Lemon can help to avoid fish odor

Cooking of fish is usually accompanied by an undesirable odor. Lemon can eliminate a fish odor and also disinfect. Citric acid removes fish odor from the cutting board, knives, hands and everything that was in contact with fish. Besides, citric acid can prevent combustion of fatty fish acids.

Lemon prevents peeled fruits from becoming brown

Apples and bananas are not only tasty, but also very useful, that's why they are often served as dessert. Nevertheless, peeled apples and bananas become brown and less attractive. It is caused by combustion of matters. Browning can be evaded by sprinkling of peeled fruits with citric acid, which activity helps to save colour and taste of fruits.

How to make mayonnaise less caloric

Mayonnaise that includes eggs and oil makes the dishes rich and tasty, but also high-caloric. Vinegar can reduce the energy value of mayonnaise and make it less thick. To make a dish more useful vinegar can be replaced with lemon juice. It doesn't change the taste of mayonnaise, but saves your shape.

If you have oversalted your food...

Sometimes, when you feel that the dish you are cooking is oversalted you can add some water, but at the same time it dilutes the taste of other species and as a result the dish is missing its original taste. In this case it is better to use lemon: just add some lemon juice into the oversalted dish. This also applies to cooked and fried dishes, to vegetable and fish salads, etc. Lemon juice should be added little by little, and the dish should be constantly tasted. If you feel that the food is a little bit salty, a lemon juice can be also served on the table, so that guests can use it at any time. If you feel that "something is missing" in the dish you have cooked, add some vinegar. It would make the taste more deep. Using of lemon and vinegar in various dishes, you can considerably improve your cooking skills.

Lemon can make home-made strawberry jam have a bright red colour

Home-made jam without preserving agents and artificial additives - this is what most would like to see on the table every morning. A strawberry jam can be cooked at home without any difficulties. Prepare 500 g of fresh strawberry and 400-500 g of sugar. The strawberry should be well washed and cleaned, then dried with a napkin. Put strawberry into a saucepan and cover with sugar. Leave it before juice appears and put the saucepan on slow fire and cook before a thick jam mass appears. If lemon juice is added during the process of cooking, you can get jam with bright red colour. If you are short of time, put the saucepan with strawberry covered with sugar inside on heavy fire at once, reduce the fire when it boils and cook before it becomes thick. If you don't have time at all, use a microwave oven. During the process of cooking the jam becomes darker, but if some lemon juice is added and the microwave oven is used, the colour of jam would be bright red. Besides, you would save a lot of time. There is a lot of special pigment in strawberry - anthocyanin, its acid residues give strawberry a red colour. By adding citric acid into the jam you increase the amount of acid residues and make the jam more saturated with red colour. A formation of thick sticky mass of jam is caused by a great amount of fruity pectic fibres that are contained in strawberry. If you contribute enough time and cook the jam several times, step by step removing water, you can make jam without adding sugar, using only pectin.

How to get lemon juice without cutting the lemon?

Sometimes you need only several drops of lemon juice for a dish. In such cases you may need a small trick that helps to get lemon juice without cutting the lemon. You need to take something thin with a sharp edge, for instance, a toothpick, and make a little hole in the lemon. Now you can put a straw into the hole and press juice out of the lemon. As the lemon is not cut, it can be wrapped into polyethylene and kept for a long time.

A glass of water won't let a cut lemon get dry.

It happens very often that you have a half-lemon that is not used. It can be kept, if you put into a refrigerator and wrap the cut with polyethylene. Nevertheless, the moisture vapors even through polyethylene and in some time the lemon becomes dry. In order to keep its freshness, the lemon needs a sufficient amount of moisture. We have a secret that can help you to keep freshness of a lemon. First, you should find a small glass, with enough space for a lemon. Pour some water into it and place the lemon with the cut side down in such a way, so that it doesn't touch the water. For this purpose, use a glass that becomes narrower to the bottom. Keeping of cake in a refrigerator is also connected with many difficulties. It absorbs "alien" smells and becomes dry. An apple can help you in such case. Put a piece of apple into a box with cake and you would keep your cake tasty and fresh. If you drop some lemon juice on a slice of apple, it would save its natural colour and won't become brown.

A simplified soaking (evaporation) of cauliflower and keeping of its whiteness

The absence of a specific taste and a pleasant feeling on teeth - are the merits of cauliflower. It can be eaten cooked, braised, fried and even baked. It is a high-nutritious vegetable containing vitamins B1, B2, C, as well as albumen, calcium and phosphorus. A soaking (evaporation) of cauliflower is a time-consuming process. It can be simplified if cooked in a microwave oven. In order to save the beautiful whiteness of cauliflower you can use lemon juice. Cut the cauliflower into several small pieces and wash them, then wrap them into a heat resistant polythene bag or a film. Do not forget to besprinkle the cauliflower with lemon juice, so that it keeps its whiteness. In a microwave oven with capacity of 500 W the heating time for 100 g of cauliflower is approximately 1.5 min. Spinach and broccoli can be cooked in the same way. As far as spinach is concerned, its stalks are put into a polyethylene bag, interchanged with leaves, which can be just wrapped into polyethylene. After a one-minute heating, wash it in cold water and remove excessive moisture. The treatment of broccoli is the same as of cauliflower. After heating pour it with cold water.

A section of lemon makes candied honey transparent



At common temperature honey can be kept for a long time. In cold conditions it starts to candy and becomes white. In such cases it is enough to put a section of lemon into a can with honey, and it will soon become transparent again.

How to make meat softer and tastier



If you marinade meat in lemon juice, it would become softer, by virtue of the activity of ferments that resolve albumen. The fact is that resolving of albumen increases the amount of free amino acids which makes meat softer and tastier.

Add lemon to common species

As far as Japanese cuisine is concerned, everybody knows that its main species are vinegar and soy sauce. Naturally, every housewife has them at hand. But does every housewife always have lemon? Meanwhile, eating meat and other fat products we shouldn't forget about lemon. We are used to consider that lemon is a peculiar dressing for a dish. As a matter of fact, it can be used as spice on a par with soy sauce and vinegar.
Lemon juice won't spoil the original taste of the product, but will also make it more distinct. Lemon also perfectly suits nabemono dishes, served in pots. Try to add some drops of lemon juice into a broth. Adding lemon juice to vinegar you can get lemon vinegar that is very useful. Vitamin C improves functioning of vitamin E that resists ageing. That is why the combination of products that are rich with vitamin E and products containing vitamin C are very effective. For instance, you can mix salad with nuts and sesame and cover with lemon dressing and get a tasty and useful vitamin salad.
In general, if you try it once you won't stop using lemon. New ideas will come to your mind and you'll invent more and more receipts how to use lemon. Adding lemon to common spices - soy sauce and vinegar - you can make your meal more tasty and useful.

Receipt of substitution of say sauce with lemon

Soy sauce has been an essential spice in Japanese cuisine for a long time. There are various soy sauces, according to the amount of salt. Lately a new soy sauce has appeared which has a very low level of saltiness. Of course, it would be better for your health to eat meal with low level of saltiness, but a sudden change of spice may affect the taste of meal, that is why we recommend you to use lemon and then switch to a soy sauce with low saltiness level.
Daily average consumption of salt in Japan is 13 g. Normally it should not exceed 10 g. In Europe the daily average consumption of salt is 7 g and it is planned to be cut down to 5 g. The figures show that Japanese eat twice more salt than people in Europe. It is caused by a great consumption of say sauce.
In Japan many dished cooked at home are based on usage of soy sauce. Gradually the diet can be varied by inclusion of braised and fried dishes with lemon. It is usual to dip some dishes into soy sauce. Here it can be also substituted with lemon juice and you can find the new taste to be quite pleasant.
A pungent sesame oil with lemon juice perfectly suits sashimi. Such sauce is very tasty and also very useful. Tempura which is made of seafood and vegetables can go without soy sauce if covered with lemon juice. That is why it is not necessary to use soy sauce as spice. Your table would become more tasty and useful if you substitute soy sauce with lemon juice.

Dessert with lemon

According to some reports, there are 12 million people that suffer from diabetes, including "candidates". Sugar, as well salt, destroys your health. Refreshment drinks are sold in the streets in great amount in packing that is convenient to be transported. We often buy them and forget that they are abundant with excessive sugar. It is better to make these drinks yourself.
In winter you can make hot lemonade that would warm you and protect against catching cold. Squeeze a lemon into hot water and add honey or some sugar. If you add ginger juice you can get a nice warming drink that is also useful if you catch cold.
A fresh lemon juice in the morning can bring you liveliness and good mood at any season. Citric acid can easily refresh blood and send the sleep away.
In summer you can drink fresh lemon juice, mixed with some carbon dioxide. A lemon sherbet is perfect in summer heat and easy to be cooked. You need to find a lemon with a good peel and wash it carefully. Then wrap it into polyethylene and place into a refrigerating chamber. When it is frozen, rasp it with the peel on a shredder and your sherbet is ready!
Such lemon dessert is a great source of vitamin C, calcium and fructose. It will give you energy and save in summer heat. Have a nice meal!

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