Don't Be Bitter About Bitter Greens — Here Are the Best Ways To Cut the Bitterness (2024)

FAQs

Don't Be Bitter About Bitter Greens — Here Are the Best Ways To Cut the Bitterness? ›

Add Vinaigrette, Emphasis on "Vinegar"

Sweetness: From sugar, honey, fruits or otherwise, sweetness will counteract bitter and sour flavours. It can also be used to cut down the heat of a particularly spicy meal. Saltiness: Salt plays two very important roles in flavouring a dish. Firstly, it balances against bitterness.

Add enough salt (you can be generous with the salt) The more salt, the better. Pour in hot boiling water, stir and let it sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the leaves from the hot salty water and transfer them into cold water. This process blanches the leaves and removes the bitterness.

Balance out bitterness with some fat.

Try using a cream sauce, milk, fatty cheese, olive oil, or similar fatty ingredients to help cover bitter tastes. This is a great trick to get kids to eat more bitter vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, or cabbage.

All you need to do is add a teaspoon of baking soda to your boiling water or stock to ensure that your collard greens are flavorful, tender, and vibrant. The cooking liquid must reach a boiling point to maximize baking soda's alkalinity so that it can work its magic on the collards.

Use bold flavors to balance bitterness

Sweetness can be used in the same way. A spoonful of sugar in a collard greens stew or soup helps round out the flavors, and sweet produce like carrots, winter squash, or sweet potatoes are a lovely pairing with the bitter greens.

The Fix: Balance bitter flavors by introducing something salty, sweet, or sour. For naturally bitter foods such as kale, you can soften the flavor by add a lemony vinaigrette, Parmesan cheese, and pomegranate seeds. You can also elevate kale by tossing it olive oil and salt, then roasting it in the oven until crispy.

When we eat or drink something bitter, calcium ions are sent to our brain. And while salt can enhance sweet, sour, and umami flavours, it tends to reduce our perception of bitterness. “Bitter tastants activate our bitter taste receptors, signalling to our brain that we consumed something bitter,” Sara says.

Medicinal Uses.

Bitter Leaf contains vitamin A, C, E, B1 and B12. It is rich in quinine, a compound which has been demonstrated to cure malaria, clean the liver, lymphatic system, and lungs.

The bitter taste is due to anti-nutritional factors such as alkaloids, saponins, tannins, and glycosides [18]. The leaves are used as green leafy vegetable and may be consumed either as a vegetable (leaves are macerated in soups) or aqueous extracts used as tonics for the treatment of various illnesses [14].

What neutralizes bitter taste in mouth? ›

Rinsing your mouth with a solution of baking soda and water neutralizes acid in your mouth so what you eat tastes like it should. Try ice. Sucking on ice cubes, chips or sugar-free ice pops helps to prevent dry mouth.

Add Vinaigrette, Emphasis on "Vinegar"

Acidity can really bring a pleasant flavor out of bitter greens. If they're being used for a salad, it's good to add a vinaigrette with plenty of acidity to brighten it up. If you are sauteing, add some vinegar or citrus to the greens to finish them off.

Blanching your vegetables is important if you're trying to get the bitterness down. Since glucosinolates are water-soluble compounds, a lot of them get leached out into the water, which leads to a less bitter vegetable.

Salt reduces perceptions of bitterness

This study found that even small amounts of salt reduced the perceived bitterness of broccoli, spinach, and kale.

Lettuce needs to grow fast. Without proper nutrients, growth becomes stunted and bitter tasting lettuce is the result. Fertilize regularly, but don't get carried away. Some studies suggest that bitter lettuce can also be the result of too much nitrogen.

Carrots, beetrrot, and sweet potato, all have a mild sweetness from natural sugars that complements bitter greens beautifully. Even small doses of tart citrus like lemon and lime brighten up earthy green juices. Adding a squeeze of lemon or lime juice cuts through the heavy flavors.