Nowadays, an increasing number of delicious foods are being "quick-frozen." Besides traditional quick-frozen dumplings and wontons, meatballs, chicken chunks, sea shrimp, and even quick-frozen vegetables from their places of origin have become popular choices in supermarkets. Due to their convenience and time-saving features, this type of "lazy person's food" is rapidly capturing people's attention and gracing consumers' dining tables. In a general sense, quick-frozen food refers to food that is frozen in a strong cold environment, completing the freezing process in about 15 minutes, so that it can be stored, transported, and preserved for a long time under conditions of -18°C or lower. It typically includes aquatic products (such as sea shrimp, frozen fish, shrimp meat), fresh meats (such as pork, chicken), hot pot items (such as fish dumplings, fish balls, tribute balls), staple foods (such as sweet rice balls, water dumplings, steamed buns), breaded and fried items (such as chicken chunks, croquettes, squid cutlets), and vegetable dishes (such as peas, carrots).
When it comes to quick-frozen food, people always have concerns about it not being fresh or nutritious. In fact, from a nutritional perspective, "quick-freezing" can maximize the preservation of the original freshness, color, flavor, and nutritional content of natural foods.
Especially for busy people, it's better to choose quick-frozen foods than to buy a week's worth of fresh meat and vegetables at once and stuff them in the refrigerator. This is because a home freezer takes at least several hours to freeze food, while true quick-frozen food achieves its freezing effect in 15-30 minutes. This "fast-freezing" process keeps the molecular structure of the food basically unchanged and does not cause the loss of nutrients like "slow-freezing" does.
However, not all quick-frozen foods are nutritious. Stuffed and fried quick-frozen foods share a common defect: excessively high fat content. Secondly, although some tribute balls and fish balls may not be as delicious as fresh fish and meat, they taste particularly savory. This is because a significant amount of MSG and high-flavor seasonings are added to quick-frozen foods. Data shows that the salt content in quick-frozen foods like fish balls is 4-5 times that of fresh pork belly, and the sodium content is very high, which is self-evidently harmful to patients with hypertension, heart disease, and kidney disease. Moreover, to maintain the minimal palatability of meat products, their fat content cannot be lower than 20%. The tenderness, juiciness, and aroma of tribute balls and fish balls are all achieved at the cost of high fat. Research indicates that eating 6 fish balls is equivalent to the calories of one bowl of rice.