad dressing, etc) and I just don’t care for it much. I made some little cookies using it that were pretty good, though.

Somehow mine was bitter, I think I did follow some recipe online.

 

[Gone Hiking]

Nothing earth shattering, but earlier this year I was watching a Fallow video of Will making beef stock. He held up something and mentioned it was kind of a secret ingredient, but Brits talk funny and I couldn't understand what he called it. Eventually, after typing variations of what I "thought" he said into a search engine, I learned it was star anise, a spice I wasn't familiar with. It took me a while to find it locally, but it does indeed make a beef stock "pop". I use it in every batch now.