A powerful "assistant" for a perfectly balanced meal.

More than just a meal, the Vietnamese family dinner table is a symbol of love and connection. In today's busy life, ready-made seasonings have become a solution to save cooking time, reduce household chores, and still preserve the delicious and distinctive flavors of each dish.

Processed spices are commonly sold in supermarkets throughout Can Tho City.

Pre-mixed seasonings are ready-made spice blends prepared in standard proportions, containing all the necessary ingredients to create the distinctive flavor of each dish. Instead of buying and preparing many individual spices, with pre-mixed seasonings, users simply open the package and follow the instructions to marinate or cook a delicious, authentic dish. Currently, the market offers many types of pre-mixed seasonings, from simple spice powders to spice blends used in Vietnamese dishes as well as some Western and Thai dishes. Among them, pre-mixed seasonings for Vietnamese dishes are diverse and abundant, with many types of seasonings for hot pot, soups, stews, vermicelli, pho, and noodle soups. For foreign dishes, the main types are BBQ sauces, grilling sauces, spaghetti sauces, mayonnaise, kimchi dressing, and cheese sauces. These products bring new and exciting flavors to family meals.

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Oanh, a small business owner at Xuan Khanh market, said that ready-made seasonings are increasingly attracting consumer attention because they save time while still ensuring delicious flavors. Manufacturers offer a wide variety of seasonings suitable for many different dishes...

Versatile, convenient, and easy to store – from liquid to tablet or powder form, packaged or in jars – users can easily choose the right seasoning for their specific cooking needs. For example, for hot pot dishes, housewives can cook everything from sour hot pot and fish sauce hot pot to Thai hot pot and kimchi hot pot using liquid seasonings. For dishes like pho, Hue beef noodle soup, braised beef, crab noodle soup, Phnom Penh noodle soup, and sour soup, housewives can use ready-made seasonings in tablet or powder form. Simply add the tablet or powder packet to the broth according to the instructions to get a perfectly flavored broth. Furthermore, the market offers a wide range of seasonings for marinating meat, fish, and grilled dishes. These seasonings are mainly in paste or powder form, convenient for marinating meat, fish, and seafood to absorb the flavors during cooking. To prepare salads, there are various ready-made dressings such as salad dressing, vinaigrette dressing, mayonnaise, etc. Along with these are various sauces for pasta, stews, stir-fries, and more. Besides seasonings, the market also offers dipping sauces to complete a meal. These include pre-mixed sauces like soy sauce, fish sauce, green/red chili salt, roasted sesame sauce, etc. Furthermore, there are finely ground garlic powder, tamarind powder, lime powder, onion powder, ginger powder, etc., which retain the natural aroma and flavor of the ingredients. These powders are often used for cooking soups, stews, or making quick and convenient dipping sauces.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thao from Ninh Kieu ward shared: "Ready-made seasonings are quite convenient and greatly assist in cooking, especially for complex dishes like pho, Hue beef noodle soup, hot pot... Instead of having to prepare onions, garlic, lemongrass, chili peppers, and measure out fish sauce and salt..., using ready-made seasonings saves preparation time, making cooking easier and faster. Even though I'm not a skilled cook, I can still make many delicious dishes, changing up the flavors and making family meals more varied."

Currently, the market offers a wide variety of ready-made seasonings from both domestic and international manufacturers, commonly from brands such as Barona, DhFood, Aji-Quick, Knorr, SSH Deli, Ba Tam, Ong Cha Va, Cholimex, Nosafood, etc., priced from 5,000 to 30,000 VND per packet or jar. Some dipping sauces and condiments cost around 40,000 VND per bottle or jar. Consumers can find these at markets, supermarkets, grocery stores, or online shopping sites and company websites. Due to their convenience and increasing popularity, some unlabeled, unexpired seasonings have appeared on the market, posing significant health risks to consumers. Therefore, when choosing ready-made seasonings, consumers should carefully research and find information to select products that ensure food safety and hygiene, with clear labels, origins, and quality certifications.

Text and photos: K. PHÚC

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/tro-thu-dac-luc-cho-bua-an-tron-vi-a196405.html