Water is amazing, right! Human bodies contain around 60% water; it's part of our natural environment from weather to watersheds; and we need water for our gardens and crops to grow. 

When it comes to cooking, water is required for arguably every recipe. At the very least, for food safety reasons, we use clean water to wash our hands before preparing food. For today, let's explore six ways to use soaking - or placing foods in water - to your advantage in the kitchen.  

1. Create Flavor

Coffee, tea, and broth.

What is steeping tea or brewing coffee if not soaking? Similarly, cooking meat, bones, and/or vegetables in water makes a flavorful broth or stock. Soaking these ingredients releases their aromas, flavors, and nutrients into the water. 

Meats and vegetables.

Brining or marinating adds flavor to meats. A mix of water, salt and sometimes seasonings, brining helps move salt into meat for the benefits of flavor and retaining moisture (water) during cooking. Marinating vegetables - like for a marinated vegetable salad - adds a boost of flavor too. While marinades are not directly made with water, vinegar is a common marinade ingredient that is mostly water.   

2. Reduce Cooking Time

Dry Beans and Legumes.

A quick or overnight soak lets water do part of the work softening dry beans. When the beans are ready to be cooked, the total cooking time is less than if starting with completely dry beans. Also, brining dry beans by adding salt to the soaking water can help prevent split beans.

Brown Rice. 

While rice doesn't take as long as dry beans to cook, I now regularly soak brown rice. Like beans, soaking softens the rice and reduces the cooking time. As a side benefit, I found the soaked rice no longer leaves a brown-colored "scum" on the walls of my saucepan. This "scum" is likely a mix of brown pigments in the rice bran and some remaining debris or dust from harvest. Washing the rice, even without soaking, would also reduce the amount of "scum." See how I cooked soaked brown rice below, with both stove top and electric pressure cooker directions.

3. Rehydrate for Enjoyment

Oats. 

Overnight oatmeal is a popular breakfast that is quick and easy to prepare, can be made with many flavor combinations, and lets soaking do the job of rehydrating rolled or instant oatmeal. While milk is the soaking liquid of choice for most recipes, dairy and plant-based milks are mainly water. Unfortunately, oat groats and steel-cut oats do require heat and water to soften, so soaking in milk for a quick breakfast does not work for those cuts of oats.

Dried fruits and vegetables. 

Dehydration is a way of removing water from foods for long term storage. Many dried fruits, like raisins or dried apricots, are enjoyed still in their dehydrated state. Other foods are more pleasant to eat when rehydrated, like dried vegetables in soup mixes or dried fruit added to breads. Read these tips for rehydrating dried fruits and vegetables from Oregon State University Extension.

4. Prevent Wilt

Vegetables and herbs.  

Once cut off their main plant, some vegetables and herbs quickly wilt or go limp from lack of water turgor (the pressure of water inside cells). Soaking these foods, similar to adding flowers to a vase of water, gives plants back the missing water and they go from wilted to recovered. 

Some foods I've found hold up well with soaking include asparagus, green onions, leafy greens (like swiss chard, radish greens, and beet greens), and herbs like parsley and cilantro. To a food-safe container, add a small amount of water and the food. Cover with a ziptop bag, refrigerate, and change the water every few days.

5. Increase Nutrient Availability 

Corn.

If you want to make your own corn tortillas, be sure to soak the corn in an alkaline solution in a process called nixtamalization. One role of nixtamalization is "releasing" niacin (a B vitamin) in the corn so it can be more easily absorbed by the body. 

Dry Beans and Legumes.

Beans are excellent sources of different vitamins and minerals. However, beans also contain compounds that may prevent absorption of those vitamins and minerals, such as lectins or oxalates. Soaking - and definitely cooking - beans reduces these compounds to safe levels. One of these compounds in kidney beans can cause food poisoning if not properly cooked.

6. Support Gut Bacteria

Sauerkraut. 

Lactic acid fermentation is used to make sauerkraut. The combination of cabbage, salt, and water allows lactic acid bacteria to grow while preventing the growth of harmful bacteria that cause spoilage. These bacteria become probiotics that support gut health. Other fermented foods like kimchi, yogurt, and kombucha also have these beneficial, live bacteria.

Resources:

• Alsalman F., & Ramaswamy, H. (2020). Reduction in soaking time and anti-nutritional factors by high pressure processing of chickpeas, J Food Sci Technol, 57(7), 2572–2585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-020-04294-9
• Arntfield, S., & Nickerson, M. (2018). Changes in levels of phytic acid, lectins and oxalates during soaking and cooking of Canadian pulses, Food Research International, 107, 660-668, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.02.056
• Petroski, W., & Minich, D. M. (2020). Is There Such a Thing as "Anti-Nutrients"? A Narrative Review of Perceived Problematic Plant Compounds. Nutrients, 12(10), 2929. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12102929
• U.S. Geological Survey, The Water in You: Water and the Human Body, 2019