Rescue
The 20 most common kitchen problems: what to do now and how to prevent them next time. Each problem starts with a short answer, then the steps.
Rescue fixes taste and texture. It does not fix spoiled food. Reheating food that sat at room temperature for more than 2 hours does not make it safe, so throw that food away.
The food is too salty. What do I do?
You cannot take salt out of a dish, so you increase the volume of the dish by adding unsalted liquid or unsalted ingredients.
What to do now
- Add unsalted liquid to soups and stews. If needed, cook a second unsalted portion and mix the two.
- Add unsalted vegetables to a salad.
- Finish with a few drops of lemon or a spoonful of yogurt. Acid and fat do not reduce the salt, they only reduce how salty it tastes.
Next time
Salt goes in at 0.8–1.2% of the dish's total weight. Salt concentrates as liquid reduces. That is why you finish the salt at the end.
The food is bland. What is missing?
What is missing is usually salt, and if the salt is enough, it is acid.
What to do now
- Put one ladle of the dish in a separate bowl, add a pinch of salt and taste.
- If the taste did not improve, add a few drops of lemon to another ladle and taste.
- Add to the main pot whichever addition improved the taste.
Next time
Taste the dish close to serving temperature, not while it cooks. Testing on one ladle does not put the whole pot at risk.
The food is too sour. What do I do?
Sourness is balanced with sweetness and fat: add a pinch of sugar, honey or a spoonful of fat.
What to do now
- Add a pinch of sugar, stir and taste.
- If it suits the dish, add butter, olive oil or yogurt.
- Add a few more vegetables to a salad.
Next time
Add acid little by little and taste each time. The sourness of lemons changes from fruit to fruit. The sourness of pomegranate molasses, a thick, sour syrup from Middle Eastern groceries and online shops, changes from bottle to bottle. Balsamic glaze with a little lemon juice can replace it.
The food is too spicy. What do I do?
You cannot take chili heat out of a dish, so you dilute the dish or soften the heat with fat and dairy.
What to do now
- Increase the volume of the dish by adding chili-free ingredients or liquid.
- Serve yogurt or ayran (a salted yogurt drink; plain yogurt thinned with water works) on the side. The substance that causes the heat (capsaicin) does not dissolve in water, and dairy carries it away from the tongue.
- If it suits the dish, add butter or a pinch of sugar.
Next time
Test the heat of a chili by tasting a small piece first. Most of the heat is in the white membrane inside the chili. That is why removing the membrane reduces the heat. Wear gloves or wash your hands with soap, because chili heat on your hands must not reach your eyes.
The food is too sweet. What do I do?
Sweetness is balanced with acid and salt: add a few drops of lemon or vinegar and a pinch of salt.
What to do now
- Add a few drops of lemon or vinegar and taste.
- In a savory dish, add a pinch of salt.
- In a tomato dish, add a little more liquid or tomato paste.
Next time
Some store-bought pomegranate molasses, tomato paste and sauces contain sugar. That is why you read the label and taste the product on its own first.
The bottom of the pot burned. Can the food be saved?
The food can usually be saved if you move the top part to a clean pot before the burned smell spreads through it.
What to do now
- Turn off the heat right away. Do not stir, because stirring spreads the burned part through the food.
- Ladle the top part into a clean pot without touching the bottom.
- Taste. If you can taste burning, the food cannot be saved.
Next time
Use a heavy-bottomed pot and lower the heat. Lentils and starchy dishes sink to the bottom. That is why you stir them now and then.
The onion or garlic burned. Can I keep going?
No, the bitterness from burned onion and garlic cannot be removed, so you start the base again.
What to do now
- If no liquid has gone in, empty the pot, wipe it and use fresh oil.
- If only the edges have darkened and the taste is not bitter, pick out the dark pieces.
Next time
Cook onion over medium heat. Add garlic after the onion softens, and add the liquid or tomato paste within 30 seconds.
Why is the meat still tough, and how do I make it tender?
Meat with a lot of connective tissue is tough because it is undercooked, and lean meat is tough because it is overcooked, so the fix depends on the type of meat.
What to do now
- For cuts with connective tissue, such as shank or brisket, add liquid, cover and cook over low heat until a fork goes in easily.
- If a lean cut is overcooked, slice it thinly against the grain and serve it with sauce. Cooking it longer will not make this cut tender.
Next time
Cook cuts with connective tissue over low heat for hours, and cook lean cuts quickly. Slice cooked meat against the grain.
The chicken dried out. What do I do?
Dried-out chicken does not take its moisture back, so you slice it thinly and serve it with sauce.
What to do now
- Slice the chicken thinly against the grain.
- Serve it with a hot sauce, a yogurt sauce or stock.
- Adding it to a salad, a sandwich or pilav also covers the dryness.
Next time
Breast meat is thin and cooks fast. Take it off the heat when a probe thermometer reads 74 °C (165 °F). Salting the chicken before cooking keeps it moister.
Why did the meat release water instead of browning?
When the pan is crowded or the meat is wet, the surface cannot go above 100 °C (212 °F), so the meat boils instead of browning.
What to do now
- Take the meat out of the pan and pour the liquid into a separate bowl.
- Heat the pan well again.
- Dry the meat with paper towels and return a few pieces at a time to the pan. Add the saved liquid to the sauce at the end.
Next time
Dry the meat, preheat the pan and cook in batches. Do not move the meat for the first minute, until the underside browns.
The pilav turned mushy. Can it be saved?
Mushy pilav does not go back to how it was, but you can save it by removing the extra moisture or turning it into another dish.
What to do now
- Take off the lid, turn the heat to the lowest setting and let the steam out until the surface of the grains is dry, 3–5 minutes.
- If the pilav is still sticky, spread it on a wide tray and let the steam escape.
- If the pilav has fallen apart, turn it into soup or sütlaç (Turkish rice pudding).
Next time
Use about 1.5 glasses of water for each glass of rice, measured with the same 200 ml glass (depending on the type of rice, the water can go up to 1.8 glasses). Wash the rice, do not stir it while it cooks, and let it steep for 10 minutes after you turn off the heat. Do not leave cooked pilav at room temperature. Put it in the refrigerator within 2 hours.
The pilav is still hard. What do I do?
Pilav stays hard because the water ran out before the rice cooked, so you add a little hot water and steam the pilav over the lowest heat.
What to do now
- Sprinkle in 2–3 Tbsp (15 ml each) of hot water and do not stir.
- Put the lid on and leave it over the lowest heat for 5–10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let it steep for 10 minutes.
Next time
If the heat is high, the water evaporates before the rice cooks. That is why you lower the heat once the water boils and close the lid tightly.
The dish is too watery. How do I thicken it?
You thicken a watery dish by boiling off the liquid with the lid off or, if you are short on time, with cornstarch.
What to do now
- Take off the lid, raise the heat and boil the liquid down. Liquid reduces faster in a wide pot.
- If you are short on time, dissolve 1 Tbsp (15 ml) of cornstarch in a little cold water, stir it into the boiling dish and let it boil.
- Taste for salt at the end, because salt concentrates as the liquid reduces.
Next time
Add liquid little by little. Vegetables and meat release their own water as they cook.
The soup or sauce is too thick. What do I do?
Add hot water or stock little by little and check the salt again.
What to do now
- Add hot liquid one ladle at a time and stir.
- Bring it back to a boil and taste. Added liquid lowers the salt ratio.
Next time
A starch-thickened sauce gets thicker as it cools. That is why you leave it slightly thin on the stove.
The sauce turned lumpy. How do I fix it?
Whisk the sauce hard, strain it or use an immersion blender if lumps remain, then boil it briefly.
What to do now
- Whisk the sauce hard with a wire whisk.
- If lumps remain, pass the sauce through a strainer or use an immersion blender.
- Return the sauce to the pot and boil it briefly.
Next time
Cook flour in fat first, and dissolve starch in cold water first. Add the liquid little by little and keep whisking.
Why did the yogurt sauce or soup curdle?
The sauce curdles because yogurt clots at high heat. Curdled sauce does not fully recover, but an immersion blender makes it smooth.
What to do now
- Turn off the heat.
- Blend the sauce briefly with an immersion blender or pass it through a strainer. The taste of the sauce has not changed, and this step only fixes its look.
- Do not boil the sauce again.
Next time
Whisk the yogurt with flour or egg, and warm it by adding hot liquid little by little (tempering). Then heat the sauce while stirring, without boiling it.
The mayonnaise broke. How do I fix it?
Whisk a new egg yolk in a clean bowl and add the broken mixture drop by drop.
What to do now
- Put an egg yolk in a clean bowl.
- Add the broken mixture drop by drop at first, then in a thin stream once the sauce thickens, whisking the whole time.
Next time
Add the oil drop by drop at the start. Have the ingredients at room temperature. Do not serve raw egg to anyone who is pregnant, elderly, a young child or immunocompromised.
Why did the fried food soak up oil?
If the oil is not hot enough or the pot is crowded, the outside browns slowly, so the oil soaks in.
What to do now
- Move the fried food to paper towels.
- Bring the oil to 175–190 °C (350–375 °F) and fry the remaining pieces a few at a time.
- Put the pieces you took out back in the hot oil for a short time.
Next time
Add food to the oil in batches, and wait for the oil to heat up again after each batch. If the oil catches fire, do not pour water on it: turn off the stove and cover it with a lid or a tray.
The vegetables turned mushy or lost their color. What do I do?
Overcooked vegetables do not firm up again, so you turn them into a puree or a soup.
What to do now
- Puree the vegetables or add them to a soup.
- Add something with a fresh smell, such as fresh herbs or lemon zest.
Next time
Boil green vegetables briefly in plenty of salted boiling water, then move them to cold water. Acid dulls the color of green vegetables. That is why acid goes in at the end.
Why will the dried beans not soften?
Dried beans stay hard because they are old, the water is hard or acid went in too early, and long cooking with a little baking soda usually solves the problem.
What to do now
- If tomato or lemon went in early, the beans take longer to soften. That is why you should keep cooking.
- Add less than ½ tsp (2.5 ml) of baking soda to the pot. Baking soda softens the skin of the beans, and too much spoils the taste.
- If red dried beans such as barbunya (borlotti beans) have not boiled for at least 10 minutes, boil them for 10 minutes first. Then add hot water and cook over low heat until the beans are soft.
Next time
Buy beans from the new crop and soak them overnight. Add tomato and lemon after the beans soften. Do not start red dried beans such as barbunya on low heat or in a slow cooker from raw.