Thanks to the looming end of the year, I’m preoccupied with assessing of all my cooking Bests this year. Best cookbooks? Best dishes? Best equipment? Best desserts? Best new ingredient?

Seems like there may be a lot to consider, but the Best things really do stand out. Like shio koji, an umami-rich ancient rice mold that imparts a distinct savoriness to anything it touches. According to Cook’s Illustrated, shio koji can even fake dry-age a steak. Having never had proper dry-aged steak, I can neither confirm nor deny this comparison, but I can say the flank steak I marinated in shio koji is the best steak I’ve ever had. John most accurately described it as “like eating buttered popcorn” which really captures the mouthwatering, endlessly satisfying flavor. I’ve also leaned on shio koji-infused butters for sautéing vegetables - add some of that magical butter to a cast iron with brussels sprouts and you create the perfect vegetable dish.

In addition to including shio koji wherever I can, this has really been the year of corn products over here. Grits, polenta, fine and coarse-ground cornmeals, masa harina, masarepa - all have made appearances for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’m afraid my most recent order of heirloom corn products from Anson Mills has set a high bar, especially for proper coarse grits.

I’ve already gloated a bit about the shallot-infused pork lard that lives in my fridge and my mind rent-free, a beautiful byproduct of caramelizing pork belly (talk about a 2-for-1) that I often lean on in place of oil or butter. Another new fat that found permanent residence here is homemade ghee thanks to its high smoke point for all my stainless steel skillet needs and its pure buttery goodness.

I blessedly snagged a big bag of Kampot peppercorns from a Cambodian market during a shopping trip where an overflowing range of new ingredients ended up in my shopping basket. I’ve become so enamored with the floral notes of these Cambodian peppercorns that, after refilling our pepper grinder with the more standard Tellicherry peppercorns, I almost immediately had to replace them with Kampot because I missed their nuanced flavor so much. If you’re in Seattle, let me know if you want to try some of these bad boys, but don’t blame me when you, too, can’t go back!

Milk Street heavily advertised Rancho Meladuco dates at the start of their season, and, so convinced, I grabbed a box of them from our nearby Ken’s Market. I’m now pretty sure that these are the only dates anyone ever needs to eat. They are so rich, almost fudgy, with a perfect sweetness that makes them preferable to most desserts. Highly recommend hunting down some of these before they disappear until next season!

Other things that I now feel incomplete without include homemade chicken and veggie stocks, European butter, and high quality cocoa powder. While these aren’t new ingredients, they are certainly improved ingredients that I’m now fully committed to keeping on hand. As it turns out, keeping the best things around results in even better things!

Is there an ingredient or food item that you’ve become enamored of this year? Have I done enough to convince you to try shio koji yet??