Why does cauliflower taste bitter after cooking?
Cauliflower is very popular due to its special taste and useful qualities. Each housewife has his own special recipe for cooking this vegetable. But sometimes the cabbage after cooking starts to taste bitter, which spoils its taste.Why is she bitter and how to remove bitterness? Look for answers to these questions in our material.
Causes of bitterness
Cauliflower is an amazing vegetable whose taste is pleasant to almost everyone without exception. It is made mashed for baby food, it is steamed or fried in batter. This vegetable contains a large amount of vitamins and healthy proteins, but sometimes, during cooking, such trouble occurs as the appearance of bitterness in cauliflower. Of course, it can spoil the mood of anyone. Why does she start bitter after cooking? There may be several reasons.
To begin with, by nature cauliflower is prone to bitterness: the quality of the taste depends on the proper cultivation of the fruit. In the event that the vegetable was grown without complying with the necessary norms, and during the growth the plant lacked moisture, the cabbage acquires a slightly bitter taste. In addition, bitterness may occur due to excessive nitrate content in the cabbage. Undoubtedly, cauliflower, like all vegetables and fruits, should be tested for the amount of nitrates, only after that getting on the shelves of vegetable markets.
When choosing this vegetable, try to choose a fruit of medium size. The inflorescences must be dense, and the head itself must be weighty and have a uniform white color. The correct choice of cabbage affects its quality and taste.
Many fans of this vegetable feel the bitterness of the product after cooking. You do not want to throw everything in the garbage can, so you can try to get rid of bitterness. To do this, there are several proven methods, which we describe below.
How to remove bitterness?
Everyone who likes to use this vegetable, knows that it should be a little before frying. We recommend boiling cabbage in lightly salted water - this will help get rid of the bitter taste. In that case, if you do not plan to pre-cook the cauliflower, you can simply pour it with boiling water. Boiling water should also be salty.
Disassemble cauliflower into inflorescences. If you are convinced that the fruit has a bitter taste, then type in a pot of water and immerse all the inflorescences in it. Water can be cold, but always salted. In the event that you do not eat salt, you can add a little citric acid or freshly squeezed lemon juice to the water. Acidified water also easily cope with bitterness. Fifteen minutes of such soaking cabbage can be cooked in any usual way.
Also, many housewives use acetic acid, which is in every home. Just do not confuse her with vinegar concentrate. Acetic acid is added to cold water, where inflorescences are soaked (or acid is added during boiling to boiling water). It will be enough one or two teaspoons of such an acid on an average head of cabbage. In addition, it is quite suitable apple or grape vinegar, which also helps relieve the vegetable from bitterness.
Here is another sure way to get rid of bitterness in a matter of minutes. To do this, you need a fresh lemon, or rather, its juice. It is enough that you sprinkle cabbage blossoms with lemon juice. After - it can be boiled in water, steamed or fried.
How to cook?
In order for cauliflower to bring benefit to the human body and delight everyone with its unique taste, it must be able to cook properly. We will reveal several secrets of cooking delicious cabbage, which will be useful to all lovers of healthy food.
Before you start cooking any dish, you should properly disassemble the cauliflower into inflorescences. This is quite easy to do: it is enough to separate them from the stalk. Try not to leave the main stem. It is best to separate the inflorescences at the base, where the branches begin.
Darkened areas should be cut out and not used for food.After the cabbage has been prepared, we recommend using one of the above methods in order to get rid of bitterness.
Many wonder about the time to boil the cabbage. There is no definite answer, since it all depends on what you plan to cook after. For example, if you cook cabbage in a slow cooker, then you should not cook it for more than six minutes, and in a double boiler - more than twenty minutes.
Inflorescences should be put only in boiling water. A pinch of citric acid will not only get rid of bitterness, but also preserve the white color of the vegetable, not allowing it to turn yellow after cooking.
In order for the vegetable to cook properly and not be too soft after cooking, do not add too much water to the container. Moreover, it worsens not only the taste of the vegetable, but also deprives the cabbage of some nutrients.
In the event that during cooking in the kitchen an unpleasant smell spreads, it can be removed with the help of a cracker. Put one piece in the pan and there will be no smell. In order to improve the taste of the vegetable, you can add some sugar in boiling water.
To make sure that the cabbage is ready, just pierce the base of the inflorescence with a knife. If the blade is easy to enter, then the vegetable is ready. As soon as the cabbage is cooked, be sure to drain the water, do not leave inflorescences in hot water.
How to boil the cauliflower, see the following video.
