Bitter quinoa?

Quinoa can be naturally bitter.

Simply wash uncooked quinoa under cold water with a fine mesh strainer until water is clear.

dcarch

Ah! Thank you!

dc is right...I will link to an excellent article. Saponin is the problem and getting rid of it is the solution :) Good Luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Quinoa and saponin= bitter

Thanks for the link! So I just read the box....and it did say to rinse well. Oops! Well, at least I understand why now.

It also requires more than just a casual rinsing. I put quinoa in a deep bowl and cover it with cold water. Then I gently rub it between my palms for several seconds to wash off the saponin. You'll notice a slight soap-like foaming. Next I drain the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and repeat the process. Most boxed quinoa has supposedly been washed once. If it happens to be domestic quinoa, I'll wash a third time. Final process, place in a strainer under cold running water and rinse the quinoa until the water runs almost clear.

-Grainlady

I'm glad the subject of problems with quinoa is being discussed. I actually like the stuff. I buy several quinoa salads from local supermarket delis. I even buy the pre-cooked quinoa at natural foods store.But I cannot cook it at home. The smell of it cooking makes me gag. And even when I determined I was going to get past the smell and make a tabbouleh-style salad with it, I simply could not eat it. The salad tasted fine, but I could detect that smell. Once the quinoa had cooled and was dressed with vinaigrette, it didn't smell badly, but my nose remembered what it smelled like when it was cooking.

So what's the deal? Am I overly sensitive to the smell? I've talked to other quinoa lovers, and they describe the smell and taste as "nutty." Boy, I sure don't smell that!

I've tried 3-4 different brands along with a couple of different methods of cooking -- browning, broth, just water, etc. I rinse thoroughly, several times. But the smell of quinoa cooking just about makes me sick. I turn on the stove vent and burn candles just to get rid of the hideous aroma. As a result, I only eat it if I find it at a deli or on a restaurant menu.

Even with multiple rinses, we found it had a bitter aftertaste. No one liked it and we are pretty adventurous trying new foods.

If you purchase quinoa from a bulk bin, you chance getting an old, rancid product if they don't clean the bins or if they restock them with old stock that hasn't been properly stored. That could be bitter aftertaste you are experiencing, not just from improper washing/rinsing.

You might also try sprouting quinoa first and see if you like it.

-Rinse thoroughly.
-Soak in plenty of water for 30-minutes.
-Place in sprouter.
-Rinse and drain twice a day.
-Harvest sprouts after 1-3 days.
Note: Quinoa has 2 tails. The longer you let the sprout grow, the softer the grain will be. If you can't get your quinoa to sprout, it's old stock.

Quinoa sprouts will keep in the refrigerator for about a week. You'll have the option of eating it as raw sprouts, lightly steamed, or cooked. The sprouts can also be dehydrated.

-Grainlady

I've been buying prerinsed quinoa and cooking it according to a techniques from Cooks magazine. It's hugely improved.

Toast quinoa in dry pan until you hear plenty of popping. Remove from pan, add butter to pan and saute onions, mushrooms, whatever you want. Return quinoa to pan and add only a little more water than you have quinoa, not twice as much water. For example, for 1c. quinoa add 11/4 c. water. You can always add more water as it cooks. And you only need to cook it until the little tails come out.

I have found this technique to be absolutely delicious. And I was only barely lukewarm about quinoa before--I'd eat it at someone's house but never bothered to make it myself.

The scent is a bit strange. I also toast it a bit first if i cook it alone, but recently i've been mixing it with other grains. DH just does not care for it on its own. We also like the red and black much better than the ivory. The ivory has a very raw earthy scent. The others are a bit more nutty.

You could try a low heat saute first with a few ingredients in the salad you like...onion, green onion, ginger, lemongrass, a bit of coconut milk, veggie broth, parsley, cilantro (with the chopped stems). Just a 2 min, barely cooked saute, then add your quinoa and liquid...
That should mask the scent from the get go.

Mixing quinoa with red and green lentils makes a nice salad. They cook at about the same time.
Oh, forgot. Last night i added small diced sweet potato to a few of the above listed as a bed for our rotis leg of lamb.

Shambo, perhaps you can try the following:

1. Look for recipes which you can modify to cook in sealed "Shake & Bake" bags.

2. Look for recipes that you can modify to cook in a covered container inside a pressure cooker.

dcarch

I wonder if brands vary. Ours comes from a bulk bin at a market and I do not know the supplier. We have never had a problem with bitterness or odd aromas. On the other hand, Amazon's reviews for Bob's Red Mill brand contain a number of complaints about bitterness.

Agree with the toasting tip for quinoa, works for other grains too. Ezekiel's sprouted grain bread is my favorite .. nasty tasting when it's soft, but when I toasted that bread, the whole house smells delicious. Ezekiel's sprouted grain bread is a favorite for the gluten-intolerant. It's high protein and low-salt ... great for weight-loss.

My favorite quinoa is INSIDE Trader's Joe Blackbean and Quinoa chips ... The chips are toasted, so it's NOT bitter at all.

DC, I appreciate your ideas. Unfortunately, I'm at the point where I'm not sure I want to experiment anymore. In other words, I'm chicken! Even when I did things like saute onions & garlic with the quinoa and use a heavy pot with a super secure lid, once I opened the pot, that hideous smell escaped and attacked me. My husband had the same reaction. However, like me, he'll eat the quinoa salads I get from a local upscale market.

I've also heard from others that the red variety doesn't have such a pronounced smell. So, maybe... And I might try the sprouted versions I find at the store.

More than likely, though, if I want a grainy side dish or salad base, I'll go back to my roots. I absolutely love Bulgar wheat sauteed in olive oil and cooked in chicken broth. I've loved it since I was a kid.It was a traditional pilaf that my mom & grandma made. Cold, it's good for grain salads too.

My husband and daughter hate quinoa so I stopped making it. I do like it though and never had a problem with it being better... I've always bought 'sprouted' quinoa and it was always sweet, nutty, and delicious. It's a shame my family doesn't like the texture of it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Truroots Sprouted Quinoa

Emorems0, that's the brand my local grocery store carries. I may give that a try -- my final attempt to cook it at home.

Just make sure to get the 'sprouted' one, they carry both sprouted and regular at my store. It's a little more expensive but I'm convinced that sprouting makes the difference between bitter and delicious... and it's a bonus that you don't have to do any soaking/etc. to get it that way.

I've never noticed a smell to quinoa, at least not a bad smell. Uh oh, maybe I will next time.

I like the idea of sprouting quinoa.

I tried the Cooks Illus. version recently, and kind of liked it because it wasn't mushy, but it was almost too crunchy. I may have not cooked it completely, but I wasn't sure. Their whole approach was to keep it from getting mushy, and it worked.

Sally