For lunch last Wednesday, I order chicken noodle soup from Pasadena’s Lucky Baldwin’s in addition to their fish and chips.
Their fish and chips were as good as usual, but I must tell you that the soup tasted sour. I complained and the server said that their cook did added too much lemon juice and took the item off the bill.
When was lemon juice ever an ingredient in Chicken Noodle Soup?
i often raise the acidity of a lot of my soups, but usually at the end. recipes i’ve seen that include adding lemon juice in the middle, i’ve kinda wondered about - you need to adjust the acidity to taste.
Okay, I get it. It is common to add lemon juice everywhere and whenever possible. I suppose that it is added to be a subtle hint to enhance the taste of the dish but not to overwhelm it.
When was the last time you ate sour chicken noodle soup overdosed with lemon juice?
They tap from Russian River here. The Elder and Younger (February ish I think)
apparently i didn’t make the point clear - if the cook added the wrong amount in the middle of the recipe there would clearly be a chance of over-doing it, but not if you’re seasoning to taste at the end. and some recipes do call to add the lemon juice midway through the cooking process. i’ve never understood the rationale for that.
it’s still all about the joe beef big mac theory of taste equilibrium: the balance of salt, sweet, fat, acid and bite that convinces your taste buds that you’re eating something nutritious and to keep masticating. you’ve typically got onion and carrot in the stock providing sweetness, a bit of salt, a touch of fat for mouth feel, a touch of pepper for ‘bite’ - and the right pH brings it all together.
personally, i’d rather add a touch of sour cream with its relatively high acidity vs. lemon juice for something like chicken soup though you risk making it seem you’re eating/drinking a watered down chicken stroganoff.
Now, it appears you’re just seeking empathy as opposed to discussing a particular dining experience or food item.
Your original question was the following:
which was answered, as detailed up-above.
Your question now it seems to be merely a thinly veiled attempt to pander to hoi polloi.
With all due respect, Ithe progression in the conversation seems to have led to this point. I think most would question the heavy lemon use in chicken soup, at least in this context. Unless this aspect was mentioned in the menu description, who would expect it at a pub? I even looked up several British chicken noodle soup recipes - only one mention of citrus, and that was for a hybrid miso chicken soup using a juice from a couple of lime wedges. I think if this were a soup from a cantina, it would have been less of a surprise.
A wedge or two of lemons on the side might be within the realm of expectations, rather than being doused with lemon while in the pot.
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Lemony/sour chicken noodle soup? Feh! My bubbe would be turning in her grave!
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