Flavor Balancing and How to Fix a Recipe

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Despite what’s often a popular opinion, healthy cooking can be full of flavor. Not so-so flavor, but the lip-smacking, dream-about-it-all-day kind. I’m just as interested in making meals satisfying and delicious as I am in making them nutritious. That’s why I carefully craft the flavors in my recipes, designing them from the ground up to change the perception of how good good-for-you food can be.

How do I achieve this? It’s all about balance. As a dish takes shape, I work to incorporate four key taste elements — sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. But there comes a time in life when a recipe falls out of balance and becomes too salty, too sweet, too spicy, or too bitter. No need to panic, most recipes can be saved. All we need is to learn a few tricks to mend them.

Below I will be talking about the purpose of salt, sweet, sourness, bitterness, healthy fats, and pungent and spiciness in recipes. Our ability to sense these flavors comes from the receptors on the tongue, the roof of the mouth, and in the back of the throat. I will dive into the shallow end of the culinary pool to discuss their purpose, the different types, what to do if your recipe falls out of balance, and various forms in which these flavors come in. All of this will help you decide perhaps which is the best route to go based on the recipe at hand. I say the shallow end of the pool because each of these components have books written about them and there is far too much information to share here. This guide will help give you the basics.

Tips to Never Forget

1. Never shake dry spices or herbs over the bowl. Lids can pop off and dump a cloud into your pile of ingredients. This situation usually can’t be saved.
2. Same goes with liquids. If you are using a measuring cup, do not hold it over the bowl of ingredients. Do this outside of the bowl and then pour it in from the measuring cup. I have had many mishaps where I have overpoured liquid sweeteners or melted oils into the bowl of ingredients.
3. If at all possible, taste test each ingredient before adding it. Below are a few examples as to what can affect the outcome of a recipe.
   • Nuts can go rancid.
   • Dried spices lose flavor over time and need to be replaced typically every six months.
   • Liquid fats can go rancid.
   • Avocados can be very bitter if unripe.
   • Peppers are unpredictable when it comes to the level of heat in them.
   • Unripe vegetables and fruit will affect the outcome of a recipe.

When it comes to salting food, whether adding it into a recipe or sprinkling it on top of a dish, one needs to start with a light hand. You can always add more, but it can be challenging to tame down an over-salted dish. Books have been written about salt, so if this is a subject that fascinates you, there are plenty of resources out there to fill your curiosity. Today, I am going to be hitting some main points that are important to know when starting in the kitchen.

The Purpose of Salt

1. Salt has a greater impact on flavor than any other ingredient.
2. Its presence perks up the depth and complexity of other flavors as the ingredients meld.
3. It is multidimensional; it has a flavor all on its own as well as enhancing the flavor of other ingredients.
4. Salt provides a balance between the sweetness and acidity by decreasing the sourness of acid and increasing the sweetness of sugar. A salty flavor should not be discernible when using it to adjust the balance of flavors.
5. Salt typically goes into a recipe while being made as well as being sprinkled on top of the completed dish.

Types of Salt – It makes a difference!

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

• I use this type of salt daily.
• These salts come from ancient sea beds in the Himalayan mountains. Their pink color comes from their rich iron content.
• True Himalayan sea salt can add not only flavor, but it is also quite rich in minerals, containing all 84 essential trace elements required by your body. It can assist in many bodily functions, such as reducing muscle cramps, promoting blood sugar health, and promoting healthy pH in your cells.

Sea Salt

• Most people are very familiar with sea salt.
• This salt comes from the ocean and undergoes an evaporation process to separate the salt from the water.
• It comes in many forms; red, black, gray, etc.
• Sea salt contains a small amount of natural iodine.
• Natural sea salts have a stronger flavor and taste that is usually about two to three times stronger than processed salts. You subsequently need less sea salt to achieve your desired flavor profile.

Table Salt (AKA refined salt)

• My recommendation is to AVOID table salt at all costs. This type of salt is typically found in salt shakers in homes and at restaurants.
• This salt is highly refined. It is heavily ground, and most of the impurities and trace minerals are removed.
• It is small and dense which makes it very salty tasting, so it’s very easy to over-salt with this type.
• It often gives food a slightly metallic taste.
• Table salts contain anticaking agents to prevent clumping as well as dextrose (a form of sugar) to stabilize the iodine that is added to this type of salt.

Kosher Salt

• This type of salt doesn’t contain any additives and tastes very pure.
• It’s crucial to remember that kosher salt and table salt are NOT 1:1 interchangeable in recipes. Kosher salt is larger and more irregularly shaped than table salt, so it doesn’t pack as densely in measuring spoons. You’ll end up needing more kosher salt to reach the same level of saltiness as a smaller portion of table salt. Generally, you’ll need twice as much kosher salt than table salt, but again, taste as you go.
• Some people like to sprinkle it on sweets like cookies for a pop of salty contrast.

The recipe is too Salty

1. If your recipe is too salty, try to balance with sweet, fatty, or sour.
   • To fix a sauce or soup that has too much salt, for example, add a dash of sweetness. Or if possible, dilute with a non-salted liquid.
   • Lemon juice, vinegar, or whatever the acid may be, can become your saving grace. Use a squeeze of lemon or a drizzle of a mild vinegar to help mask some of the aggressive salt with a new flavor.
2. It may not be the easiest thing to do, but you can double the recipe (minus the salt) then mix it in with the salty batch a bit at a time until you’ve reached your desired flavor.
3. Always pay attention to the ingredients. Some may have natural salts in them such as celery.

Forms of Salt (but not limited to)

• Pink Himalayan Salt
• Sea salt
• Tamari
• Miso
• Sea Veggies
• Celery
• Braggs liquid amino
• Coconut amino
• Olives

Sugar comes in many different forms and flavors. They often perform more than one role in any given recipe. Today, we are addressing the use of it in raw recipes. So we won’t be browning, melting, or caramelizing it. Learning to use the right type of sweetener in the right application will make all the difference.

The Purpose of Sweeteners

• A bulking agent – certain sweeteners contribute to the texture of raw recipes. Often you will see dried fruits used to add bulk to a recipe. Therefore, removing or reducing this form of sweetener can affect not only the flavor but also cause physical changes in the recipe.
• Adds viscosity – sometimes a thick liquid sweetener is needed such as coconut nectar or raw honey.
• Binding Action – dried fruits are often used to not only add sweetness to a recipe, but it also binds ingredients such as when creating raw cookies, bars, or cakes.
• The sweetness balances the salty taste.
• If the right sweeteners are used, they can add some nutrients to a dish, but there is a tipping point when too much sugar just flat out becomes unhealthy.

Types of Sweeteners

Stevia

• I use liquid NuNaturals stevia in most of my sweet dishes. When combined with other sweeteners, I can reduce the number of sugars being used.
• For example, if you are following one of my recipes and you find that it isn’t sweet enough, instead of increasing the sweetener used (maple syrup, coconut nectar, etc.) add a drop or more of stevia to brighten the sweet flavor.
• Be very careful when using stevia because it is VERY, VERY potent. A little goes a long way, so start with just a drop or two, increasing until the desired sweetness is achieved.

Dried Fruit

• Fruits come with nutrients, fiber, and sugar. Once dried, that sugar is concentrated.
• Dried fruits have a two-fold purpose in a lot of raw desserts. They act as a sweetener and a binder.

Liquid Sweeteners

• Maple syrup, coconut nectar, and yacon syrup are typical sweeteners that are used in the raw culinary world.
• They add moisture, sweetness, and some binding action to a recipe.

The recipe is too Sweet

1. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, a lot of recipes may seem too over the top for you. So my best advice when creating a recipe or following the instructions of another chef is to add a little and build up. If you’re not sure how much to decrease the sugar by, start by adding a small amount, such as a teaspoon, and then taste the dish. Continue to add more until your taste buds are satisfied. It’s easy to add more sugar, but it’s harder to balance the sweetness once it’s already in the dish.
2. If your recipe is too sweet to balance it with sour, salty, bitter, spicy, or fatty ingredients, make sure whichever you use, compliments the rest of the ingredients.
3. Add a squeeze of lemon or lime juice or a spoon of raw apple cider vinegar.
4. Don’t, however, use salt because it might heighten the sweetness.

Forms of Natural Sweeteners (but not limited to)

• Coconut Nectar
• Fresh fruits
• Dried fruits
• Yacon
• Maple syrup (not raw)
• Rapadura
• Stevia

The sour taste lends another flavor or sensation that is relatively familiar to us. It is primarily the result of acids such as citric acid, lactic acid, malic acid, oxalic acid, and ascorbic acid in our foods. We often “pucker” when we encounter the sour taste, and it immediately moistens the mouth and increases the flow of saliva, which is very helpful for digestion.

The Purpose of Sourness / Acid / Tartness

1. Sourness balances salty and sweet flavors.
2. Sourness is a taste that detects acidity.
3. It can reduce the amount of salt needed in your recipe. So use this as a tool if you need to reduce your salt intake.
4. Adds a high note, a brightness.
5. It keeps greens from oxidizing.
6. The sour taste is digestive, so it fuels the appetite, increases salivary secretions, enhances the secretion of digestive enzymes, and stimulates metabolism overall.¹

Types of Sourness / Acids

Vinegar

• Aim for raw, unfiltered vinegar such as raw apple cider vinegar or raw coconut vinegar.
• Pass on using distilled white vinegar. It might be great for cleaning windows, but it doesn’t offer any nutritional value to your dishes.
• Vinegar can be used in any recipe calling for lemon or lime juice. Use 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar for each teaspoon of lemon or lime juice.
• For those of you who have to monitor your salt intake, use a splash of vinegar as a seasoning instead.
• Vinegar pairs wonderfully with dark green leafy vegetables such as kale, mustard, or escarole and helps to reduce their bitterness.

Lemon Juice

• Lemon juice promotes hydration, so while you are prepping food, pour yourself a glass of water with a shot of lemon juice in it.
• A little lemon juice splashed into a dish can be transformative. Even if it’s citrus notes are too subtle to notice, lemon adds a bright freshness and finishing touch.
• Lemon juice can be used in place of vinegar if need be.
• Meyer lemons are sweet, so be careful about the flavor profile of the lemon that you are using.

The recipe is too Sour

1. If the recipe is too sour, then adjust the flavor with sweet, salty, fatty, or bitter ingredients, making sure whichever you use, compliments the rest of the ingredients.
2. If cooked foods are part of your menu the heat from roasting certain bitter vegetables can cut some of the bitterness.
3. Ever made a salad dressing or tomato sauce that makes your mouth pucker a little bit too much? Try adding a pinch of sugar and some salt for a quick fix.

Foods that Illustrate Sourness

• Vinegar; all kinds
• Lemon juice
• Lime juice
• Tamarind
• Raspberries
• Cranberries
• Pickles
• Rejuvelac
• Fermented foods
• Yogurt
• Citrus peel
• Unsweetened (raw) chocolate (cacao)

Bitterness is the taste that a lot of people are most sensitive to, and it’s the reason why picky eaters don’t like a lot of healthy foods such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, dark leafy greens, herbs, spices, coffee, tea, and certain fruits. Still, a touch of bitterness helps create balance. While the bitter taste is often not appealing on its own, it can create balance in a recipe as well as add in extra health benefits. If you are confused regarding the difference between bitterness and sourness, think of bitterness as more of a sharp, unpleasant taste, while sourness is more acidic.

The Purpose of Bitterness

1. It stimulates the appetite and helps bring out the flavor of the other tastes.
2. The bitter taste is a powerful detoxifying agent and has antibiotic, antiparasitic, and antiseptic qualities.
3. Bitter is highly alkaline.

Types of Bitter Foods

Dark leafy greens

• Bitter greens have fantastic health benefits, but they can be challenging when it comes to enjoying them raw. There are several things we can do to help reduce the bitterness and make them more enjoyable to eat.
• Trim away the burly backbones. Kale, Swiss chard, or any green that has a thick spine, can and should be trimmed down.
• Give dark leafy greens a nice massage with a touch of lemon juice.
• If you still struggle with eating raw dark leafy greens, try blanching them in hot water for a few seconds. Blanching will help with some of the bitterness and make them more tender to chew.
• If you’re committed to enjoying your bitter vegetables raw, the best action you can take is to soak them in cold water. Prep the greens by cutting them into bite-sized pieces, place in a bowl with water and a few ice cubes and let sit for thirty minutes to a few hours. The chill sweetens the vegetables, making them easier to enjoy.
• Bitter vegetables respond well to hints of sweetness. Dress them up with vinaigrettes that have some sweetness to them or try matching them with naturally sweet vegetables.
• Add a healthy fat to your greens. If you’re sensitive to bitter flavors, you can make use of this odd factoid by adding mashed or diced avocado, non-dairy cream, or a salad dressing that contains a fat. The fat coats your mouth inoculating your taste buds against the bitterness of the greens.

The recipe is too Bitter

1. If your recipe is too bitter, balance it with sweet, salty, or sour. Make sure whichever you use, compliments the rest of the ingredients.
2. If your food is too bitter or the flavors of the other ingredients don’t seem to be coming through, add a dash of salt.
3. Baking soda – even though this isn’t a raw product, it takes just a pinch to soften the bitter tones in a dish.

Foods that Illustrate Sourness

• Romaine Lettuce
• Kale
• Arugula
• Nutmeg
• Cumin
• Dandelion
• Spinach
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Zucchini
• Grapefruit
• Bitter melon
• Turmeric
• Fenugreek
• Coffee
• Tea

Not all fats are created equal, but the right ones can not only add amazing flavor, texture, and appearance, they can also offer up a lot of great health benefits. I tend to use what is referred to as medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). They are rich in medium-chain fatty acids, which are easy for your body to digest, not readily stored by the body as fat, allowing them to infuse cells with energy almost immediately.

The Purpose of Fats

1. Fats subdue flavor and create depth to a recipe. They can add comfort, richness, and a wonderful mouthfeel.
2. Fats play an important role in making foods satisfying or making us feel full, which in return helps us from overeating.
3. Fats and oils can alter a food’s appearance by creating a glossy or moist visual texture.
4. Emulsifying fat into a liquid produces unique taste and texture qualities.
5. Fat has the unique ability to absorb and preserve flavors.
6. Fats also contain compounds that lend a specific taste of their own. The way fat coats the tongue and allows flavors to linger can also alter the taste experience.

Types of Fats

Avocado

• Avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, which is a “good” fat that helps lower bad cholesterol.
• Can be diced and used as a topping on dishes.
• Can be blended to create thick creamy textures; chocolate pudding, soups, smoothies, etc.
• Make guacamole to balance a spicy Mexican dish.
• When thinned out they can create a creamy base for salad dressings.
• Unripe avocados will impart a bitter flavor to a recipe.
• The flavor is relatively neutral when ripe and paired with other ingredients.

Coconut Milk

• Coconut milk contains beneficial fat called lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid that’s easily absorbed and used by the body for energy.
• With its creamy texture and slight natural sweetness, coconut milk is excellent for soup bases as well as in smoothies.
• You can make your own by blending the meat of young Thai coconut with water. You can create textures from thin milk to heavy thick cream.
• Depending on the recipe, the flavor of coconut can shine through.

Coconut Butter

• Coconut butter will solidify when chilled, so keep this in mind when using it in raw recipes as it can be a blessing or a hindrance.
• If well diluted in a recipe such as a soup or a smoothie, you won’t need to worry too much with it hardening.

Coconut Oil

• At room temperature, coconut oil is solid, so it’s not the best choice when you need healthy fat in liquid form, like in a salad dressing.
• Coconut oil is excellent in raw cheesecakes or pies because it firms up giving it a great texture when chilled.
• Many people detect a rancid taste if coconut oil is used in dehydrated foods.

Nuts and Seeds

• Whether eaten whole or blended into butters, they are loaded with nutrients. Each nut and seed brings different nutrients to the plate so be sure to use a variety of them in your diet.
• Look for nut butters with just one or two ingredients, the nut and salt.
• Blended into butters, they can be added to smoothies and soups.
• Blended into small crumbles, nuts and seeds add great texture to raw cookies, bars, crusts, and crackers.
• When processed to a flour texture they can be used as a flour replacement, offering a gluten-free substitution.

Cacao Butter

• Cacao butter is the pure, cold-pressed oil of the cacao bean.
• Cacao butter’s chocolaty aroma is greater than the flavor it provides, which is only a hint. It serves well as a background flavor, and mostly adds richness to recipes.
• Because it is in its raw form, it is VERY bitter and isn’t meant to be eaten by itself.
• Cacao butter is too hard to use in its solid state and must be melted before being added to a recipe to incorporate it.
• Cacao butter will be solid at room temperature (melts around 95-97.7 degrees F). Once melted you can incorporate it into your recipe. Because of this, it is great to use in recipes to help give it a thicker creamy texture, or it can create a very firm/solid texture. Be sure to keep this in mind if you select this type of fat to add to a recipe.

The recipe is too Fatty

1. If the recipe is liquid based (i.e., soup), grasp an ice cube with your index and thumb, wrap a layer of paper towel around it and skim the surface where the oil has risen. The oil thickens from the cold and clings to the ice cube. You may need to repeat this process several times.
2. Chilling the dish may help as well since the fats would firm up, making it easier to remove.
3. If possible, try doubling the recipe except for the fat component to see if you can even it out.
4. If you are making a nut or seed butter and it was overprocessed, it will become oily. Sometimes this can be remedied by stirring the oil back into the butter, whereas other times, it is just too difficult.

Foods that Illustrate Fats (but not limited to)

• Avocado
• Coconut milk/cream
• Coconut butter
• Cold-pressed oils; nut, seed, avocado, coconut oil
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Cacao butter

There are two factors at play in the level of heat perceived in any given food: the amount of a particular compound found within the food, as well as the sensitivity of your mouth’s receptors to that compound. Many foods naturally come with some heat. Peppers have capsaicin, ginger has gingerol, horseradish, hot mustard, and wasabi contain allyl isothiocyanate. It’s our job to balance that heat so you can enjoy your dish bite after bite.

The Purpose of Spicey and Pungent Flavors

1. Adds drama and intensity.
2. Remember that in the raw world, pungent and spicy ingredients must be used sparingly. Make sure to work them up to your heat tolerance. There is a great difference in the taste and heat level of raw and cooked ginger for example.
3. When used delicately, it can transform a dish, but if used without caution, it can ruin a dish and any other foods that may follow.

Types of Spicy and Pungent Flavors

Horseradish – pungent/hot

• Raw horseradish is much more pungent than using it when cooked. So if you are converting a cooked recipe to raw, use less than you might think.
• Horseradish roots have a strong, pungent, spicy flavor that can make your eyes water and your nose run.

Raw garlic – hot

• Not only is raw garlic powerful in flavor but it is also potent as an anti-infection remedy, helps with increasing bile flow, works on immune stimulation, and many other things.
• When adding raw garlic to a raw dish watch out because it can quickly shift from a pleasant aftertaste to a very hot unpleasant experience.
• If you slice open your garlic clove and notice that there is a green stem inside, this indicates that your garlic is sprouting and past its prime which will only make it that much more bitter and pungent.

Raw ginger – pungent/hot

• Ginger strokes the digestive fire, but it also whets the appetite and improves assimilation and transportation of nutrients to targeted body tissues.
• Because ginger is very pungent and hot, be sure to mince fresh ginger root when adding it into a raw recipe. It could be a painful experience to bite down on a large chunk of it.

Raw Onions – pungent

• Onions are a good source of vitamin C and B6, iron, folate, and potassium.
• There are many varieties of onions ranging from tasting overpoweringly pungent, hot, mild, and even sweet. So be mindful on which onion you select for recipes.

Peppers – hot and sweet

• Again, just like onions, be aware of the peppers you are using and how they will affect the flavor of the dish. Some carry a wide range of heat and others can be sweet.
• If you are using hot peppers, wear gloves and don’t touch other body parts while working with them. Also, be sure to remove the seeds to reduce the heat.

The recipe is too Spicy

1. Acid helps, like a squeeze of lime.
2. Adding some sweetness can help bring down the spiciness.
3. Even better, add in some fat like avocado, non-dairy sour cream, mayonnaise, yogurt, or even cashew butter, almond butter, or Tahini.
4. If possible, improvise by adding additional ingredients to dilute, and that will play well with the recipe while neutralizing the spiciness.
5. Serve over a bed of zucchini noodles, shredded cabbage, or cauliflower rice to help disperse the heat.

Foods that Illustrate Spicy or Pungent Flavors

• Garlic
• Onion
• Radishes
• Ginger – back of the throat
• Mustard Seeds – nasal flaring sensation
• Wasabi – nasal flaring sensation
• Horseradish – nasal flaring sensation
• The Habanero – back of the throat
• Ghost Pepper – back of the throat
• Sunburst – mid-palate, moves to tongue and lips
• Poblano – side of the tongue
• Tabasco – lips and tongue
• Jalapeno – tip of the tongue
• Aji – tip of the tongue
• Paprika – mid-palate
• Cayenne – front and middle of the mouth
• Bird Pepper – dissipates on tongue and mouth, lingers on lips
• Rocoto – whole mouth, lips, mid-palate, throat
• Sataka – tip of the tongue
• Trinidad Scorpion – back of the throat