**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Tean’s Gourmet Ikan Bilis

Ikan Bilis is a Malaysian chilli oil made with dried shrimp, shallots, garlic and anchovies and is Ms Helen Goh’s secret weapon for adding umami funk to everything from fried eggs to pizza. She admits she is so anxious about being without its flavour-enhancing muscle that she buys two jars at a time. “Just the sound of it being raked through in the jar elicits a Pavlovian reaction from me,” she says. “And when I’m tired and emotional after a long day, a spoonful of it folded through plain steamed jasmine rice is all I need to restore myself.”

Favourite cheat ingredient: yacon syrup

Peruvian chef and restaurateur Mr Virgilio Martínez champions the diverse regional ingredients from his home country on his menus, so it’s unsurprising that he waxes lyrical about the “magical” properties of yacon syrup, a sugar-free sweetener harvested from a tuber native to the Andes. Martínez harvests the plant fresh from the mountains, extracts the juice and reduces it down to make the syrup himself, but you can buy it in a bottle. “It has a deep fermented molasses flavour that works in marinades, but I love it straight up drizzled over yoghurt and cheese,” he says. “It’s a healthier option, especially for my five-year-old son.”

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **The Original Black Garlic

This modish ingredient is a favourite of many top-tier chefs for its mellow, liquorice sweetness. It’s made by cooking whole garlic bulbs low and slow until they caramelise, ferment and blacken. Ms Nieves Barragán Mohacho swears by it for adding a “robust, interesting background flavour to sauces and braises”.

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Capezzana Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If you are lucky enough to have eaten at Ms Skye Gyngell’s ingredient-revering restaurants, you’ll know she has impeccable taste. Her recommendation of extra virgin olive oil comes from one of Italy’s finest olive and wine estates. It has a wonderfully bright, voluptuous and fruity flavour that’s perfect for drizzling over vegetables or bread.

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Healthy Boy Sweet Chilli Sauce

Chilli sauces are the best way to zhuzh up the most unassuming food, especially if you have lockdown cooking fatigue. If sweet heat is your thing, then this one is perfect. It has a bearable kick of heat, but a rounded sweetness, which Ms Asma Khan is hooked on. “I swipe my pakoras through it, pour it over my masala omelettes, eat as a dipping sauce with fishfingers after a long day or even with mature cheese on toast,” she says.

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Tajín Clasico Chilli and Lime Seasoning Mix

Tajín (pronounced ta-heeen), a combination of chiles de árbol, guajillo and pasilla, dehydrated lime and salt, is a versatile condiment that can be found clinging to fries, the rims of margarita glasses and ripe fruits such as mango, which is how Mexican chef Ms Martha Ortiz loves it best. “Here in Mexico it is commonly called chile maravilla because it’s multisensory – sweet, spicy, salty and citrusy,” she says. “It’s common to eat it sprinkled on fruit. The flavour takes me back to happy memories of time spent in the parks and public spaces where it is commonly sold.”

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Belazu Moscatel Vinegar

Moscatel vinegar from Tarragona, Spain, is not to be confused with muscatel, a wine made from muscat grapes. “Rebecca Oliver, a bloody good chef at The Dusty Knuckle Bakery, tipped me off about it,” says Ms Ravneet Gill. She gushes about its honeyed elegant fruitiness. “It is a great finishing ingredient drizzled over salad or a few drops to bring a little lightness to a stew. It’s also great for macerating fruits for desserts because of its natural sweetness.”

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Amul Pure Ghee

An Indian pantry is incomplete without ghee. It has a nutty, caramel flavour and a high smoke point, which makes it an ideal cooking fat. Mr Saransh Goila says ghee is “an essential home comfort. I like to add a spoon of it to garnish any lentil or vegetable curries I make. The aroma makes me salivate. It has so many great properties according to Ayurveda and is also famous for its beautifying credentials. My grandma used to say if there is ghee on your hands rub it on your lips and cheeks – it’s the good fat.”

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Lee Kum Kee Chinese XO Sauce

The best way to think of XO sauce is like a sort of super-potent soy sauce. It amps up the flavour of everything you dab it on. Mr Manish Mehrotra relishes its deep, complex flavour and uses it rather unusually to transform Indian dishes. “Its place in Chinese cookery is a given, but I love the unexpected way it enhances the flavour of my Goan seafood pulao or masala roast pork,” he says.

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Yamaki Jozo Dashi Shoyu

According to Ms Palisa Anderson, this barrel-aged condiment “magically transforms the most simple dishes”. It’s packed full of dashi components, such as katsuobushi, konbu and dried shitake, which mean it’s an umami booster. “It’s super versatile,” she says. “I use it to liven up soups, stir-fries and dipping sauces and even love it just over eggs.”

**Favourite cheat ingredient: **Laoganma Crispy Chilli in Oil

“This oil should come with an addiction warning,” according to Mr Nik Sharma, who says it perks up and adds pizzazz to anything from scrambled eggs to plain steamed rice. It’s packed full of dried crushed chillies, soya beans and tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorns. I’ve been eating it drizzled liberally over Mr Sharma’s recipe for kanji, perhaps its best use yet.