Undoing the flavor effects of baking soda in cooking

Question

I recently learned that if you put a bit of sodium bicarbonate on onion when frying it, the onion will literally melt away. This is absolutely amazing, and I love that trick.
But I tried it now when I was cooking some tomato sauce, and while the mouthfeel was incredibly creaming (as opposed to a bit chewy when I do without), there was a clear and ever present sensation of the baking soda at the back of my throat.
Is it just because I've put too much baking soda (about half a teaspoon for one small-medium onion, and also two and a half plum tomatoes that came in shortly thereafter), or is there something else to do to resolve this without changing the intended flavor profile too much? (I don't want to add vinegar, for example, if that causes the sauce to taste like vinegar)

rumtscho · Accepted Answer

You cannot remove a flavor that's been added to a dish once. There are very few exceptions to this, and I would say this isn't one of the exceptions.
You will find people telling you that baking soda is neutralized by acids. While chemically, baking soda can react with an acid, I would say that this won't help you here:

baking powder is a combination of baking soda and acid and I personally easily notice the metallic taste in anything made with baking powder. So the reaction products don't taste much better than the baking soda itself.
a tomato sauce likely also has fat. Some of the unpleasant soapy taste of adding baking soda to food happens due to its reactions with fat, and I don't think that the products of this reaction will react with acid.
your sauce has quite some acid already, through the tomatoes (and possibly more, if you used canned tomatoes or more ingredients which add acid, like vinegar). If acid was enough to prevent the bad taste, it would have happened already.

So, if you want to enjoy the effects of baking soda, you generally also have to live with its taste.

M.K · Answer

The best way would be to add some acidic touch to neutralise it. Lemon and vinegar might be too strong for a tomato sauce.
I see several options:

What about tartar cream, sour cream or even some sugar? Might also add creaminess to the sauce
In general, incrementing ingredients solves the issue (by balancing), but you will also need to add onions, which loses the whole idea. Tomatoes are acidic and might help to add.

Maybe a combination of these two options is a good idea

Undoing the flavor effects of baking soda in cooking

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