Lemon Juice Can Give Your Soup The Extra Zest It Needs (2024)
nicole anderson
·3 min read
Soup can be polarizing. Some people rave about the warmth and comfort a hearty bowl of soup can bring, while others view it as bland, boring, and lacking substance. If you find yourself less than enthusiastic about cooking or consuming soup for a meal, there's a good chance you haven't unlocked the depth of flavor a well-seasoned bowl can provide.
One of the best ways to brighten up your soup? Add some acid, especially in the form of citrus. While lemon is the star of the show in recipes like lemon chicken orso soup, it also pairs wonderfully with aclassic chicken noodle. In this case, however, the lemon provides more of a flavor undertone that enhances other seasonings like thyme, parsley, and turmeric.
According to trained chef Leetal Arazi, who spoke with Real Simple, you can bring a "zesty flavor" to your soup simply by adding lemon. The juice alone will add a sharpness to the dish that balances out the other ingredients, but a more intense acid, like preserved lemon, can also incorporate some savory umami elements. This is because preserved lemons change during the fermentation process, becoming more concentrated and deep in flavor. Of course, if you can't get your hands on this paste, lemon juice is an easily accessible alternative that still provides the citrus your soup needs.
Lemon is arguably even more essential in richer soups like wild mushroom and rice, curried split pea, or even white bean and bacon. This is because the delicate balance of flavor profiles requires that acidic, lemony zing to cut through the fats in the soup. Samin Nosrat unpacks this idea in her award-winning cookbook, "Salt Fat Acid Heat." She explains that these elements, when combined,strengthen a dishby using "salt to enhance, fat to carry, and acid to balance flavor."
Since wild mushroom soups are typically cream-based, there's a lot of fat incorporated into the recipe, along with the rich umami mushrooms. Similarly, using an array of spices or fatty cuts of meat can create an overbearing flavor. While salt can be added to balance out this richness, using lemon instead will actually be more effective. This is because the acid from the lemon cuts through the fat and balances out the spices. Using lemon zest on top of each bowl is also a great garnish that provides a zesty punch in every bite.
It's not uncommon to look at a soup recipe and assume the lemon would be out of place or wouldn't combine well with the other flavors, but adding lemon juice to an entire pot of soup likely won't be noticeable. Similar to salt, it will simply heighten the flavorsyou already taste, making it the perfect acid to incorporate into your dishes.
In this case, however, the lemon provides more of a flavor undertone that enhances other seasonings like thyme, parsley, and turmeric. According to trained chef Leetal Arazi, who spoke with Real Simple, you can bring a "zesty flavor" to your soup simply by adding lemon.
Lemon juice carries the same flavor as lemon zest, but it's more acidic, so you might want to add a pinch of sugar to balance out the tartness. That said, the lemon flavor is not as concentrated as lemon zest, so you'll want to keep this formula handy: 1 teaspoon of lemon zest = 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Adds brightness to savory dishes such as pastas and tomato dishes, and often you can't identify the exact flavor - a chef's dream - a secret ingredient. Lemon dessert recipes call for it because of the intensity of flavor it adds without watering anything down, which juice would do.
Either large or small lemons will work for most recipes, so choose the fruit based on whether you'll be using it primarily for zest or for juice. LARGER, THICK-SKINNED LEMONS are perfect for zesting.
Zest before juice: When a recipe calls for both juice and zest, always zest before you squeeze because it's much easier to hold and rotate a whole lemon.
Add it in the last few minutes of cooking so it doesn't get bitter. If you're mixing up a vinaigrette at home (and you should be), why not take 30 extra seconds to grate some citrus zest in there?
Do You Have To Use the Lemon Zest in a Recipe? Skipping the lemon zest in a recipe is up to you! Your recipe likely won't be ruined without it, but if you're making something like lemon curd bars, or lemon pound cake, you probably should use an alternative, or go pick up a lemon.
Many recipes use lemon in the beginning of the recipe, but for soup, you'll want to wait and add the lemon towards the end of the cooking process to retain its vibrancy. Start with the juice or zest of half a lemon, then add more as desired.
The last bit of advice with cooking with lemon is true for both zest and juice. Don't add it too early to a dish — when it's still cooking and very hot. When introduced to too much heat for too long, lemon can easily turn bitter and even discolor other ingredients being cooked with it.
Lemon zest has long been used as a digestive aid. Lemon peel is high in pectin, a soluble fiber that helps prevent constipation and indigestion and promotes bile output.
1 tablespoon of lemon zest equals 6 tablespoons of lemon juice. The lemon juice flavor is not as concentrated so expect to use more lemon juice to get the lemony flavor but also do not forget to take into account the extra liquid with your other ingredients.
You find a recipe that features lemon, and among the list of ingredients is lemon zest. Do you really need to use it? The answer is most certainly, “Yes!” As opposed to lemon juice (fresh or bottled) or lemon extract, lemon zest delivers a brighter, tangier flavor.
The rind of the lemon can be zested and added to baked goods, tea, soup, and beverages of all kinds. Here are a few ways to prepare this versatile and vibrant fruit: Make a classic, ice-cold lemonade with organic sugar or sugar alternative and water.
To use: Shake well before use, and use the same amount of bottled lemon juice in a recipe as you would fresh juice. If a recipe specifies the juice of 1 lemon, replace it with 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice.
If you don't have a citrus zester on hand, you can still get the lemon flavor you need. Just break out your box grater. Use the fine holes or the sharp grater teeth to gently shave the zest from the lemon. Be sure to turn the fruit as you go to avoid getting any of the fibrous white pith.
As lemon extract has a much more concentrated flavor, you'll need to use double the amount of lemon juice as lemon extract. This is fine for dressings, marinades and pickle recipes, but can be a problem with baked dishes.
Introduction: My name is Rueben Jacobs, I am a cooperative, beautiful, kind, comfortable, glamorous, open, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
