Adding too much vinegar to a recipe can completely ruin the taste of it. Before you throw everything away and start from scratch, though, you can try salvaging the dish with a few tricks. Try one trick at a time and see what happens. Choose the "fix-it" method that works best, depending on whether your dish is a salad, a pickled vegetable or a sauce.
Step 1
Add a bit of honey to the food and mix it in well. Start with ¼ tsp. and keep adding more until the taste of vinegar dissipates. Honey works well in soups or other liquid dishes.
Step 2
Mix in brown table sugar instead of honey for drier foods such as salads or meats. Sprinkle some of the sugar on the food and mix it in well. For foods such as meats or vegetables, where sugar can't really mix in with the food itself, roll the item in the sugar and hit or rub it lightly with a spoon so that the food absorbs the sugar.
Step 3
Put the food into a pan and cook it over the stove for a few minutes. The heat can help "cook out" the extra vinegar and even out the taste.
Step 4
Rinse food in cool or cold water. This works well for vegetables, meats or pickled items that won't get ruined if you make them wet. You can also soak the item in cold water for a few minutes, rinse, and soak it in clean water again. Repeat this a few times until the vinegar smell and taste subside.
Step 5
Add some citrus juice -- both lemon and orange juice are good options -- to the recipe. For dry recipes, add some grated citrus rind. Mix it in well and taste. If you can still taste the vinegar, add a little more juice or rind.
References
- "How to Repair Food"; Marina C. Bear, John Bear and Tanya Zeryck; 2006
- Kitchen Daily; How to Fix Cooking Mistakes; Kat Kinsman; 2011
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