Stir-frying, pan-frying, deep-frying, and braising are the most common tasks in the kitchen, and moms are seasoned veterans with a variety of skills. But did you know that overly complex cooking processes, while improving the flavor, can often lead to a loss of nutrients in food and even produce some carcinogenic substances? How can we solve this? The following 3 techniques will teach you how to reduce carcinogens produced during cooking, allowing you to eat both deliciously and healthily. Let's take a look~
Skill 1: Coat with batter before deep-frying
Deep-fry foods after coating them with batter. Fried dishes are aromatic and crispy, such as fried chicken legs, fried fish, and pan-seared steaks. When frying these foods, proteins can produce large amounts of strong carcinogens like heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at high temperatures. You can do this: coat the ingredients with a moderately thick layer of batter (a mixture of starch and egg white) before frying. This batter acts like a "protective coat" for the ingredients, preventing them from being heated directly in the hot oil, which can minimize the production of carcinogens. When coating with batter, try to make it as even and moderately thick as possible for uniform heating. Additionally, when frying, it's best to control the oil temperature below 200°C (using medium heat), and the frying time should not exceed two minutes.
Recommended Recipe: Fried Cheese Shrimp Balls
Shrimp contains niacin, which helps promote digestive system health, increase appetite, improve blood circulation, and maintain normal blood function. Additionally, shrimp is rich in potassium, which helps maintain the body's acid-base balance.
Ingredients: 10 shrimp, 3 slices of cheese, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, an appropriate amount of breadcrumbs, an appropriate amount of starch
Step 1: Wash the shrimp, cut off and set aside the tails with the shells on. Peel the shrimp bodies, remove the heads, devein, and then chop the shrimp meat finely. Chop the cheese and set aside.
Step 2: Season the chopped shrimp with salt and pepper. Add one egg and stir in one direction until the mixture becomes firm. If it's too thin, you can add a little starch.
Step 3: Take a small amount of the shrimp mixture, flatten it in your hand, place a small piece of cheese in the center, and then shape the mixture into a ball.
Step 4: Whisk the other egg into a liquid. Place the breadcrumbs and starch in separate plates. Roll the shaped shrimp balls through the egg liquid, then the starch, and finally the breadcrumbs.
Step 5: Insert the shrimp tails from Step 1 into the shrimp balls.
Step 6: Pour oil into a wok, enough to cover the shrimp balls. Heat the oil until it's 70% hot, then reduce to medium-low heat. Add the shrimp balls without stirring. Once they start to change color, gently roll them around until they are golden brown. Remove the fried shrimp balls and arrange them on a plate.
Skill 2: Add vinegar when stir-frying
Add vinegar when stir-frying. To reduce carcinogenic factors during cooking and absorb as much vitamin C as possible. Because vitamin C can block the formation of nitrosamines (a substance that can cause digestive tract cancer).
There are two benefits to adding vinegar. First, it protects the vitamin C in food because vitamin C is more stable in an acidic environment. Second, adding vinegar promotes the absorption of vitamin C. This is because the absorption of vitamin C in the digestive tract relies on specific cells that have an affinity for acid. The acetic acid in vinegar stimulates these cells, causing them to absorb vitamin C more effectively.
Recommended Recipe: Seasonal Okra
Okra is rich in beta-carotene and vitamin A, which is beneficial for eye and skin health. Chinese yam is rich in lecithin, which can enhance the activity of brain nerve cells. Both ingredients have the effect of nourishing the stomach and intestines, so stir-frying them together is beneficial for digestive health.
Ingredients: 300g Chinese yam, 200g okra, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 tablespoon cooking oil
Step 1: Wash the okra, remove the hard ends from the top and bottom, and cut it into small pieces.
Step 2: Peel the Chinese yam, wash it, and slice it thinly. You can place it in a bowl of light vinegar water to prevent it from turning black due to oxidation.
Step 3: Peel the garlic and slice it.
Step 4: Heat a wok with oil, add the garlic slices and stir-fry until fragrant.
Step 5: Add the Chinese yam and okra to the wok and stir-fry together.
Step 6: When the ingredients are almost cooked, add the salt and stir-fry until evenly distributed.
Step 7: Once the ingredients are cooked, transfer them to a plate and serve.
Skill 3: Thicken the sauce before serving
Thicken the sauce before serving. When cooking, minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients in the ingredients can be lost into the cooking liquid. The thickened sauce acts like a "protective coat," retaining more vitamin C. Generally, the timing for thickening is important and should be done when the dish is about 90% cooked. Doing it too early can cause the sauce to burn; doing it too late means the dish is heated for a longer time, which can easily make it lose its crisp and tender texture.
Recommended Recipe: Braised Squid Rings
Squid is extremely nutritious, rich in various nutrients the body needs such as protein, calcium, taurine, phosphorus, and vitamin B1, with very high content. Its fat content is relatively low, making it a very nutritious seafood.
Ingredients: 300g small squid, 250g tender tofu, 15g green onions, 10g ginger, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, an appropriate amount of oil
Step 1: Cut the tender tofu into small cubes and arrange them on a plate.
Step 2: Remove the outer membrane from the small squid, wash it, and drain the water. Cut the squid into rings, place them in a bowl, add salt and ginger threads, and marinate for 10 minutes to remove the fishy smell.
Step 3: Arrange the marinated squid rings on top of the tofu.
Step 4: Steam the squid and tofu until the squid turns white and has a crisp, springy texture.
Step 5: Chop the green onions into sections, shred the ginger, and mince the garlic. Heat a wok, add the minced garlic and half of the green onions and stir-fry until fragrant, then transfer to a bowl. Mix in soy sauce to make a sauce.
Step 6: Pour the prepared sauce and the remaining green onions over the steamed tofu and squid.