Did you run out of too much salt when preparing lunch or dinner? Don't panic, try to consider this experience as an opportunity to broaden your cooking knowledge. Understanding how salt interacts with other flavors can help you recover a dish that would otherwise be thrown away.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Fix a Too Tasty Dish
Step 1. Replace some of the liquid that is too salty
If you are making soup, curry, or other very liquid dish, the easiest way to correct its flavor is to add more liquid. Remove and discard some of the liquid that is too savory, then add water, unsalted broth or milk, depending on the preparation you are making.
Step 2. Add an acidic or sugary substance
Inserting a new ingredient into the preparation is a courageous solution, but one that can prove to be a winner. Sour and sweet flavors are great options to tone down or cover up the flavor of an overly salty dish.
- Acidic ingredients can be combined with almost any preparation. Try using the juice of a citrus fruit, vinegar, wine, tomato, or pickled preserves.
- In addition to using common sugar, you can use a different sweet product, such as honey or condensed milk. These ingredients are great when combined with acidic ones. Try adding a teaspoon (5 ml) of sugar and apple cider vinegar, then taste and repeat the step until you are satisfied with the taste.
Step 3. Increase the doses of the preparation
If you still have time before serving the meal and you have the necessary ingredients available, prepare a larger serving of the recipe you are making. For example, if you're making a stew or stew, add more meat and vegetables, or add some unsalted butter to the sauce. These measures will reduce the percentage of salt in the preparation in proportion to the other flavors. It is also the only method that can be applied to correct a too salty dough.
If you are a lover of natural flavors, grate cauliflower to give it a very fine texture, then add it to the liquid of the preparation
Step 4. Serve the preparation by combining it with an ingredient that contains a lot of starch
Rice, pasta or potatoes can easily be added to any type of dish. Starch is not a special ingredient to contrast with sugar, but it is an excellent ally when you want to increase the quantity of the preparation.
Don't believe the myth that soaking a potato in broth allows you to absorb excess salt. Potatoes absorb both the liquid part and the salt contained in it. So, on balance, the percentage of total salt will remain the same
Step 5. Rinse overly savory vegetables
In the case of blanched vegetables, to reduce the amount of salt absorbed, they can be rinsed in water. This technique can ruin the taste and texture of steamed, baked, or stir-fried vegetables, but it can be of enormous help if you can spot the mistake before you finish cooking them.
Step 6. Serve the preparation very hot
Temperature impacts the flavor of a dish in a very complex way, but a dish served cold can be more salty than one served hot. If reheating your preparation isn't an option, consider accompanying it with a hot drink, such as herbal tea or tea.
However, this is a solution that has minor effects. Try using it in combination with other options
Method 2 of 2: Avoid Excessive Salting a Preparation
Step 1. Use kosher salt
Due to its size, fine salt tends to escape very quickly from the dispenser, which is why it is easier to make the mistake of over-salting a plate. Larger crystals than kosher salt can be dosed much more easily. Since kosher salt is not as refined and compressed as fine salt, you will need to use a higher amount to get the same degree of flavor as the latter.
Use fine salt in baked goods. In this case you need to use very small crystals so that they dissolve easily in the dough
Step 2. Salt your foods from above
When adding salt to the preparations, do it from a height of about 25 cm. In this way the salt will be better distributed over all the ingredients. Your diners will appreciate the lack of salt lumps inside the dish.
Step 3. Salt in small quantities each time
This is the golden rule of cooking: add a small amount of salt each time you add a new unsalted ingredient to your preparation. Always taste to keep in mind how the flavors are developing within the recipe. Remember that it is always better to correct the flavor of a recipe during preparation than within minutes of serving on the table.
Step 4. Consider reducing the liquid portion of the recipe
Remember that after some of the cooking water has evaporated, a soup will be tastier. Therefore, initially, do not exceed the quantities of salt added because at the end of cooking the total volume of the preparation will be significantly reduced.
