Condiments Spread Flavor

Mustards can be added to a plain mayonnaise, vinaigrette or barbecue sauce, adding a positive sour note with a hint of spice. Including bourbon, tequila or rum can add a spark of flavor and a unique touch. Mustard can even help emulsify a condiment made with canola, olive or other oils.

Standard pickle relishes have been a mainstay condiment for years. This category of condiments can also include salsas and chutneys, as well as muffuletta olive spreads, ranging from mild to spicy.

Asian accents

Of all the world’s culinary cultures, the Asian kitchen is certainly well known for its selection of condiments. While varieties vary widely from country to country, Asia has some mainstays. For example, soy sauce regularly sits on Japanese and Chinese tables to boost the flavor of many dishes, adding an umami sensation and promoting savory notes. In China—particularly the Sichuan Province—hot and spicy chile-infused oils add addictive flavor to foods. And Southeast Asian fish sauce contributes a notable, fermented accent to dipping sauces and other applications.

Asian sauces have multiple applications, notes Martin Yan, a certified master chef, author and host of the television series, Yan Can Cook. He says the top six Asian sauces—Sriracha sauce (a sweet-hot Thai sauce), hoisin, sweet and sour, plum, soy sauce and black vinegar—act as base components and can stand alone, too. “These sauces are the base for hundreds of combinations,” he says.

Yan suggests adding Sriracha to mayonnaise to get a garlicky sauce with some red color and a hint of heat, to boot. Sriracha is also traditionally added to Vietnamese pho soup. Hoisin, a versatile savory and sweet sauce, works in dipping sauces. In addition to the acidity typical to vinegars, black vinegar adds a more-assertive flavor. Asian base sauces are perfect as building blocks when pursuing craveable condiments.

The most-common Asian condiment is undoubtedly soy sauce, which comes in many different varieties based on color, aging times and ratio of ingredients used during brewing—all of which affect the final flavor. Longer fermentation times, as seen in dark soy sauces, create more-complex flavors. Darker soy sauces are also typically less salty.

The fermentation process instrumental to the manufacture of soy sauce converts sugar to alcohol and breaks down the soybeans’ protein to develop its flavor. Carefully managing the use of yeast or mold creates the desired flavor, color and texture of soy sauce.

Indonesian kecap manis is a sweeter, thicker soy sauce made with palm sugar thought to be the root of America’s favorite condiment, ketchup. The term “kecap” is generally used for any number of fermented sauces.

Fermentation also yields pickled foods like kimchi, an often-spicy Korean mixture of fermented vegetables and spices—often including dried, ground chiles—served as a side dish but typically treated like a condiment, with diners adding it to stir-fries, rice, noodles and other foods to taste.

Chutney is southern Asia’s answer to Latin American salsa and European and American relishes. Indian chutneys combine sweet and spicy ingredients like bold seasonings (fenugreek, coriander and cumin), fresh vegetables (including chiles) and fruit. Chutneys are cooked—and for retail markets, often have added vinegar to lower pH—and range from mild to very hot. Popular chutney types include mango, coconut and tamarind, but any number of novel combinations of fruit, chiles and seasonings can yield products of interest.

Japan’s miso was originally a way to preserve soybeans for future use; now it is a key ingredient in a number of different condiments, including misozuke (pickled daikon radishes or cucumbers), dipping sauces, spreads and dressings.