Unsalting food
December 27, 2003 10:41 AM Subscribe
Despite years of cooking, I still occasionally over-salt dishes, particularly sauces. Does anyone have any good tips for how to make an over-salted sauce taste less salty the next day? At the moment I have a curry sauce that is good for several applications; but at the moment it is *salty*!
Yep - a peeled raw potato or two works wonders in tomato sauce - in addition to soaking up salt, it also takes a lot of the acidity out. Also, adding a little sugar sometimes cancels out salt.
posted by iconomy at 11:07 AM on December 27, 2003
posted by iconomy at 11:07 AM on December 27, 2003
Response by poster: Yes!! So says the salt institute too. Thanks, y'all!
*runs off to kitchen*
posted by carter at 11:09 AM on December 27, 2003
*runs off to kitchen*
posted by carter at 11:09 AM on December 27, 2003
Seems like a waste of good potato, though.
posted by billsaysthis at 11:29 AM on December 27, 2003
posted by billsaysthis at 11:29 AM on December 27, 2003
Sauces:
Too Salty -- Add a couple of pinches of brown sugar. It tends to overcome saltiness without adding noticable sweetening.
...and, in the same spirit:
Soups
Salty -- the surest solution is to increase the quantity of liquid without increasing the quantity of salt.
If this isn't practical, try one of the three following techniques:
1. Tomatoes: if it is the right kind of soup, add a can of tomatoes. They are sufficiently bland to use up a pinch of saltiness.
2. A couple of pinches of brown sugar: It won't desalt the soup, but it may help cover up the salty taste without sweetening the soup.
3. Potatoes: Add a thin-sliced raw potato, and keep it in the soup until the slices become translucent; they may absorb some salt from the liquid.
Copied unabashedly from that great garage-sale find: The Something Went Wrong What Do I Do Now Cookbook by John and Marina Bear
posted by bonehead at 11:29 AM on December 27, 2003
Too Salty -- Add a couple of pinches of brown sugar. It tends to overcome saltiness without adding noticable sweetening.
...and, in the same spirit:
Soups
Salty -- the surest solution is to increase the quantity of liquid without increasing the quantity of salt.
If this isn't practical, try one of the three following techniques:
1. Tomatoes: if it is the right kind of soup, add a can of tomatoes. They are sufficiently bland to use up a pinch of saltiness.
2. A couple of pinches of brown sugar: It won't desalt the soup, but it may help cover up the salty taste without sweetening the soup.
3. Potatoes: Add a thin-sliced raw potato, and keep it in the soup until the slices become translucent; they may absorb some salt from the liquid.
Copied unabashedly from that great garage-sale find: The Something Went Wrong What Do I Do Now Cookbook by John and Marina Bear
posted by bonehead at 11:29 AM on December 27, 2003
Response by poster: billysaysthis: not necessarily! (One of my favourite dishes btw).
posted by carter at 11:35 AM on December 27, 2003
posted by carter at 11:35 AM on December 27, 2003
Carter: I rate that dish too but haven't ever really gotten into home cooking Indian dishes...
posted by billsaysthis at 12:16 PM on December 27, 2003
posted by billsaysthis at 12:16 PM on December 27, 2003
Unfortunately, the potato salt-sucking theory does not stand the test of experiment.
posted by Wet Spot at 5:54 PM on December 27, 2003
posted by Wet Spot at 5:54 PM on December 27, 2003
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posted by machaus at 10:58 AM on December 27, 2003