Potassium Carbonate? Doesn’t sound like a food ingredient we’d normally feature in our glossary, does it?
When talking about the uses of this compound, Wikipedia says its main application is in the production of soap and glass. While that doesn’t exactly sound like something you’d want to put in your food, potassium carbonate does have some key food uses in a myriad of other Asian foods (and, for familiarity’s sake, Dutch-processed cocoa powder!).
In this quick article, we’ll talk about what it is, how it’s used, and why it’s needed in a few key recipes.
What Is Potassium Carbonate?
Potassium Carbonate, or K2CO3, is a compound that looks like powdery white salt. It is soluble in water, and sold as a solution in Chinese markets for most cooking applications. This solution is known as jiǎn shuǐ (碱水) in Mandarin, and gansui in Cantonese. In English, it is sometimes translated as “lye water” or “alkaline solution.”
How Is It Used?
This potassium carbonate solution is an alkaline liquid used to raise the pH of dough for noodles, you tiao (fried Chinese crullers), and some breads. It is also used as in jian shui zongzi, or alkaline rice dumplings, and can be added to mooncakes to help them develop a rich, amber color during baking (you only need a teaspoon for an entire batch to achieve this).
Potassium carbonate changes pH and flavor not unlike baking soda does in other recipes. (Anyone who’s boiled pretzels in a solution of water and baking soda and tasted the distinctive flavor of a pretzel has experienced this!)
In Japan, chefs add potassium carbonate to ramen noodles to give them their signature flavor, chewy texture, and yellow color. In European baking, bakers add it to bagels, pretzels, and gingerbread recipes, and in North America, cooks once used it to leaven quick breads before the advent of baking powder.
It can also balance the pH of cocoa powder (to reduce the natural acidity of cocoa beans). “Dutch processed” cocoa powder actually refers to cocoa powder with added potassium carbonate.
Buying & Storing
For Chinese recipes, potassium carbonate is usually used in liquid form. The solution of potassium carbonate dissolved in water is readily available at Chinese grocery stores. The solution can also include baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).
Once opened, store in its sealed bottle at room temperature in a cool, dark place like your pantry.
Our Favorite Dishes That Use This Ingredient:
- Jian Shui Zong (Alkaline Rice Dumplings)
- Ham and Nut Mooncakes
- Lotus Mooncakes with Salted Egg Yolks
If you have further questions about potassium carbonate or lye water, let us know in the comments. We try to answer every single one!
Hello, I will apologize in advance for what may seem like a stupid question. I was trying to find out how to store my commercial lye water after I opened it and I found the answer here, so thank you so much for that. But while I was searching I kept seeing about soap and people being scared to keep lye water by food, and I am using it in food. Am I missing something? Did it change when I cooked it or are they talking about something different?
Hi Jessica, I’m not sure what those other articles were about, but potassium carbonate solutions meant for food use are fine to store in the pantry along with other pantry items.
Do you know the concentration of potassium carbonate in commercially available lye water?
Hi Katherine, we’re not sure since we have never used any commercial products.
For velveting shrimp to make it crunchy, how much yle water should i use? I tried using 100% pure lye water, rinsed the shrimp but still came out very bitter.
Hi Kenneth, I would avoid using lye water for velveting shrimp. For velveting tips, check out our post on How to prepare Shrimp for Chinese cooking.
If lye water is not readily available, could the newly marketed alkaline waters be substituted for a similar effect? Thanks!
No – they are just a marketing thing aimed at the people who don’t understand basic science. You could bake baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) to decompose it to sodium carbonate, and use a solution of that if you can’t get lye water. It’s not quite the same, but has a similar effect.
Do you have any advice on tracking down potassium carbonate in central NJ? My favorite store never seems to have any in stock.
Hi Brian, there are a couple of Chinese supermarkets in Edison, NJ. They definitely have it.
Would you have a recipe for you tiao? Using potassium carbonate?
Hi Leang, we do have a recipe for you tiao: https://thewoksoflife.com/youtiao-recipe/
But it doesn’t use potassium carbonate.
We have a you tiao recipe, but without potassium carbonate. You can use search bar on our site to search for what you are looking for.
My mom uses it in her Zongzi recipe, says it reduces the cooking time! Have you known of that effect?
Hi Lisa, there are a particular type of zongzi that use Potassium Carbonate, called “jianshui zong.” They do cook faster, but they’re also smaller than regular zongzi. Not sure if the Potassium carbonate actually reduces cooking time or not! Here’s the link to that jianshui zongzi recipe: https://thewoksoflife.com/alkaline-rice-dumplings-zongzi/
How much does it affect a recipe if you make diy lye water using baking soda and water?
Hi Lucy, baking soda will give different results from potassium carbonate. Honestly, I’ve never tried with baking soda.
Hi! If I’m working with potassium carbonate powder and want to make my own lye water to keep on hand, what ratio do you recommend? Thank you so much!
Hi Abigail, I’ve never worked with potassium carbonate powder, just the ready made solutions at the Chinese grocery. I’m not sure how to advise you! I will say just to make sure you’re using food grade potassium carbonate powder.