How To Rescue An Overly Acidic Soup With Easy Staple Ingredients

Every now and then, you get a reminder that cooking is a science experiment. Add too many acidic ingredients like vinegar or tomatoes to your soup, and it'll be thrown out of balance, making you pucker up with an overabundance of tanginess or sourness. But there's no need to start over again. Just as you did in science class, you can add other elements to neutralize the flavors.

We've written before about how carrots can temper acidity. That's due in part to their high alkalinity, but their natural sweetness is just as effective. In fact, a little sugar is often used to harmonize acidic foods. Think of how a teaspoon of brown sugar can soften the bite of tomato-rich pizza sauce. Along the same vein, vinegary marinades and salad dressings can be made with maple syrup or honey to reduce their harsh punch. The same principles can be put to use in soup. While sugar won't actually chemically neutralize the acid, the way our brains perceive sweetness next to sourness will make the combination of flavors seem more balanced.

No need to go overboard. If you're combatting sourness with sweetness, just a pinch of sugar (or a drizzle of honey or maple syrup) will do. It's better to taste and add a little more if you need it instead of over-sweetening the soup. Then you'd have to rebalance it again with more acidic ingredients until you get the flavor right.

Don't want to risk making your soup too sweet? There are other remedies to try. For example, if you want to take a scientific approach, you can always use the alkaline ingredient that's already in your cupboard. With a pH of 9, baking soda can chemically neutralize some of the acid in tomatoes (which range from around 4.3 to 4.9 on the pH scale). For this method, you only need a quarter teaspoon of baking soda. To incorporate it evenly, stir it into a little water to make a slurry, and gradually add the mixture to your soup.

Another trick is to boost the umami by adding mushrooms or dried seaweed. Just like sweetness gives our tastebuds something else to focus on, umami flavors can distract from too much tanginess. Pungent herbs can work the same way. With one or several of these techniques, you'll soon make your overly tangy soup tasty again.