The Science of Sticky Rice
Two kinds of starch decide whether your rice is fluffy or clumpy. Rohan explains amylose and amylopectin, why rinsing matters, what the pressure cooker changes, and why leftover rice turns hard in the…
Why Onions Make You Cry and Garlic Does Not
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Show notes
The onion defence system
An onion does not want to be eaten, and it has a plan. Cutting it mixes two things that were kept apart inside the cell, and the result is a gas that your eyes read as acid. Rohan explains the enzyme, the molecule, and the three kitchen tricks that work, plus one that does not.
- What is kept apart inside an onion cell
- The enzyme that fires when you cut
- Why a cold onion is a kinder onion
- Garlic, the cousin that chose a different weapon
- A listener asks why red onions sting less
Next week we tackle rice. Why it sticks, and why some people want it to.
Transcript
Namaskar and welcome to Bonds in the Kitchen. I am Rohan Bhattacharya, I teach chemistry in Kolkata, and this is the show where your kitchen is the laboratory and nobody has to wear goggles. Today we start with tears. Why does an onion make you cry? It is not the smell, it is a tiny chemical weapon the onion built for exactly this moment, and the trigger is your knife. I will show you what is hidden inside the cell, what mixes when you cut, and why putting the onion in the fridge for twenty minutes actually works. Then garlic, which is in the same family but took a very different path. At the end I answer a listener from Pune who wants to know why red onions sting less. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts. Knives ready.
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