Rice, pasta, or raw peeled potatoes will absorb a fair amount of the salt if you simmer the starch staple in the soup until the ingredient is cooked to your liking. Then remove and use it for another dish. If you use rice or small-size pasta, cook it in a string-tied cheese-cloth bag for easy removal.

Prohibition-era drinkers knew this salt-absorbing technique well. Cooking wines were widely and legally available but were heavily salted to make them unsuitable for drinking. Many skirted the law by steeping potatoes in cooking wine to make it palpable.

** Asian Recipes **