Rescuing an over-salted dish
Salt dissolves into the liquid and stays there. You can't fish it out, so every fix is either dilution (more unsalted food to share it) or balance (other tastes that make the saltiness feel smaller).
Make the salt feel smaller
You can also change how salty it tastes. Lemon, cream or a pinch of sugar competes with the salt on your tongue. Plain rice, bread or potatoes add unsalted bulk, so each bite carries less salt.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
A pot of soup tastes too salty. Which fix actually lowers the salt in each spoonful?
Add unsalted stock and more vegetables. More unsalted liquid and bulk shares the same salt across more food.
True or false: A single raw potato pulls the salt out of soup, so it works better than adding water.
False. A potato soaks up broth and salt together, so the broth that is left stays salty.
What went wrong? You find a sauce too salty and simmer it down by half to fix it. It tastes worse.
Reducing leaves the salt behind and concentrates it. Water evaporates, salt does not, so the salt per spoonful goes up.
Fill the blank: Acid and fat make a salty dish taste ___, but the salt is still in the pot.
Acid and fat make a salty dish taste milder, but the salt is still in the pot. They change how salt is perceived, so it tastes smaller.
You stir in as much unsalted water as the soup already holds. About what percent of the original saltiness is left per spoonful?
About 50 %. Equal unsalted liquid doubles the volume and halves the salt per spoonful.