Recipe Archive

Sauces & Condiments

Sauces and condiments carry a surprising amount of technique. Find dressings, marinades, stocks, gravies, relishes, and finishing sauces with clear purpose.

965 recipes

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Recipes

Vinegared Miso Sauce (酢味噌, Sumiso)

Chef Takumi

Vinegared Miso Sauce (酢味噌, Sumiso)

Sumiso is the quiet sweet-sour sauce that makes spring greens, wakame, and seafood taste more like themselves. White miso, rice vinegar, sugar, and restraint do the work.

Warme Vanillesauce

Chef Elsa

Warme Vanillesauce

The warm vanilla custard sauce that belongs beside every Austrian Mehlspeise, made with real vanilla, good egg yolks, and the kind of patience that turns four simple ingredients into liquid gold.

Warmer Speckdressing

Chef Elsa

Warmer Speckdressing

Hot bacon fat, sharp vinegar, and soft shallots poured straight from the pan over sturdy greens. The dressing that wilts and seasons in one honest pour, the way every Gasthaus in Austria has done it for generations.

Watercress Sauce

Chef Thomas

Watercress Sauce

A vivid green sauce of peppery watercress wilted into cream and sharpened with lemon, the kind of thing you pour from a jug over grilled fish on an evening that wants something a little better than ordinary.

Westfälische Pumpernickelsoße

Chef Klaus

Westfälische Pumpernickelsoße

Westphalia's black bread earns its keep here: pumpernickel simmered into dark beer and stock until it thickens the pan, with cream and mustard added only after the rye has softened.

Westfälisches Zwiebelfleisch

Chef Klaus

Westfälisches Zwiebelfleisch

The Münsterland wedding course lives in the sauce: tender Tafelspitz sliced across the grain, pale onions cooked sweet, then mustard and vinegar sharpened at the end.

White Sauce

Chef Thomas

White Sauce

The plain white sauce that holds up half of British home cooking, made with butter, flour, and milk and finished with a grating of nutmeg. Learn it once and you'll never need a recipe for it again.

White Wine Herb Pan Sauce

Chef Dean

White Wine Herb Pan Sauce

The cornerstone of French bistro cooking brought to your weeknight table. One pan, five minutes, and suddenly that simple chicken breast becomes something worth sitting down for.

Wildbeize (Austrian Game Marinade)

Chef Elsa

Wildbeize (Austrian Game Marinade)

A wine-dark Austrian marinade of juniper, allspice, and bay leaves that tenderizes venison and wild boar over days of patient waiting, then becomes the foundation for the richest game sauce you'll ever make.

Xalapa Pickled Jalapenos (Chiles Jalapenos en Escabeche)

Chef Lupita

Xalapa Pickled Jalapenos (Chiles Jalapenos en Escabeche)

Veracruz's highland jalapeno, born around Xalapa, pickled with carrot, onion, garlic, vinegar, bay, thyme, and Mexican oregano for the jar every sensible kitchen keeps ready.

Xoconostle Molido para Carnes Asadas

Chef Lupita

Xoconostle Molido para Carnes Asadas

Querétaro's Sierra Gorda turns sour xoconostle into a coarse molcajete salsa with chile de árbol, roasted garlic, and sal de grano, built to cut through arrachera, cabrito asado, and charred nopales.

Xoconostles en Almíbar del Bajío

Chef Lupita

Xoconostles en Almíbar del Bajío

Guanajuato's Bajío preserve of sour xoconostles cooked slowly in piloncillo, canela, and clavo until the fruit turns amber, firm, and ready for queso ranchero or pan de feria.

Yakgochujang (Stir-Fried Chili Paste)

Chef Jeong-sun

Yakgochujang (Stir-Fried Chili Paste)

A slow-fried spooning sauce of gochujang, minced beef, honey, and sesame oil, glossy and deep enough for bibimbap, rice wraps, and plain bowls that need one careful finish.

Yakitori no Tare (焼き鳥のたれ, grilled chicken glaze)

Chef Takumi

Yakitori no Tare (焼き鳥のたれ, grilled chicken glaze)

Soy, mirin, sake, and sugar make the base. The care is in reducing it just enough, then brushing it late at the grill so the chicken turns glossy without burning.

Yangnyeom-ganjang (Seasoned Soy Sauce)

Chef Jeong-sun

Yangnyeom-ganjang (Seasoned Soy Sauce)

A spoon-ready Korean seasoned soy sauce with scallion cut fine, garlic kept in balance, chili for brightness, and sesame oil added last so plain tofu or rice wakes up without being buried.

Yangpa-jangajji (Soy-Pickled Onion)

Chef Jeong-sun

Yangpa-jangajji (Soy-Pickled Onion)

Quartered onions cured in soy, vinegar, and sugar, the modern home jangajji that waits in the refrigerator and rescues any table heavy with grilled meat.

Yeolmu-kimchi (Young Summer Radish Kimchi)

Chef Jeong-sun

Yeolmu-kimchi (Young Summer Radish Kimchi)

Tender young summer radish and greens, salted lightly and fermented just enough to stay crisp, the kimchi Koreans spoon over cold rice when the heat makes soup feel impossible.

Yeolmu-mul-kimchi (Summer Radish Water Kimchi)

Chef Jeong-sun

Yeolmu-mul-kimchi (Summer Radish Water Kimchi)

Tender young radish and its greens in a clean, lightly fermented summer brine, made pale and crisp so the leaves stay fresh and the broth is drunk as much as eaten.

Yūan-ji (柚庵地, Edo citrus-soy marinade)

Chef Takumi

Yūan-ji (柚庵地, Edo citrus-soy marinade)

Equal parts shōyu, sake, and mirin, brightened by yuzu. Yūan-ji asks only one discipline: marinate briefly, so the fish tastes seasoned, not cured.

Yuzu Koshō (柚子胡椒, yuzu chili paste)

Chef Takumi

Yuzu Koshō (柚子胡椒, yuzu chili paste)

Green yuzu peel, fresh chili, and salt. Pound them fine, let them rest, and Kyushu's small fierce condiment becomes bright heat you use by the dab.

Yuzu-Miso (柚子味噌, winter citrus miso)

Chef Takumi

Yuzu-Miso (柚子味噌, winter citrus miso)

When yuzu arrives in November, use the peel first. Its fragrance turns a quiet white miso base into a winter sauce for tofu, daikon, and konnyaku.

Zasmazhka (засмажка, borshch sofrito base)

Chef Lesia

Zasmazhka (засмажка, borshch sofrito base)

Orange fat is flavor you can see: onion and carrot cooked low and slow until sweet, glossy, and ready to wake up a whole pot of borshch.

Zero-Waste Vegetable Stock

Chef Dean

Zero-Waste Vegetable Stock

Transform your kitchen scraps into liquid gold. Onion ends, carrot peels, and herb stems become a versatile stock that proves the most frugal cooking is often the most flavorful.

Zilveruitjes (Dutch Pickled Silverskin Onions)

Chef Joost

Zilveruitjes (Dutch Pickled Silverskin Onions)

The small shining onion of the Dutch borrel table, sharp, sweet, and patient enough to prove that a pickle can carry a whole pantry's memory.

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