Question by yosedad: Canned tomatoes/paste in our country are overwhelmingly tangy. How do I reduce their flavor in recipes?
Every recipe from spaghetti sauce to chili is just overwhelmingly tomato-ey. I’ve tried adding extra spices to offset it but this doesn’t do much. Is there any way to decrease the “bite” of the tomato taste without losing the basic tomato flavor?
Best answer:
Answer by melissa_0036
sugar
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Use a pinch of sugar, that will cut the acidity of the tomatoes.
I just use a lil bit of cream…..works wonders for me.
Try cream but not too much
You can add some baking soda. Baking soda is alkaline (or a base if you’re a chemist). It will neutralize the acid (source of tartness sensation) in the tomatoes. THOROUGHLY stir in about 1/8 teaspoon at a time until the tartness is reduced to the level you wish. Be careful as too much will remove all the tartness and therefore the taste sensation the tomato sauce adds. Baking soda not only raises the pH, it also raises the total alkalinity. This is called ‘buffering’. This means that if too much baking soda is added it will take a lot of tomato sauce (acid) to bring the pH back down. Adding sugar or sweet veggies such as carrots covers the tartness with another taste sensation, but does not actually make much change in the pH level. While adding water will reduce the tartness via dilution, it will also dilute all the other flavors.
FYI -The pH of tomatoes is about 4.6, carrots about 6.0, potatoes about 5.5 and water about 7.0.