Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <flavor><soup><mexican-cuisine><citrus><lime>
Title: How do I remove bitter flavor from lime rind in soup?
Question: I just made a large pot of soup. It's a Mexican Caldo de Res. I added a bunch of lime juice, and thought, hey, maybe i'll throw the lime rinds in there too for a bit. This was a huge mistake. Now the whole thing has a really bitter flavor. I've removed the rinds, are there any suggestions on how to save this?

Answers:
sents: text: You might be able to counter-balance it with other flavors (salt, sour, sweet, hot), but you're likely still going to have some bitter notes come through, it's just a question if it's tolerable or not, and some people dislike bitter more than others.
text: (I can't understand how people can drink beers other than lambics)
text: In looking at a similar thread on Chowhound , one of the recommendations is a bit of milk or cream.
text: If you're not lactose intollerant, it might be worth a try.
text: This could also be a chance for an experiment -- ladle it into a bunch of glasses, try some different things (sugar, vinegar, soy, hot sauce, milk, worcestershire, combinations of them, etc), and report back to us with what you think worked best.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/67/Joe
score: 8
sents: text: This isn't a direct answer, but rather an anecdote from personal experience.
text: One time I made garlic parmesan mashed potatoes for a company thanksgiving pot-luck lunch.
text: I've made this recipe a few dozen times before.
text: However, this time I decided to get creative and go with parmesan, asiago, and romano cheeses instead of just parmesan.
text: I also committed the cardinal sin of not tasting as I went.
text: Well, I didn't realize how much more salty asiago and romano cheeses were than parmesan.
text: Needless to say when I finished and tasted it, it was almost inedibly salty.
text: Salt being a hard thing to counteract, and me being reluctant to throw out 5 lbs of mashed potatoes, I decided to try dilution.
text: I made about 7 lbs more of potatoes, omitted all the salt, and used only parmesan.
text: Surprisingly it worked rather well.
text: They were still a bit on the salty side of things, but delicious.
text: In short, maybe try doubling or diluting your recipe next time you make a mistake.
text: That in combination with some of the milk/cream methods suggested by others could save your dish.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/60/hobodave
score: 4
sents: text: About the only thing I can think of us adding a little sugar to the pot, but don't add a lot all at once.
text: Just add a little and taste...
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/115/Pulse
score: 3
sents: text: Not a fix, but a footnote - next time only use the zest and not the light-coloured part of the rind
text: - that is where there the bitterness lies.
text: It is called the "pith", and is the white lining between the peel and the fruit.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/3688/5arx
score: 2
sents: text: I hope this helps, try chopping up a whole bunch of celery, It seems to absorb the bitter and nutralize the taste, It worked for me when I made a base for rice with way to much menthi Indian spice and the bitterness was unbearable, It worked for me
text: and I hope this helps you to!I also added a little vinagar and sugar.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/18031/irene Nystrom
score: 2

Summary of the answers:
You may be able to counter-balance it with other flavours or add milk, cream or celery to absorb the strong flavours. Doubling or diluting the recipe can also help to mask strong flavours.
While there isn't really a definitive way of removing bitterness, a few things can help: adding milk or cream, sugar, celery or diluting your recipe.