Lye: Difference between revisions

Lyes are used to [[Curing (food preservation)|cure]] many types of food, including the traditional Nordic [[lutefisk]], [[olive]]s (making them less bitter), canned [[mandarin orange]]s, [[hominy]], [[lye roll]]s, [[century egg]]s, [[pretzel]]s, candied pumpkins and [[bagel]]s. They are also used as a tenderizer in the crust of baked Cantonese [[Mooncake|moon cakes]], in "[[zongzi]]" ([[glutinous rice]] dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves), in chewy southern [[Chinese noodles]] popular in Hong Kong and southern China, and in Japanese [[ramen noodles]]. They are also used in [[kutsinta]], a type of rice cake from the Philippines together with [[pitsi-pitsî]].<ref name="philrice">{{cite web|url=http://www.pinoyrkb.com/ricerecipe/Puto-at-Kutsinta.html|title=Puto|work=Rice Recipes|publisher=Philippine Rice Research Institute|access-date=15 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141125193706/http://www.pinoyrkb.com/ricerecipe/Puto-at-Kutsinta.html|archive-date=25 November 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In Assam, north east India, extensive use is made of a type of lye called khar in Assamese and karwi in Boro which is obtained by filtering the ashes of various banana stems, roots and skin in their cooking and also for curing, as medicine and as a substitute for soap. Lye made out of wood ashes is also used in the nixtamalization process of [[hominy]] corn by the tribes of the Eastern Woodlands in [[North America]].