Pearl barley, also known as barley groats, is often used when cooking pickle soup or is included in the menu of those who want to lose weight.
It contains an abundance of fiber, a lot of vitamins and minerals, proteins and other useful substances. One of the stages of preparing pearl barley porridge is soaking.
Let's figure out whether it is necessary to soak pearl barley before cooking.
In addition to soaking the cereal in water for a long time, there are techniques such as steaming the pearl barley in a thermos, adding vinegar or lemon juice to the water, as well as fermented milk products.
Another important detail is that you need to leave the cereal in water overnight in the refrigerator. And then you need to rinse the grains.
Express soaking
The cereal is poured into a sieve, placed over a saucepan with boiling water, left for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. At the same time, you need to constantly add hotter water.
You can also prepare the cereal in the microwave. To do this, place 1 cup of pearl barley in water, put it in the microwave and heat it at maximum power for 1-4 minutes.
To soak or not to soak
The purpose of any of these procedures is to shorten the cooking process of porridge or soup, as well as to achieve a softer and more delicate taste.
Classic soaking of pearl barley reduces the cooking time of the cereal by 12 times.
Also, during the soaking process, you can get rid of debris that is difficult to wash out during normal rinsing.
