Do you really have to wash quinoa?
As you may or may not know, quinoa needs to be rinsed with cold water before cooking it. This simple process will help get rid of the bitter-tasting compound (saponin) that coats the tiny seeds; if you don't do it, it's going to taste wrong and you'll never want to use this ancient power food again in your diet.
I'll cut to the chase: Nothing happens if you don't rinse uncooked quinoa. Yes, I know. Step one of most quinoa recipes is to rinse and drain the grains.
Our basic recipe for cooking quinoa starts out with rinsing it in a fine-mesh strainer under cold water for 2 minutes. This is the reasoning: Why rinse quinoa? Rinsing removes quinoa's natural coating, called saponin, which can make it taste bitter or soapy.
The whole debate started thanks to saponin, a naturally occurring chemical that coats every tiny grain of quinoa. It's there for good reason—to ward off insects—but it has a strong, unpleasant taste. Rinsing the quinoa gets rid of the saponin and thus its bitter flavor—great.
If your quinoa still tastes bitter, there is likely still some saponin left on the quinoa. A small amount of saponin will produce enough bitterness to affect a whole bag.
Saponin is a bitter, soapy substance that protects the quinoa plant from fungal and insect attacks. It also contains toxins that can cause irritation and other issues in some people. While the level of toxicity is low, some people may be sensitive to this compound.
When you start with 1 cup of dry quinoa, your quinoa should completely absorb the water in about 15 minutes. A sign that it's almost ready: The quinoa should get fluffy, and the little tail-like bits (they're endosperms, by the way) will start to pull away from the seed.
Plus, cooking it is extremely easy, especially with these few helpful tips I'll share. You can choose to soak your quinoa ahead of time to speed cooking time and increase digestibility (see notes!).
Extraction Methods of Quinoa Saponins
Ethanol and methanol are still considered the best solvents for the extraction of saponins because of their high solubilization properties. In a study by Gee et al. (1993), methanol was found to be the most efficient solvent with which to extract saponin.
This will remove the bitter saponins. Put the quinoa into a pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 12-15 minutes (until cooked). Drain any excess liquid.
How wet should quinoa be?
Most quinoa recipes, including the cooking instructions printed on packages, call for 2 cups of water for every 1 cup quinoa. That's how you get a clumpy, wet mess. Reducing the water to 1½ cups for every cup of quinoa gives you a drier and fluffier result.
The Perfect Quinoa Liquid Ratio that Works Every Time
It all comes down to texture. Add too little water and your grains may burn on the bottom of the pot before they cook through. Add too much water and you'll end up with soggy, overcooked, and mushy grains.
Some recipes call for as high as a 2:1 water to grain ratio, while others go as low as 1 1/2:1. In my experience, the sweet spot for light, fluffy quinoa is right in the middle. I use 1 3/4 cups water for every cup of quinoa. Any more water, and the quinoa gets mushy.
Farmers harvest Trader Joe's White Quinoa in May at an altitude of about 12,000 feet, then they carefully wash, rinse, dry, clean again and sort the crop by color, before packing it to ship to our stores. Organic White Quinoa is a protein rich alternative to rice, couscous or pasta and is gluten free.
A great thing about the Costco quinoa is that it doesn't need to be rinsed. It doesn't have any off flavor when cooked without rinsing, which is wonderful.
My go-to is Costco's Kirkland Signature Organic Quinoa, which comes pre-washed. I cannot emphasize enough how time-saving that tiny detail is. I love the fact that I can eliminate the annoying task of rinsing the tiny seeds and dirtying a strainer. With this, it's a painless 15-minute endeavor.
Quinoa contains a bitter tasting outer coating which contains saponins. Essentially these saponins serve as a defense mechanism to the plant as it's growing – it keeps predators from eating the seeds. If left untreated, quinoa would taste terrible. It would be bitter, grassy and basically inedible.
It's particularly important not to overcook this quinoa. Not only will the texture of your food be unpleasant, but you will also lose nutrients if you overcook it. When serving quinoa, make sure it's light and fluffy.
However, too much quinoa on your plate can result into stomach ache, diarrhea, bloating and even discomfort. This happens because your body cannot handle too much fiber present in it. Also, it contains a naturally-occurring chemical called saponins, which can cause stomach-issues if quinoa is not washed well.
The food plants found to be richest in saponins were chickpeas (Cicer arietinum), soya beans (Glycine max), lucerne (alfalfa) sprouts (Medicago sativa) and varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris (navy beans, haricot beans, kidney beans). Saponins were not destroyed by processing or cooking.
Does heat destroy saponin?
One of the main reasons for this hydrolysis is that the presence of glycosidase in bran can hydrolyze glycosides from saponins because organic reagents and heating can destroy the enzyme, thereby preventing saponin hydrolysis.
Add The Correct Amount of Water. Here's the trick to cooking your quinoa to turn out fluffy and not soggy: The water to quinoa ratio is 2:1, so you'll need 2 cups of liquid (water or stock) for 1 cup dried quinoa.
To get that unmistakable fluffy and slightly chewy quinoa texture, use a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water for the rice cooker. It's also important to consider how much quinoa multiplies once it's cooked. The basic rule is that uncooked quinoa multiplies by 4 once it's cooked.
I've cooked quinoa many many times by now and I found it needs a bit less water than rice. Most recipes say the perfect ratio is 1:2, but in my experience, you need a little less than 2 cups of water to cook 1 cup of quinoa.
Saponin Toxicity
If you consume high levels of saponins, you may experience uncomfortable gastrointestinal side effects such as: Abdominal pain. Abdominal distension. Diarrhea.
Humans generally do not suffer severe poisoning from saponins. Our cholesterin inactivates them so that only our mucus membranes are affected. Because of this, saponins have been used in sneezing powders, emetics, and cough syrups to facilitate expectoration. Most saponins are also diuretic.
Saponins decrease blood lipids, lower cancer risks, and lower blood glucose response. A high saponin diet can be used in the inhibition of dental caries and platelet aggregation, in the treatment of hypercalciuria in humans, and as an antidote against acute lead poisoning.
The studies included in the review showed that the saponins and sapogenins were anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antioxidant and they modulate inflammatory cytokines mainly through the Nf-κB, TLR4 and MAPKs pathways.
Saponins have been reported to possess a wide range of biological activities such as haemolysis, pesticidal, molluscidal, antimicrobial, insecticidal, anthelmintic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, sedative and antitumor activities (Lacaille-Dubois and Wagner, 1996; Rao and Gurfinkel, 2000).
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. You'll know when the grain is done because it will look like it has popped open, revealing the germ of the kernel.
How much does 1 4 cup dry quinoa make?
Not only does it have a nice combo of fiber and protein, it's also a complete protein, a.k.a. great for vegetarians. Like rice, it expands while it cooks. So that 1/4 cup of dry quinoa will yield around 3/4 cup.
Once cooked the seeds expand about 4 times their original size, so 1 cup of uncooked quinoa seeds yields approximately 4 cups cooked quinoa.
Here's a basic method to cook 2 cups of dried quinoa, which will end up making about 4 cups once cooked. In a 2-quart pan or larger (4-quart would be ideal), bring 2.5 cups of water to boil. Add the 2 cups of quinoa and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Cover the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes.
While cooking, quinoa expands by about 3 times. So, 1 cup of dry will yield about 3 cups of cooked quinoa. 1/2 cup of dry will yield 1 1/2 cups cooked etc. If you need a certain amount of cooked quinoa for a recipe, divide that number by 3 and that's approximately how much dry quinoa you will want to cook.
Here's another case for not overcooking: if there is extra liquid, drain the quinoa! Quinoa holds quite a bit of water, so draining it after cooking can help ensure that it doesn't impart too much moisture on the finished dish you are making.
How much dry quinoa do I need for 2 cups cooked? Since quinoa increases 3 times when cooked, divide the cooked volume by three. 2/3 cup dry quinoa = 2 cups cooked quinoa.
Quinoa can cause a leaky gut (where your intestinal wall lets undigested food and toxins pass into the bloodstream). So, what's going on, here? 'They blame saponins, which are compounds in the quinoa seed's outer coating,' says Dr Megan Rossi of King's College London.
Allergy to other foods used as grains: Quinoa may cause an allergic reaction in people who are sensitive to foods used as grains, such as buckwheat, wheat, and rice. If you have allergies to grains, be sure to check with your healthcare provider before using quinoa.
Quinoa is high in anti-inflammatory phytonutrients, which make it potentially beneficial for human health in the prevention and treatment of disease. Quinoa contains small amounts of the heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids and, in comparison to common cereals, has a higher content of monounsaturated fat.
Whole grains are rich in fiber and will help to cleanse the colon. Oats, oatmeal, brown rice, and quinoa are all great sources.
Does soaking quinoa remove saponins?
Soaking quinoa in water may help to lower its phytic acid content, and at the same time, it may also help to remove the saponin found in its natural coating. (This can give quinoa a bitter taste.) Quinoa can be soaked in fresh water for as little as 2 hours, or you can leave it soaking in water in the fridge overnight.
“One can eat one-two cups of cooked quinoa in a day. Also, one should avoid eating quinoa if he/she experiences stomach ache, itchiness or vomiting after consuming it. That person may have a quinoa allergy,” suggests Ms Chopra.
Mistake 3: You overcook it.
You want to remove the lid from your pan and let the quinoa continue to cook in the residual heat so that it can absorb the liquid, rather than overcooking and sacrificing the quinoa's texture, rendering it mushy and flavorless.
Eating raw quinoa is not recommended as it may cause digestive discomfort. I recommend cooking quinoa as directed below, although you may want to experiment with how to make puffed quinoa.