Is ENO Good In Cooking??
April 21, 2020 | by Sravani Pathakamuri | Posted in Nutrition Facts
ENO is an antacid which consists of sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate and citric acid. Eno is mostly used in gastric conditions. In 1883 it was advertised as a cure for cholera and in 1892 for “keeping blood pure and free from disease”, prevention of diarrhea, and many other conditions.
ENO is used, when acidity occurs, the excess acid may move up from your stomach to your esophagus. The lining of your stomach with a pH of 1 to 3 is said to withstand a high acidic environment. Your esophagus on the other hand with a pH close to 7 is not, and you may experience symptoms such as a burning sensation in the chest when this pH drops below 4.
These symptoms may include sour taste in the mouth, heaviness and
burning sensation in the stomach or throat. Here ENO helps to raise pH in Esophagus. Thus ENO is said to be as acidity reliever.
Acidity
Acidity is caused due to excess production of this HCL, this acids raises due to acidic foods, alcohol, dehydration and stress. Your stomach naturally produces gastric or hydrochloric acid (HCl) to help digest and break down food.
ENO As Baking Powder
Eno can be used as baking powder as it contains sodium bicarbonate. When we used Eno in baking, it causes the flours to rise. For all that fluffiness and softness, Eno is used in varied food preparations like pancakes, rice flour tortillas, wheat flour tortillas or chapathi, dhoklas, khaman, idli, dosa etc.
ENO In Cooking
Eno is a pure sodium bicarbonate where it resembles baking soda. When baking soda come in contact with acidic ingredients like curd, buttermilk, yogurt, chocolate etc., chemical reactions takes place which results the production of carbon dioxide. Due to carbon dioxide it get expanded under heat temperatures. The reaction begins immediately after mixing the ingredients. So you need to bake recipes which call for baking soda immediately or else they will fall flat.
So Eno acts as leavening agent by giving puffiness to some recipes like cakes, dhokla, idli etc.
Eno Vs Baking Soda
Baking soda contains sour ingredients to activate its function but Eno contains sour nature in it. So that we can use Eno directly without savoring agents.
Finally, as Eno raise the flour. We can use Eno in cooking many dishes as baking soda.