First of all, I would like to thank all moms for providing us with their never-ending love and care, and making some pretty great food. Of course, moms can't be with us everywhere we go. So, to deal with life's problems, everything from brown apples to sore throats, they teach us their hacks. Here are some of my mom’s and my friends moms' best food hacks.
1. Slice Lemon Lengthwise to Get More Juice
My mom has told me to always slice lemon tip to tip or lengthwise to produce more juice. Cutting lemon crosswise can produce nearly three times less the amount of juice. When the larger surface area exposes more pulp, more juice can be extracted.
2. Check Whether an Egg is Rotten or Not
You can check the freshness of fruits and vegetable, but checking the freshness of an egg is not as obvious. Thanks to my mom who told me this hack, you can know for sure.
Fill a bowl with water and place your egg in it. If the egg floats, it's rotten. If the egg sinks down to the bottom, congrats, it's fresh and ready to eat.
3. Use Salt To Peel Egg Shells More Easily
My mother puts one teaspoon of salt in water while boiling 1-2 eggs and it makes it easier to remove the eggshell. No more picking off tiny bits and blemishing your newly hard boiled egg.
4. Make Curd at Home Easily
My mother makes super delicious and extremely healthy curd at home. All she does is take a cup of boiled milk (which is then cooled down), put a scoop of hung curd in it and mix it well. Then she leaves it overnight undisturbed.
#Spoon Tip: Don't take too hot or too cold milk. Don't disturb the cup either, as the curd will not set. Put the curd immediately in the refrigerator once it is set, or else it will turn sour.
5. Prevent Apples From Browning Using Lemon Juice
Sometimes my mother cuts up too many apples and we can't eat them all at once. To prevent them from browning, she sprinkles some lemon juice over them so we can eat them later and have them taste just as fresh.
#Spoon Tip: Rewash the apples before eating if you don't like the taste of lemon.
6. Remove Bitterness of a Cucumber by Rubbing its End
When my mother encounters a bitter cucumber, she doesn't just throw it away. Rather she cuts its upper end and rubs it in a circular motion on the cucumber as shown in the photo above. When a white foam-like substance develops from the inside of the cucumber, she washes it and repeats this process on the other end. The white color substance is formed due to the cucurbitacin, a biochemical that causes bitterness.
7. Put Boiled Potatoes in Cold Water to Easily Remove Their Skins
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To remove the skin of potato more easily, transfer them into cold water after boiling. Then, try to peel the skin and it will come off much easier than just using a peeler.
8. Treatment for Sore Throat Using Turmeric and Salt in Luke Warm Water
Whenever I have a sore throat, my mother gives me a glass of lukewarm water mixed with a pinch of turmeric and a teaspoon of salt for gargling. It gives relief to my sore throat. Turmeric has a polyphenolic compound called curcumin, which has powerful antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties.
9. Add Flour to Reduce The Saltiness of a Dish
One of my friends told me that if a dish is very salty, she adds a small ball of wheat flour to the dish. The flour ball should be made of same dough as used for making chapatis. Add a flour ball and cook the dish for a while. It absorbs all the extra salt. The flour ball can be removed once it is done.
10. Use Fork to Shred Chicken
My mom uses a fork to shred chicken more easily. You can use one or two forks to pull the chicken apart.
These are the few simple food hacks that my mom has been using for years, and maybe your mom uses some of the same. I hope that you will find these food hacks useful.