Reach For One Pantry Staple For Creamier And Faster Polenta

Polenta is a hearty, starchy staple similar to grits and is just as comforting and versatile. Polenta can be topped with proteins, such as shrimp or eggs, or covered in heaps of vegetables. It can be served as a sweet porridge with a bed of fruit and sugar or left to solidify and sliced in place of sandwich bread for textured polenta grilled cheese. But ideally, the adaptable dish should be served thick and creamy to provide maximum comfort.

For creamier and faster polenta, reach for the box of baking soda sitting in your pantry. Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is a kitchen multitasker. The chemical compound can be used for everything from cleaning your coffee maker to cooking game-changing shrimp. Some polenta recipes suggest adding butter, milk, cheese, or some combination of the three to create a creamier consistency. However, incorporating just a pinch of baking soda into stovetop polenta also makes for quicker and thicker results.

Less than a teaspoon of baking soda sprinkled into your boiling water (or other cooking liquid such as broth or cream) can dramatically cut down on polenta preparation time. It works by helping displace some of the calcium that holds together the corn's pectin. This speeds up the pectin's softening process, which in turn accelerates the process called gelatinization. This sees the corn swell from absorbing water while releasing starch. You can incorporate this same baking soda hack into your grits routine to enhance the texture of the grainy porridge.

Baking soda is something of a magic ingredient. The humble compound can make canned tomatoes taste better for a creamy roasted tomato soup and quicken the caramelization process when browning onions. The ingredient can also loosen fibers in meat for a one-ingredient solution to tenderizing steaks, and a spoonful of baking soda in your morning brew can transform bitter coffee.