Every once in a while, we come across some funny ingredients that we firstly can’t spell correctly. But also, something that we often don’t know how to use. Worcestershire sauce is one such strange ingredient that chefs and people who know how to cook like to keep in their kitchen all the time. But what exactly is it?
Worcestershire sauce is a unique blend of various elements, such as anchovy, onions, vinegar, molasses, salt, tamarind, garlic, corn syrup (high fructose), extracted chili powder, cloves, and water. It also contains a natural flavor (supposedly) like a mix of the spice known as asafetida (or the devil’s dung, sounds weird but, yes).
So, if you have this extraordinary-mix-of-a-sauce lying around your kitchen and would like to use it the next time the family gathers, we have got you covered. Here we have listed down how exactly you can use Worcestershire sauce to the best of its ability.
Cocktails and drinks
Ever heard of a spicy drink? Or how the Bloody Mary tastes so furiously delicious? Well, Worcestershire sauce is the one to do the magic. A beautiful ingredient for making exotic and quirky cocktails and drinks, Worcestershire sauces are amazingly handy.
Other drinks that can be made with the help of the Worcestershire sauce are Virgin Mary, Michelada, Bloody Beer, Sensation, Sangrita, Red Devil, and the Bull Shot.
All sorts of meat dishes
Worcestershire sauce has a sophisticated taste. With the anchovy in it, it gives a particularly distinctive flavor, with the vinegar adding savoriness, along with a hint of salty and lingering sweetness. And the onion and garlic complete the composition with a rich smokey taste.
Together, the sauce becomes a perfect ingredient to make almost all sorts of meat dishes with. Its richness is ideal for preparing dishes such as Roasted Rib, Classic Meatloaf, Sloppy Joes, Glazed baked ham, smoked pulled pork, and other kinds of stews, braises, and so on. Delicious much?
Amazing marinades
Worcestershire sauces are known for its fantastic ability as a marinade. You can use it to marinate meat to give it a juicy, smokey flavor and have them grilled, roasted, or fried.
You can also effectively use it as a substitute to fish sauce or soy sauce to liven your dishes up. It gives bland meals a unique savory taste that will have your family asking for seconds. Use it for recipes, such as tofu, or add to sandwiches, salads, and other hors d’oeuvre and experience a different take on the meal altogether.
If you run out of this sauce, there are many Worcestershire sauce substitutes you can use to marinate your foods such as tamarind paste and soy sauce. You might need to blend it with other ingredients to achieve similar taste.
Sauces
Another way to use Worcestershire sauces is as a seasoning and dressings. It is commonly used for the dressing of Caesar salads and as a sauce for shrimp cocktail. It makes for great sauces, be it cooked or uncooked.
It is thus, a very prominent ingredient for making barbecue sauces, and so on. While cooking, a little bit of Worcestershire sauce can give the dishes an intense and smoky flavor that will complement your meat.
Chilis and soups
This may sound a bit weird, but Worcestershire sauces in soups can do magic. It is not even required in a large amount. Just a tiny bit will do a lot more than you expect it to. It may not also be recognized as the main ingredient, but the ones with the food-lovers taste buds will know what you did there and would thank you for it.
Use it to cut down the richness of thick soups and chilis and see the result for yourself. You can try out and use the Worcestershire sauce in recipes, such as Pumpkin Chili, Beer Cheese Soup, or the Apple, Butternut Squash and Sage Soup.