Too much barley in vegetable soup
I added half a cup of barley to a vegetable (medley) soup and now the soup only tastes of barley. I made the stock from yesterday’s roast chicken. What can I add to counteract the floury taste?
Best Answer
In my personal experience barley is often like lentils and rice in that it can "take over" a recipe if not used judiciously. Too much barley and your soup turns into stew. That happened to me recently.
I've recently been reading "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" by Samin Nosrat and besides it being an excellent primer (or refresher course) on how to learn to cook intuitively she talks about what you can add to various dishes to counteract various ingredients.
As barley is a starch the best you can do is dilute it, or thin it out a bit. You may need to add a fair bit of broth and more of your vegetal ingredients. Possibly to the point of doubling your recipe. It will depend on when you find the taste and texture to have gotten back to acceptable levels.
Pictures about "Too much barley in vegetable soup"
Can you overcook barley in soup?
Can you overcook barley? Yes, if you put soaked barley into the slow cooker it will overcook and disintegrate in the soup. If you put it in uncooked, it will not overcook in the time this recipe allots.Does barley get mushy in soup?
Since the barley can absorb too much of the liquid when made ahead, and get mushy, I find it best to cook the barley separately. Make as directed, just omitting the barley. Cool completely and refrigerate. Follow package directions for barley and cook it separately when you're ready to eat the soup.Does barley thicken soup?
The barley takes about 30 minutes to cook completely. Because of all the starch in the barley, it will thicken the soup, too. I love a thick beef barley soup.Can you leave barley in soup?
When making soup, you can add uncooked barley to the soup and cook it together with the other ingredients. In this case, barley will keep expanding when you store the soup. If you prefer chewy barley, you can cook it separately and then add it to the soup when serving.Vegetable Barley Soup
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Alberta Studios, Foodie Factor, Pixabay, Cats Coming