Lovers of intense, mind-blowing flavor!!

vinylscratch
vinylscratch Posts: 218 Member
in Recipes
So one of my biggest problems as a snacker is that I LOVE intense flavor.

French fries doused in ketchup, cheese, ranch dressing, salt, and vinegar. All-dressed potato chips. Salt and vinegar everything.

I just discovered citric acid and I'm so psyched about it!!

Calorie-free, looks like very fine salt, naturally derived from citrus fruit, it's used as a natural preservative for fruit to stop it from turning brown (like lemon juice) because it's an acid like lemon juice.. just powdered. Sour patch kids are coated in it. Salt and vinegar chips are salt and citric acid. Recipes where sourness is needed, but you don't want to dilute it with vinegar, citric acid is perfect for. It's like crystallized vinegar.

I've been sprinkling it on cooked veggies, but most of all, air-popped popcorn! I spritz it with a little water to keep it sticking to the popcorn. a light sprinkle gives you tons of flavor and is really reminiscent of salt and vinegar flavoring. Too much will make you pucker, but it's amazing!

I got mine at a speciality spice shop, but you can also order it by the pound on Amazon. Throw it in a salt shaker and watch the magic! As a plus, it's technically classified as an antioxidant and there's some claims that it helps you lose weight, but I'm not focused on that.. I'm focused on the fact I can put intense flavor on anything and I think it's going to help me finally succeed.

Of course, with any acidic food, be careful you don't overdo it to prevent heartburn, and have it in moderation, but oh boy! Give it a shot.. it'll change your life! Has anyone tried citric acid or has a special seasoning that changed their life?

Replies

  • jessieleah
    jessieleah Posts: 204 Member
    That sounds delicious! I'll have to try it. Chips have always been my biggest downfall, but I'm switching back over to my stove popped popcorn & I usually just put salt on it, but this might be even better!
  • southpaw211
    southpaw211 Posts: 385 Member
    I love vinegar on anything. I think I have about 6 varieties of vinegar in my pantry right now, so yeah, I could get behind this! Anything vinegar or pickled (except lamb's tongue - that's just nasty.) has always been numero uno for me!
  • ntaluzek
    ntaluzek Posts: 5
    This is great to hear! I just ordered a pound of Citric Acid from Nuts.com for some canning I have been doing, and had no idea what to do with so much of it...until now!
  • tlab827
    tlab827 Posts: 155 Member
    Interesting. This potato chip junkie will be checking this out!
  • ckish
    ckish Posts: 341 Member
    Thanks!
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
    i add peppers to almost everything i eat....serranos, habaneros and ghost peppers.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    i add peppers to almost everything i eat....serranos, habaneros and ghost peppers.

    Ooh, I love ghost peppers.
  • musycnlyrics
    musycnlyrics Posts: 323 Member
    I use the "fiery red pepper" seasoning on EVERYTHING I eat

    I also tend to put hot sauce, hot peppers, hot-anything on my foods to make them kick!

    It makes eating healthier so much better with peppers in my mouth :tongue:
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
    I am a BIG fan of vinegar, but sometimes I don't like that it makes things soggy. I'll look into this - thanks for the suggestion.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Ooh, I love salt and vinegar flavors!
  • tedrickp
    tedrickp Posts: 1,229 Member
    First off - love the idea of citric acid!
    i add peppers to almost everything i eat....serranos, habaneros and ghost peppers.

    Also second this - I credit spicy foods as really helping with my weight loss so far. For example, I could eat 900 pounds of beef jerky at once - BUT if you make that ghost pepper jerky, or even habanero jerky - I eat less. Not just because of the burn (but yeah that helps lol), but because I find it more satisfying.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    I use lots of different herbs, spices, vinegars, etc. It takes awhile to build up a stash but I have a couple of posts on how to do it cheaply on my foodie blog:

    http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/2009/03/06/squits-and-dollops-of-flavor-or-stocking-your-refrigerator-door/

    http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/2009/03/06/travel-to-exotic-places-like-cincinnati-and-buy-spices/

    http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/2009/03/06/a-word-about-mustards/

    My go to web sources are www.myspicesage.com, http://www.penzeys.com/, and amazon which does the retail for http://www.spicyworldofusa.com/

    Pots of herbs on the front steps are good, too. Last night's supper, for instance, was flavored with fresh marjoram and chives from a pot out front. I just take the scissors out and harvest a handful whenever I need them. A friend of mine grows herbs indoors hydroponically in cute plastic things with pumps and grow lights that she buys online.

    If you really like basil and want to make a bunch of pesto, find where the local restaurants go for their produce and buy it by the pound.

    Spices in bulk are often incredibly cheap. For example, an ounce of bay leaves from the grocery store in those little jars works out to over 8 jars and $29. An ounce of bay leaves from my spice sage is $3. You really DO taste the bay in a stew if you throw in a handful of leaves instead of just one and at $3/ounce you can certainly afford to.

    Now, citric acid? I've only used it to make cheese. Hmmm. Hadn't thought of sprinkling it on anything.
  • webzter
    webzter Posts: 4
    naturally derived from citrus fruit

    Commercially, it's actually made by fermenting mold on (usually) corn-based sugars, isolated with calcium hydroxide, and then combined with sulfuric acid.

    It is pretty amazing stuff regardless.

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