Repurposing food scraps

I try to get the most out of ingredients, so I’ve built up a reportoire of ways to divert what would otherwise be food scraps into other productive uses. If I were going for influencer points I might call these food hacks or something, but really all this is is a way of taking what is usually waste and giving it a second purpose.

Scrap stock. I keep a bag in the freezer that I throw vegetable and meat trimmings into, and then every few weeks I empty it out to make stock. I’m careful about what I save, green bits like carrot tops and flavour- or texture-altering vegetables like peppers and potatoes don’t go in.
Dehydrated chili peppers. Typically when I’m buying peppers, Thai chillies usually, I end up with more than I need for what I’m making. When I don’t have an immediate plan I halve and deseed them and dehydrate. When I want to use them I’ll rehydrate in water for a half hour first, or if I’m running low on cayenne I’ll powderize and top up the spice jar.
Scallion harvesting. I store my scallions with the root end in a shallow glass of water so they’ll continue growing. And if you trim a half fingers-length from the root and add it to the glass, it’ll also regrow over a week or two. The new growth is thinner and weaker so you only get one harvest from it, but it’s a good way to extend a fresh ingredient and make sure you always have it on hand.
Dashi salt. Making dashi means leftover kombu and bonito. There’s still plenty of flavour in the remnants, so dehydrating and grinding it with salt gets you an umami-rich seasoning salt that can go on anything.
Leftover spice blend popcorn. I regularly make custom spice blends for things like curries and brines. Sometimes I don’t need as much as I’ve made, so it goes in a jar and becomes the seasoning for the next time I make popcorn.
Animal fats. After trimming fat from a cut of meat, chopping it up a bit and letting it simmer in a small pot at lower heat for a while renders out the fat which can be skimmed into a jar and saved in the fridge. I use it interchangably with oil when cooking. This will also work with chicken skin, which has the added benefit of leaving behind cracklins that just need a bit of seasoning to be a tasty snack or topping for a future dish, store in an air-tight container if not using immediately.
Leek green powder. The top green parts of leeks are great for stock, but I will also chop and dehydrate them then powderize for a nice easy leek addition in future dishes. It doesn’t store well, so lately I’ve been keeping the dried pieces whole and grinding as needed.

These techniques are just the ones I regularly use myself and the ones I can remember right now. There are plenty of other ways to repurpose scrap like making vinegars and ferments etc. that I’ll leave to the real influencers.