I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer is
tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?

He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website and
here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
message):

spare ribs
2 dried chilies
***1/2 cup salt***
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 onions
4-5 stalks celery
3-5 dry bay leaves
4-5 sliced lemons
1-2 yellow beet
2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce
a few sprinkles cracked coriander
a few sprinkles mustard seeds
a few sprinkles black pepper

I believe the salt serves to break up the meat during cooking, so it's
necesary. It'll also land him in the emergency room.

Does anyone know of something that can be used in place of the salt
that will not adversely affect the taste? I'd appreciate any help you
all can give.

As promised, here's the URL to the Cookin' in Brooklyn site:
http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...nbrooklyn.html

And the url to the spare rib recipe:
http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...ipes/ribs.html

Thanks!

AJ in Bayonne

AJ wrote:
> I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer is
> tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
> what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?
>
> He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
> spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website and
> here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
> message):
>
> spare ribs
> 2 dried chilies
> ***1/2 cup salt***
> 1/2 cup sugar
> 2-3 onions
> 4-5 stalks celery
> 3-5 dry bay leaves
> 4-5 sliced lemons
> 1-2 yellow beet
> 2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce
> a few sprinkles cracked coriander
> a few sprinkles mustard seeds
> a few sprinkles black pepper
>
> I believe the salt serves to break up the meat during cooking, so it's
> necesary. It'll also land him in the emergency room.
>
> Does anyone know of something that can be used in place of the salt
> that will not adversely affect the taste? I'd appreciate any help you
> all can give.
>
> As promised, here's the URL to the Cookin' in Brooklyn site:
> http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...nbrooklyn.html
>
> And the url to the spare rib recipe:
> http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...ipes/ribs.html
>
> Thanks!
>
> AJ in Bayonne


You may find that the fish sauce has salt in it. Haven't a bottle handy
right now to check. Vinegar?


jim

AJ wrote:
> I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer is
> tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
> what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?
>
> He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
> spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website and
> here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
> message):
>
> spare ribs
> 2 dried chilies
> ***1/2 cup salt***
(snip)
> AJ in Bayonne

Give the "old guy" a break My mom was put on a low-salt, low-cholesterol
diet about 17 years ago (and she's 79 now). After following a bland boring
diet for years and years, now she pretty much eats what she wants and says
to Hell with them, I've lived this long That is NOT my recommendation
for how you should feed your uncle, just what she tells me.

Anyway, potassium chloride is the usual "salt substitute" but in this
quantity I would have to say it would probably taste very bitter. For this
recipe you might try substituting some of Penzey's (www.penzeys.com) salt
free herb or seasoning blends such as the Jerk seasoning. (I wouldn't say
1/2 a cup! Tablespoon, maybe.

Honestly, once you get used to not adding salt, when you taste it in the
quantity mentioned for this recipe it tastes really weird. Of course,
somethings simply demand salt, so don't let him watch a show involving
Southern Fried Chicken

Jill

Mustard seed works for me.


E. P.

>AJ wrote:
>> I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer is
>> tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
>> what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?

Easy... old geezers love their booze... and booze contains no salt.


---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
````````````

First of all, it's not SALT you need to worry about -- it is SODIUM. Sodium
is IN salt but it's also in all sorts of other products. You can not use a
single grain of salt while cooking but still prepare a meal heavily laden in
sodium.

> spare ribs

Buy these at the butcher, not the grocer -- otherwise, they may have added
sodium.

> ***1/2 cup salt***

Egads -- that's 24 teaspoons and there are 2350mg of sodium in each
teaspoon! US RDA is 2,400mg, and that's 5 times what we actually need, let
alone a recipe that uses 56,400mg of sodium! That's just a heart attack on
a plate. If your uncle is on a low sodium diet, then he should be getting
no more than 2,000mg-3,000mg PER DAY -- even most dietitians will not go
higher than 4,000mg-5,000mg in a 24 hour period.

> 2-3 onions

Not bad -- only about 10 or so mg of sodium.

> 4-5 stalks celery

These are a bit high at around 100mg for a cup of chopped celery. Over the
course of a recipe they're seldom an issue.

> 1-2 yellow beet

Probably around 125mg or so here.

> 2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce

This is going to be kind of high -- you'll want to check the label.

All in all, this recipe is a bit of a problem -- it doesn't say how much
water to use nor does it say how much pork. Half a cup of salt is an awful
lot for just a single rack of ribs.

> I believe the salt serves to break up the meat during cooking, so it's
> necesary. It'll also land him in the emergency room.

Salt serves no "necessary" purpose in a recipe other than flavoring. It may
do other things, but nothing that cannot be worked around. If you want to
break the meat up, cook it longer and it will break up on it's own.

In this particular recipe, the salt is used to flavor the meat before
covering it in barbecue sauce. Most of the flavor you'll get will be from
the barbecue sauce so it's a bit redundant. Also, a good portion will
remain in the broth/stock after the meat has cooked but it will be very
difficult to determine how much would actually be ingested. Pork has a
goodly amount of sodium anyway. In the end, the added salt's just not
needed.

You can use a variety of spices and herbs, all no-sodium, to give the broth
flavor (and subsequently, the meat). Personally, I prefer my ribs
barbecued. Try preparing the recipe without any salt at all, then
select a really good barbecue sauce. If your uncle is not on any meds that
potassium would be an issue for, use a couple of tablespoons of a salt
substitute in the stock.

> Does anyone know of something that can be used in place of the salt
> that will not adversely affect the taste? I'd appreciate any help you
> all can give.

Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to work around this 'un. Low
sodium is a tough situation for cooking. First and foremost, one must get
used to eating less sodium -- once you do, then your tastebuds begin to
notice smaller amounts. It's like anything else -- if you get too much, you
overload and more seems like less. Now, you can TRY some salt substitutes
to either get that number down or replace it altogether. The biggest thing
is serving size. For example, 1/2 cup of salt may be a LOT of sodium, but
if it's going into a pot that will generate 50 servings then you're only
consuming 1,128mg (still a helluva lot for someone on low sodium).

There are two types of salt substitute out there that can help out -- either
the half and half kind (half table salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl) mixed
with half potassium chloride) or just potassium chloride (KCl). KCl has a
bit of a wang to it -- in short, it tastes nasty as hell when eaten plain or
over something (like french fries). On the other hand, it's not so bad when
you cook with it from the get go. For example, I'll use it to season soupy
dishes, fried rice, and ground meat crumbles. I'll be boiling up a chicken
here soon for some soup -- I'll use KCl in the pot when I make the broth.
Bear in mind that this can be an issue for medications however -- you don't
want to overdo it on potassium if he is taking heart meds that prevent him
from losing potassium or if he's already on potassium supplements.

You can also look at a variety of spice blends to juice up the flavor. Mrs
Dash isn't bad (the table blend is great when cooking burgers, go figure)
and of course you can always make your own blends as well. I also use a lot
of onion and garlic in m dishes -- great for any kind of broth/stock type
cooking IMHO.

If you'd like to find some decent low sodium recipes, visit
http://www.lowsodiumcooking.com and/or buy the low sodium cook books
authored by a fellow named Gazanigga (they're up on Amazon for something
like $12 and $17).

Low sodium is not an easy lifestyle to get into, but once you do it gets
much easier. It is VERY important for some heart ailments, less so for
others, and equally important for other ailments that are not even heart
related. If you have any other questions about low sodium dieting, feel
free to drop me a line off-group as well.

James

"AJ" > wrote in message
om...
> I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer is
> tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
> what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?
>
> He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
> spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website and
> here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
> message):
>
> spare ribs
> 2 dried chilies
> ***1/2 cup salt***
> 1/2 cup sugar
> 2-3 onions
> 4-5 stalks celery
> 3-5 dry bay leaves
> 4-5 sliced lemons
> 1-2 yellow beet
> 2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce
> a few sprinkles cracked coriander
> a few sprinkles mustard seeds
> a few sprinkles black pepper
>
> I believe the salt serves to break up the meat during cooking, so it's
> necesary. It'll also land him in the emergency room.
>
> Does anyone know of something that can be used in place of the salt
> that will not adversely affect the taste? I'd appreciate any help you
> all can give.
>
> As promised, here's the URL to the Cookin' in Brooklyn site:
> http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...nbrooklyn.html
>
> And the url to the spare rib recipe:
> http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...ipes/ribs.html
>
> Thanks!
>
> AJ in Bayonne

MSG will enhance the flavors - certainly not 1/2 cup. Start with maybe a
teaspoon then taste.


Dimitri

> MSG will enhance the flavors - certainly not 1/2 cup. Start with maybe a
> teaspoon then taste.

MSG typically has 1/3rd the volume of sodium found in table salt. A
teaspoon of table salt has about 2,350mg of sodium so a teaspoon of MSG
would have about 800mg of sodium. On the plus side, it usually takes less
MSG to get the flavor one would use more salt for in a recipe.

There are a number of drawbacks to MSG, primarily due to the G part and how
it's manufactured. In the old days, it was extracted -- now it is made
through a fermentation process. Anti-MSG types argue that it is laden with
contaminants, and so forth (standard arguments against such items apply).
Some folks are also sensitive to MSG (as in allergic). Ever heard of
"Chinese Restaurant Syndrome"? That is thought to be caused by MSG. For
some information from the anti-MSG faction, you can start at
http://www.nomsg.com -- the site is no longer being updated but you can use
it as a starting point. On the other hand, if you do the research you'll
find plenty of support for MSG as a perfectly safe food additive.

For those of us who need to be low sodium, in the end we need to avoid all
sources of sodium as much as is possible -- including MSG. There are also
some arguments against MSG for heart health reasons as well.

FWIW....

James

"JNJ" > wrote in

>> MSG will enhance the flavors - certainly not 1/2 cup. Start with
>> maybe a teaspoon then taste.
>
> MSG typically has 1/3rd the volume of sodium found in table salt. A
> teaspoon of table salt has about 2,350mg of sodium so a teaspoon of
> MSG would have about 800mg of sodium. On the plus side, it usually
> takes less MSG to get the flavor one would use more salt for in a
> recipe.
>
> There are a number of drawbacks to MSG, primarily due to the G part
> and how it's manufactured. In the old days, it was extracted -- now
> it is made through a fermentation process. Anti-MSG types argue that
> it is laden with contaminants, and so forth (standard arguments
> against such items apply). Some folks are also sensitive to MSG (as in
> allergic). Ever heard of "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome"? That is
> thought to be caused by MSG. For some information from the anti-MSG
> faction, you can start at http://www.nomsg.com -- the site is no
> longer being updated but you can use it as a starting point. On the
> other hand, if you do the research you'll find plenty of support for
> MSG as a perfectly safe food additive.
>
> For those of us who need to be low sodium, in the end we need to avoid
> all sources of sodium as much as is possible -- including MSG. There
> are also some arguments against MSG for heart health reasons as well.

Citric acid (aka sour salt) is one substitute.

I really like Penzys Florida Seasoned Pepper. Besides pepper, the
ingredients are lemon peel, orange peel, critic acid, garlic, and onion.

Penzy Singapore Seasoning includes lemon peel and citric acid -- no salt.



--
Dan Goodman
Journal http://dsgood.blogspot.com or
http://www.livejournal.com/users/dsgood/
Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.

Dan Goodman wrote:
> "JNJ" > wrote in
>
>>> MSG will enhance the flavors - certainly not 1/2 cup. Start with
>>> maybe a teaspoon then taste.
>>
>> For those of us who need to be low sodium, in the end we need to
>> avoid all sources of sodium as much as is possible -- including MSG.
>> There are also some arguments against MSG for heart health reasons
>> as well.
>
> Citric acid (aka sour salt) is one substitute.
>
> I really like Penzys Florida Seasoned Pepper. Besides pepper, the
> ingredients are lemon peel, orange peel, critic acid, garlic, and
> onion.
>
> Penzy Singapore Seasoning includes lemon peel and citric acid -- no
> salt.

I like both of those seasonings, Dan. The Florida and the Singapore.

Jill

> Citric acid (aka sour salt) is one substitute.

I've heard of some folks using different types of vinegar to get a bit of a
salty flavor but it just tastes nasty sour to me. :P

> I really like Penzys Florida Seasoned Pepper. Besides pepper, the
> ingredients are lemon peel, orange peel, critic acid, garlic, and onion.
>
> Penzy Singapore Seasoning includes lemon peel and citric acid -- no salt.

I'll hit Penzey's site and order these up -- give them a try on some of my
own dishes. I've only just recently discovered them and never have ordered
anything from them. Like the OP, I too have been in the quandary of my life
with salt as I have a particular recipe that requires no less than a
tablespoon and anything less REALLY hampers the flavor. (It is the reason
for the thread I started yesterday, looking for spices/herbs to use on
meats).

James

"JNJ" > wrote in

>> Citric acid (aka sour salt) is one substitute.
>
> I've heard of some folks using different types of vinegar to get a bit
> of a salty flavor but it just tastes nasty sour to me. :P
>
>> I really like Penzys Florida Seasoned Pepper. Besides pepper, the
>> ingredients are lemon peel, orange peel, critic acid, garlic, and
>> onion.
>>
>> Penzy Singapore Seasoning includes lemon peel and citric acid -- no
>> salt.
>
> I'll hit Penzey's site and order these up -- give them a try on some
> of my own dishes. I've only just recently discovered them and never
> have ordered anything from them. Like the OP, I too have been in the
> quandary of my life with salt as I have a particular recipe that
> requires no less than a tablespoon and anything less REALLY hampers
> the flavor. (It is the reason for the thread I started yesterday,
> looking for spices/herbs to use on meats).

Penzeys also has other salt-free mixtures.

And, for those who think the "World's unhealthiest cookbook" is too light
on salt, Penzeys now has designer salts.

--
Dan Goodman
Journal http://dsgood.blogspot.com or
http://www.livejournal.com/users/dsgood/
Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.

i use NO SALT brand!
exclusively!

--
rosie

Have you heard of the NO-CARB Diet for 2004?
NO C-heney
NO A-shcroft
NO R-umsfeld
NO B-ush






"AJ" > wrote in message
om...
: I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer
is
: tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
: what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?
:
: He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
: spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website
and
: here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
: message):
:
: spare ribs
: 2 dried chilies
: ***1/2 cup salt***
: 1/2 cup sugar
: 2-3 onions
: 4-5 stalks celery
: 3-5 dry bay leaves
: 4-5 sliced lemons
: 1-2 yellow beet
: 2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce
: a few sprinkles cracked coriander
: a few sprinkles mustard seeds
: a few sprinkles black pepper
:
: I believe the salt serves to break up the meat during cooking, so
it's
: necesary. It'll also land him in the emergency room.
:
: Does anyone know of something that can be used in place of the
salt
: that will not adversely affect the taste? I'd appreciate any help
you
: all can give.
:
: As promised, here's the URL to the Cookin' in Brooklyn site:
:
http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...nbrooklyn.html
:
: And the url to the spare rib recipe:
:
http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...ipes/ribs.html
:
: Thanks!
:
: AJ in Bayonne

I will get flamed for this, but I believe the salt and sugar are used to
make a brine for the ribs. Salt and sugar work as carriers to bring all the
flavors through the meat. Most of the salt will remain in the liquid and
not in the flesh. Put the ribs in the solution for 12 hours and then remove
the ribs and cook them. Throw the brine away.



"JimLane" > wrote in message
...
> AJ wrote:
> > I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer is
> > tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
> > what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?
> >
> > He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
> > spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website and
> > here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
> > message):
> >
> > spare ribs
> > 2 dried chilies
> > ***1/2 cup salt***
> > 1/2 cup sugar
> > 2-3 onions
> > 4-5 stalks celery
> > 3-5 dry bay leaves
> > 4-5 sliced lemons
> > 1-2 yellow beet
> > 2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce
> > a few sprinkles cracked coriander
> > a few sprinkles mustard seeds
> > a few sprinkles black pepper
> >
> > I believe the salt serves to break up the meat during cooking, so it's
> > necesary. It'll also land him in the emergency room.
> >
> > Does anyone know of something that can be used in place of the salt
> > that will not adversely affect the taste? I'd appreciate any help you
> > all can give.
> >
> > As promised, here's the URL to the Cookin' in Brooklyn site:
> >
http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...nbrooklyn.html
> >
> > And the url to the spare rib recipe:
> > http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...ipes/ribs.html
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > AJ in Bayonne
>
>
> You may find that the fish sauce has salt in it. Haven't a bottle handy
> right now to check. Vinegar?
>
>
> jim

>"AJ" > wrote

>: I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer
>is
>: tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
>: what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?
>:
>: He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
>: spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website
>and
>: here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
>: message):

>: ***1/2 cup salt***

>: 2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce
(700mg sodium per TABLESPOON)

http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...ipes/ribs.html

As the ribs are not simply soaked in the salty solution (brined), but
boiled in it for hours, this *is* going to be a collosally salty dish.
Not to mention covering in "barbecue sauce" (from a bottle, one
assumes) for the final cooking. I suggest you find another recipe for
BBQ ribs.

Don't boil it the solution. Take the ribs and bake or BBQ.



"Frogleg" > wrote in message
...
> >"AJ" > wrote
>
> >: I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer
> >is
> >: tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
> >: what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?
> >:
> >: He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
> >: spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website
> >and
> >: here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
> >: message):
>
> >: ***1/2 cup salt***
>
> >: 2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce
> (700mg sodium per TABLESPOON)
>
> http://home.discovery.com/fansites/c...ipes/ribs.html
>
> As the ribs are not simply soaked in the salty solution (brined), but
> boiled in it for hours, this *is* going to be a collosally salty dish.
> Not to mention covering in "barbecue sauce" (from a bottle, one
> assumes) for the final cooking. I suggest you find another recipe for
> BBQ ribs.

AJ wrote:
>
> I'm doing the cooking for my elderly uncle (79 -- the old geezer is
> tough!), and he's at the point where his doctors say, "Let him eat
> what he wants -- just NO SALT!" Not too tough, eh?
>
> He was watching an episode of "Cookin' in Brooklyn" that featured
> spare ribs, and of course he wanted that. I went to the website and
> here are the ingredients (I'll put the URL at the end of this
> message):
>
> spare ribs
> 2 dried chilies
> ***1/2 cup salt***
> 1/2 cup sugar

Let the sugar do the job.
blacksalt

"jmcquown" > wrote:

>Anyway, potassium chloride is the usual "salt substitute" but in this
>quantity I would have to say it would probably taste very bitter. For this
>recipe you might try substituting some of Penzey's (www.penzeys.com) salt
>free herb or seasoning blends such as the Jerk seasoning. (I wouldn't say
>1/2 a cup!

Why? That will utterly change the recipe.

Sometimes you can add flavor by adding herbs etc. instead of salt, but
sometimes the salt performs a different function, as it does in this
recipe. It's important to look at that before making a substitution.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

"JNJ" > wrote:

>> ***1/2 cup salt***
>
>Egads -- that's 24 teaspoons and there are 2350mg of sodium in each
>teaspoon! US RDA is 2,400mg, and that's 5 times what we actually need, let
>alone a recipe that uses 56,400mg of sodium! That's just a heart attack on
>a plate. If your uncle is on a low sodium diet, then he should be getting
>no more than 2,000mg-3,000mg PER DAY -- even most dietitians will not go
>higher than 4,000mg-5,000mg in a 24 hour period.

Egads - try reading the actual recipe and noting that this salt is in
a *brine*. While the old gentleman will likely get more salt than he
should eating this recipe, it still won't be anywhere near 56,400mg.

>> I believe the salt serves to break up the meat during cooking, so it's
>> necesary. It'll also land him in the emergency room.
>
>Salt serves no "necessary" purpose in a recipe other than flavoring. It may
>do other things, but nothing that cannot be worked around.

Um, no. Salt also serves to set up the differences in osmotic
pressure needed to make a brine work. That may or may not need to be
worked around.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

kalanamak > wrote
> Let the sugar do the job.
> blacksalt

I forgot to mention -- he has trouble with his sugar as well. It's a
bitch to get old & sick.

AJ

> Egads - try reading the actual recipe and noting that this salt is in
> a *brine*.

Not the way this recipe reads. That might be the intention but
nonetheless.... Keep that pork in there as long as the recipe suggests and
you'll have a dark salt block when you're through.

> While the old gentleman will likely get more salt than he
> should eating this recipe, it still won't be anywhere near 56,400mg.

Of course not -- I was not suggesting he would be consuming 56,400mg.

>>Salt serves no "necessary" purpose in a recipe other than flavoring. It
may
>>do other things, but nothing that cannot be worked around.
>
> Um, no. Salt also serves to set up the differences in osmotic
> pressure needed to make a brine work. That may or may not need to be
> worked around.

Um, yes. Salt serves no necessary purpose in a recipe other than flavoring.
Period. Salt's other values can be worked around with other techniques.

Brining is used to make meat more moist, juicy and tender. When muscle is
cooked its proteins tends to denature, making it drier and sometimes tough.
By brining it first, the meat will take up extra fluid and it takes quite a
bit more to get that extra moisture out. There's just one problem with
this -- that fluid contains large amounts of sodium and the meat doesn't
just soak up the water, it gets quite a bit of the sodium as well.

As for salt serving to "...set up the differences in osmotic pressure..."
that's a bit of a stretch. Osmosis involves the passing of fluid through a
semipermeable membrane. Salt causes certain proteins to denature then water
from the brine will bind with some of the protein's now broken bonds and
still more gets trapped between the proteins.

James

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 08:31:58 GMT, (Derek
Lyons) wrote:

>"JNJ" > wrote:
>
>>> ***1/2 cup salt***
>>
>>Egads -- that's 24 teaspoons and there are 2350mg of sodium in each
>>teaspoon! US RDA is 2,400mg, and that's 5 times what we actually need, let
>>alone a recipe that uses 56,400mg of sodium! That's just a heart attack on
>>a plate. If your uncle is on a low sodium diet, then he should be getting
>>no more than 2,000mg-3,000mg PER DAY -- even most dietitians will not go
>>higher than 4,000mg-5,000mg in a 24 hour period.
>
>Egads - try reading the actual recipe and noting that this salt is in
>a *brine*. While the old gentleman will likely get more salt than he
>should eating this recipe, it still won't be anywhere near 56,400mg.

Reading the actual recipe reveals that the ribs are *boiled* for
several hours in the "brine," not merely soaked in preparation for
cooking. OTOH, JNJ is assuming one person would consume the entire
amount of salt used in this very casual recipe (which does not specify
number of servings or amount of meat).

> Reading the actual recipe reveals that the ribs are *boiled* for
> several hours in the "brine," not merely soaked in preparation for
> cooking. OTOH, JNJ is assuming one person would consume the entire
> amount of salt used in this very casual recipe (which does not specify
> number of servings or amount of meat).

As I stated -- I am not assuming one person would consume the entire amount
of salt used in the recipe but rather that using such a large amount of salt
used in a boiling solution would result in a VERY salty rack of ribs.
Do as that recipe recommends, and yer gonna take in a BUNCH of sodium.

James

"AJ" > wrote in message
om...

> 2 dried chilies
> ***1/2 cup salt***
> 1/2 cup sugar
> 2-3 onions
> 4-5 stalks celery
> 3-5 dry bay leaves
> 4-5 sliced lemons
> 1-2 yellow beet
> 2-3 cups Vietnamese fish sauce
> a few sprinkles cracked coriander
> a few sprinkles mustard seeds
> a few sprinkles black pepper
>
> I believe the salt serves to break up the meat during cooking, so it's
> necesary. It'll also land him in the emergency room.

Consuming that much salt at a sitting would also land a normal person in the
emergency room with a pickled kidney.

But most of it remains in the stock.

If it all went into the meat it would
be positively inedible.

Try a tablespoon of salt substitute and half a cup
vinegar.

Fish sauce will be a problem too - very high sodium.

Try half and
half white wine and salt free tomato juice and some rosemary in place of the
fish sauce.

If too bland, sprinkle on more salt substitute at the table.