Throughout my culinary years of working in the kitchen, I tend to find ingredients every moment. There is a lot that I have yet to try. Majority of the ingredients is based on season, and some can only be found in different parts around the world. Here are the five new extremely recent ingredients that I encountered. Some examples are ramps, fresh green almonds, goose tongue plant, yuzu, and shiso.
The first time I encounter ramps is where I have worked. The green was like leaves that I see a lot when I was in China, and they seem just like normal wild grass or plants people grow in their backyard. The scent is garlic-ey and it tastes like it too when having it raw. However, once it is grilled with just salt, pepper, and drizzle of olive oil, it tastes really aromatic char of sweet treat. This green is based on seasonal and that is usually around April through May.
The second item is at my internship job, and it was fresh green almonds. I usually thought almonds were just those raw brown oval shape nuts, but this one is fresh greens with tiny hairs that you would find similar to kiwi. The taste of this ingredient was just like eating watermelon seeds that are still raw. It is crazy how these even exist that way, but maybe we just never thought where almonds actually transformed from. I feel like most ingredients today, people see them as the way it is and do not look further to how it actually is formed. That is what I think.
The third taste is more exotic than I actually thought it was, and that was when my chef told me I will be prepping goose tongue for the night service. Goose tongue plants are just the name of how the greens look like, and it actually looks like the tongue of a goose. It is also known as sea plantains because the taste of itself is packed with salt, but not too salty. Same time to see these are in April through May.
The fourth new flavor that I found was a citrus fruit from Japan call the yuzu. It is look like regular lemon, but this one look like dried out plump fruit   Someone said it is the combination of sour mandarins and ichang papeda (citrus orange). To me, Japan is coming out with crazy new ingredients by combining fruits DNA together to form a new thing. The trend for new exotic stuff is getting real hyped, and it is getting more modern restaurant today in using them in their menu. The fruit itself is packed with tons of aromatic smell than any other citrus I encountered. It sure is something new that better than what household moms will use, pinesol cleaner, for floor cleaning.
The last ingredient that I thought was similar to bay leaf looking type of leaves, but the color is more brighter to appearance. This plant is widely known to be use in breakfast, and it is also commonly found in Japan. The taste to me is closely to mind, but less of the punch of the actual mint we tasted in America. On the other hand, it also tasted like cilantro, but also weaker taste of the normal kind of cilantro we know. Whatever it is, Japan is differently making something that people will go crazy over about the flavor fusion. The “wow” factor is real to these new type of find from Japan.
Overall, I am always excited to use new ingredients that I have not yet seen, and it is just crazy how the old ingredients are becoming infused with other type of flavor. This trend is going to change the future of culinary as to what kind of ingredients we use today.
