How To Enhance Flavor With Simple Ingredients

I love using spices, herbs, etc to enhance the flavors in my cooking. I don’t consider myself a natural cooking kind of person but I do like to explore very natural options in enhancing my dish before trying anything else. When I say natural mean using herbs, spices, vegetables etc to add more flavor. Ghanaian cuisine is a celebration of restraint. There is so much flavor that is layered upon at every step of the cooking process that produces a well balanced great tasting meal. I know that sometimes it looks like I use a whole lot of spices but the end justifies the means. From very traditional ingredients to everything in between, I’ve found that ingredients when used properly can absolutely maximizes flavor. There is absolutely no shame in using stock cubes in your cooking. It is an easier way to add more depth flavor and for most people who do not like or cannot spend so much in the kitchen this is the best way forward.

One of mine and my mom’s favorite is Kwawu Nsusaa; (not to be confused with adwoguo which are a bit bigger than Kwawu nsusaa and also quite bitter) also known as turkey berries. There are two varieties which are often interchanged. For clarity Kwawu nsusaa are the really tiny green ones. I even go as far as to use them in smoothies if their green color isn’t going to affect the overall vibe I’m going for. They are very sweet and add sweetness to a dish naturally. You can boil them and pass through a fine sieve or you could just go right ahead and add them directly. You can blend them uncooked and add to savory dishes. No matter how you handle them, they will sweeten up your dishes and enhance the flavor. Use them in soups, salads, stews, smoothies or wherever you can get away with.

Koobi, momoni and kako. I have never tasted anything that was made with these 3 that didn’t taste great. It adds that salty delicious umami flavor that keeps you going back for more but only in savory dishes. With koobi you can make it the star of the show but with momoni and kako, a little goes a long way. Use it when sweating down onions on just drop it in the stew/soup and be on your merry way to greatness. Bonus mention; fish sauce.

Prekese is another favorite. It is actually quite sweet and adds very beautiful flavor unlike anything to foods. It’s quite potent and I’ve found that it works beautifully with seafood, ginger, orange, lemon and of course in soups. It can be used in both sweet and savory dishes. A little goes a long way especially with seafood. You want it more at the background and less in your face. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty great either way but you appreciate the taste well when dialed down a bit.

Another ingredient I use the most is shrimp powder. You can make your own shrimp powder simply by blending dried shrimp or you could just buy it from the market or your African or Asian grocer. The downside is that not every dish works with this method. If you are making say okra stew or even a fish stew or even Fante Fante then you can definitely use it but anything else and it’d stand out like a sore thumb. My personal rule is that only use shrimp powder to add flavor when it is a seafood based dish or the dish contains some seafood otherwise abort mission.

Never underestimate the power of regular sea salt. I know that this is a pretty obvious choice because we all use salt in our cooking but sea salt, not table salt, not iodized salt, just sea salt. Before you worry about the flavors in your dish being muted, try adding a bit of regular sea salt and 10/10 you’ll realize that’s all you need.

My next favorite ingredient is carrot. It is naturally sweet and you could get away with adding it to a whole lot of dishes. It can also be used to thicken soups and broths. I like to cook the carrot in the soup or broth then blend it into a thick paste and pour it back into the soup. You can also add chopped carrots to your stews for extra sweetness and crunch. Have a go at my aromatic carrot soup to confirm this theory.

Another ingredient often overlooked is the humble onion. Onion adds so much depth of flavor and sweetness to dishes and the great news is that most savory dishes use onions. Onions though need to be cooked properly and the commonest ways of doing this is by frying sliced onions before adding the rest of the ingredients to make a dish. This method doesn't work for all dishes though. Say you are making a light soup frying onions is not feasible here however you can cook the onion just until soft in the soup then blend it and add it back to the soup. I always add a lot of sliced onions at the beginning and at the end of the cook and I mostly do this with stews. Add thinly sliced onions at the tail end of the cook and let it sit in the stew or sauce for a minute or so just to soften it a bit. It adds crunch and sweetness.

Tomatoes are sweet but they can also be quite tart. When using tomatoes in dishes that require it, the more ripe they are the sweeter they will be. A lot of our dishes, from jollof to chicken stew to even soups use tomatoes and if you want to introduce a bit more sweetness naturally then you have to be very particular about using very ripe tomatoes. Tomatoes also add vibrancy to dishes because of its beautiful color.

Red bell peppers are to me what sugar is to many. They can wholly replace tomatoes in any recipe that requires blended tomatoes. They are sweet with a just a hint of heat so they are perfect for stews and tomato based rice dishes. In fact they are so sweet that sometimes you’ll need to find a way to dial back the sweetness of the dish. Try to make my chicken jollof but replace tomatoes with red bell peppers. Once you do this you’ll never go back.

Lemons are tart and they can sometimes be very acidic. What they also are are flavor enhances and palate cleansers. A bit of lemon juice in marinades or salads will have your dishes go from a 20 to a 100 so fast. Whenever you make marinades or vinaigrettes add a bit of lemon before you start balancing the other flavors. Lemon makes it easier to pick up individual flavors in a dish so before you worry about the lack of salt in your marinade, add a bit of lemon and then taste, 8/10 you’ll probably not need any more salt. Have a go at my rosemary lemon cake.

Fresh herbs have the ability to transform dishes. They add so much freshness and character to dishes. From basil used in soups and salads down to rosemary and mint. A little fresh herb in your salads make them refreshing and even more delicious. Most fresh herbs though can not stand the long cooking time in some of our dishes so it’s best to add them at the end of the cook except when you are making marinades. Try to use at least one fresh herb in every dish you make. Try making this beautiful wheat salad which has a lot of fresh herbs in there.

Another favorite are spices. I love creating custom mixes to use as seasoning in food. Spices are aromatic and they add richness and depth to dishes. There are so many spices available; from African nutmeg to seasoned salt to curry powder and they are all so versatile. A spice such as nkitinkiti/anise is naturally sweet and can be used for both sweet and savory cooking. If you want to take a crack at making your own spice mixes check out the recipe for my all purpose seasoning and my 7 spice blend.

Finally you can never go wrong with sugar. It adds sweetness to dishes. I personally like to use brown sugar in my sauces and marinades because of how “caramely” it is. Whichever route you choose to go with these natural flavor enhancers you will produce great tasting dishes. Have fun trying to maximize flavors naturally and if you know any other ingredient that enhances flavor, let me know.