Adding citrus to stew while cooking or after

Adding citrus to stew while cooking or after - Kitchen Knife

I am trying to reverse engineer a recipe for a fava bean stew from the list of ingredients on a ready-to-eat can. The can, as well as every other (middle eastern) instance of fava beans I've had, was citrus zesty. The can lists "citric acid" but I intend to put lime juice.

I like many of my other stews and soups citrusy but I normally add lime juice or vinegar (sometimes even sumac will do) as a condiment before eating, not while cooking. I wonder if there are any advantages to adding it while cooking. Such as, for example, could it help tenderize the favas, in addition to adding citrus flavor? Is it best to add citrus, while cooking, right after cooking, or as a condiment before eating?



Best Answer

When citrus juice is added to a soup or sauce, it's usually added at the last minute, after cooking. The reason is that when citrus juice is cooked, it looses some of its flavor.

As Juhasz mentioned, dried beans should not be cooked with acid. Acid will make them take a lot longer to cook. It may also make the skins tough and unpleasant to eat. (Unless you removed the skins, as is sometimes done with fava beans.)

You could possibly use that to your advantage if your fava beans are fully cooked before the rest of the stew is done cooking. Adding an acid might stop the beans from getting too soft while the rest of the stew cooks. (Emphasis on "might;" I'm only guessing about this. All the references I've seen are focused on the goal of getting the beans fully cooked, not on stopping them from cooking too much.)

Summary:

Don't add any citrus or vinegar until the fava beans are fully cooked. If you do add some after that point, expect that the citrus juice will lose some flavor the longer you cook it. Add additional lime juice immediately before serving if you want that bright, fresh taste of lime juice.




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Quick Answer about "Adding citrus to stew while cooking or after"

When citrus juice is added to a soup or sauce, it's usually added at the last minute, after cooking. The reason is that when citrus juice is cooked, it looses some of its flavor. As Juhasz mentioned, dried beans should not be cooked with acid. Acid will make them take a lot longer to cook.

Do you put lemon juice before or after cooking?

Add lemon juice in toward the end of the cooking process. If you want to enhance the lemon taste, however, adding your lemon juice in at the end of the cooking time will prevent a loss of flavor.

Can I add lemon to my stew?

When the meat has browned, add the red onions and garlic, and saut\xe9 with the beef for about 3 minutes until the onions are softened. Add the lemons juice and zest, oregano, and white wine to the pot and allow it to come to a simmer for about 2 minutes, until the wine has reduced somewhat.

Why add lemon juice at the end of cooking?

Besides making your mouth water, acidity cuts greasiness and heaviness and gives food a fresh, clean taste. Lemon juice can also change a food's texture to fit a variety of needs, as when macerating berries, tenderizing meat and \u201ccooking\u201d ceviche.

Can you add lemon juice while cooking?

Fresh, just-squeezed lemon or lime juice does wonders for a pan sauce. But if you've ever added it to a sauce too early, you know how funky it tastes when it cooks. Avoid discoloration and a bitter flavor by only adding the juice after you remove the sauce (or stew, or soup, or whatever) from the heat.



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Images: Lukas, Lukas, Nicole Michalou, SenuScape