Everyone loves biting into some delicious juicy chicken and getting a waft of smoky flavour drifting over their pallet. Smokiness is one of the nicest flavour sensations out there, but we usually only experience it in certain cooking scenarios. You need to be outside using a grill with wood chippings. The smoke from the fire under the grill gives your food a smoky taste.
Is there a way to replicate this flavour without cooking outside on a grill? There is…or rather, there are multiple ways to get smokiness in your cooking. Here are a few of the easiest methods to try:
Add smoked paprika
Season your food with smoked paprika to give it a kick of smokiness. This works really well with chicken, ground mince and other meats. You can add it to a marinade or simply dust it over the meat while it cooks in a pan.
Smoked paprika is cheap and easy to get your hands on, though it also delivers some extra flavours along with smokiness. For that reason, it isn’t always the best idea when cooking certain types of seafood. Instead, you may prefer one of the other options.
Use liquid smoke
Liquid smoke is a modern phenomenon that adds smoky flavours to your dish without relying on wood smoke. All you have to do is add a teaspoon or so to your dishes and they will come alive with smokiness.
It sounds weird, but liquid smoke is actually made from burning wood chips and capturing the smoke produced. This then gets turned into a liquid, which provides a really natural smokiness to any meal. It’s highly versatile and useful in loads of dishes, though you sometimes have to play around with quantities to bring out the smoky flavour.
Sprinkle over some smoked salt
You can find smoked salt flakes that are perfect for finishing off dishes. There’s no real point adding smoked salt to something as it cooks because all the flavour gets cooked away.
However, as a seasoning at the end, it does provide a little kick of smokiness. The downside is that you also get some additional saltiness, which can be overpowering. Make sure you cool it on the salt while cooking so you don’t go overboard when adding the smoked stuff later.
Marinate with Mezcal
When asked about Mexican spirits derived from agave, everyone immediately thinks about Tequila. But, Mezcal is equally brilliant and has a unique taste that makes it perfect in this particular scenario.
You see, it has a natural smokiness, meaning it goes perfectly with chicken, salmon and various other meat/fish. Mix it in with a marinade and soak things in it overnight to impart the smoky flavour throughout. You’ll be amazed at how smoky your things taste despite not being anywhere near a smoky wood-fired grill!
If you don’t have a grill or the grilling season is over, you can still get the beautiful smoky taste in many of your meals. You’ve got four different ideas to play around with above, so try as many of them as you like to see which one tastes the best to you.