Celery is a divisive vegetable; some people love it and others hate it. However, have you ever noticed that your celery tastes like soap, and wondered if it is still okay to eat? Have you ever wondered what causes this flavor to develop?
Quite a few things can cause celery to have a bitter, soap-like flavor, and they all tend to relate to the growing conditions and harvesting process. Too little water, too much heat, or poor-quality soil could make your celery soapy. Picking the vegetable too late in the season may also contribute to this change in flavor.
We’re going to use this article to figure out more about what makes celery taste soapy, so you understand why this vegetable is sometimes bitter and unappetizing. This will help you address the problem if you’re growing your own!
What Makes Celery Taste Soapy?
There are quite a few issues that can cause celery to take on a soapy flavor, and these are all things you’ll want to avoid if you are growing celery yourself. Celery should be crisp and fresh, and shouldn’t taste like detergent.
The major causes of this include:
- Too little water while growing
- Too much heat while growing
- Insufficient nutrients while growing
- Being picked too late in the season
Sometimes, blanching the celery stalks before harvesting them can also help to reduce their bitterness and stop them from tasting soapy. However, in most cases, you’ll want to take a closer look at how you are growing your plants.
Make sure you are giving the celery plenty of water and plenty of food while it is growing. Too little water will result in a stringy texture and bitter stalks, because the plant will be stressed. It’s harder for the plant to absorb nutrients when it is thirsty, so it won’t be able to produce the proper sugars and grow well.
You should feed your celery regularly, about once per month, to make sure it’s getting enough nutrients. Planting it in rich soil will also help. Protect it from the sun by mulching the soil, or even putting up nets to filter out some of the light. Too much heat stresses the plants and makes the stalks bitter.
How Do You Blanch And Harvest Celery?
Blanching your celery is a good idea if you are having problems with its bitterness. This involves covering the body of the plant and blocking out the sunlight for a couple of weeks before you harvest them. Doing this reduces how much chlorophyll the plant will produce there – and since chlorophyll is bitter, a reduced amount will sweeten the stalks.
Wrap the stems of the plant to block out the light, and you should have beautifully sweet, blanched celery when you pick it. You can leave the celery’s foliage protruding from the top.
Make sure you don’t wait too long to pick it, either, as older plants will become bitter. You should harvest your celery when the first leaves on the stalk are about 6 inches from the base. They will be mature enough to enjoy, but not yet turning soapy.
This is usually about 130 or 140 days after the seeds germinated, so keep a log to make judging your harvesting times easier.
What Can You Do With Soapy Celery?
If you have already got some soapy celery, don’t throw it away or struggle with its raw flavor. Instead, you should take off the outer stalks, which will be the bitterest, and saute them in butter, or boil or steam them. The cooking process will soften the bitterness and make the celery taste less soapy.
Alternatively, consider using the celery up in stews and sauces that will hide its flavor. If it is paired with onions or garlic, you’ll find that they mask its taste and make it more appetizing. You can also use strong condiments, such as soy sauce, to cover the flavor. Salt is good at disguising the soapiness.
Some people claim that blanching the celery in salt water will stop it from being bitter, but this is probably more because the salt disguises the taste than because it actually pulls out the bitterness.
The inner stalks of celery, which should be paler, will usually be sweet enough to use raw if you choose to. Chop them into salads or eat them raw alongside sandwiches. If they are bitter too, cook them instead, with the rest of the celery.
Conclusion
Soapy celery is not an enjoyable thing, and it can be avoided with the proper growing conditions. However, if you have got some soapy celery already, use it up in stews with strong flavors, as cooking it will soften its taste and make it more enjoyable. Darker celery stalks are almost always more bitter than light ones.
