Stories in cross utilization (part 1)

Who doesn’t love some good cross-utilization?

Sure, you’re going to get more efficient. You’ll probably waste less, save on labor, and improve consistency — all that good stuff. But cross-utilization is also an awesome strategy for developing a very real, unique identity of flavor at your restaurant.

I hate the way that phrase sounds, to be honest. “Identity of flavor” feels a little cringe, but I literally can’t think of a better way to say it. So it’s staying, and I’ll deal with the embarrassment. That said, I 100% stand behind the sentiment.

Especially as you’re scaling a concept, the impact really compounds when you’ve developed a few killer base recipes that can be used across a bunch of different dishes. That’s what I’m calling Stories in Cross-Utilization.

First up: two absolute powerhouse sauces from the Make Sandwich concept.

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The Gochujang-Dijon Sauce

The Gochujang-Dijon Sauce is one of those recipes that almost pisses you off because of how well it works — and how stupidly simple it is.

Three ingredients. Gochujang. Dijon. Honey. That’s it.

In those three ingredients, you get salt, heat, acidity, umami, fermentation, sweetness, and bitterness. It covers an absurd amount of ground for something so simple. The base recipe is here.

We used this gochujang sauce in a bunch of different ways across the menu.

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Cross-Utilization Examples

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Pork+Pickles Sandwich

One use was on a sous-vide pork belly, marinated in the sauce and then charred on a griddle. This went on the Pork + Pickles Sandwich, which was basically an amped-up version of a Bánh mì.

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All-Day Breakfast Sandwich

The gochujang sauce also worked great as a standalone condiment. We used it on an all-day breakfast sandwich, where it acted like a funky, spicy ketchup-style sauce. It cut through all the cheese, the fattiness of the sausage, and the gooey egg perfectly.

Koji Mayo

Thee sauce works beautifully when mixed into Make’s house Koji Mayo. — another super simple, three-ingredient recipe.

For the Make Sandwich concept, we didn’t make our own mayo (Hellman’s, baby). So the Koji Mayo was simply:

Hellman’s mayo
Nutritional yeast
Liquid shio koji

Side Note: You should definitely check out this liquid shio koji. It’s insane and works with way too many things. Shout out to Japanese Pantry (supplier) and Chef Wylie Dufresne for recommending it.

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One Mayo Base, Countless Sauces

We used Koji Mayo for literally every mayo-based sauce at the restaurant. It’s like [insert very addictive illegal substance of choice].

A few of those sauces included:‍

All from the same base.

I’ll keep sharing more of these Stories in Cross-Utilization, and I’d love to hear what you’re cross-utilizing in your kitchen.