Not all vegetables are suitable for eating raw. Some vegetables are best blanched in boiling water before eating; others must be thoroughly cooked before consumption.
Vegetables that can be eaten raw after washing
These include carrots, white radish, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and the heart of Chinese cabbage. Tang Xiaowei says that for raw consumption, it is best to choose pollution-free green vegetables or organic vegetables.
Vegetables grown in soilless cultivation can also be eaten raw without worry. Methods for eating raw include drinking fresh homemade vegetable juice, or making a fresh vegetable salad with a small amount of vinegar and less salt.
Braised Broccoli with Carrots
Vegetables that should be blanched can be categorized as follows:
One category is cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower. These nutritious vegetables have a better texture after blanching, and their rich fiber is also easier to digest.
The second category includes vegetables with high levels of oxalic acid, such as spinach, bamboo shoots, and water bamboo. Oxalic acid combines with calcium in the intestines to form calcium oxalate, which is difficult to absorb and interferes with the body's absorption of calcium. Therefore, they must be blanched in boiling water before being made into a salad to remove most of the oxalic acid.
The third category is mustard vegetables, such as turnips. They contain a substance called glucosinolate, which, when hydrolyzed, produces volatile mustard oil that aids in digestion and absorption.
The fourth category includes wild vegetables such as purslane. Blanching them thoroughly removes dust and small insects and prevents allergic reactions. Additionally, for vegetables like lettuce and water chestnuts, it is best to peel, wash, and scald them in boiling water before eating raw. This is more sanitary and does not affect the taste or nutritional content.
Of course, not all vegetables can be used in salads. Starchy vegetables like potatoes, taro, and Chinese yam must be cooked, otherwise the starch granules will not break down and the human body cannot digest them. Kidney beans contain large amounts of saponins and hemagglutinins. If not thoroughly cooked, they can cause poisoning. Kidney beans should be cooked for a long time, not a short time, until they are fully cooked and change color before they can be safely eaten. Bean sprouts should be stir-fried; even if used in a salad, they must be cooked first.
"A combination of raw and cooked vegetables is more beneficial to the body," says Tang Xiaowei. For example, there are many varieties of radish. For eating raw, those that are juicy and less pungent are better, but they are considered cooling foods, so people with a yin-deficient constitution should preferably eat them cooked. The nutrients absorbed from some foods can differ depending on whether they are eaten raw or cooked. For instance, tomatoes contain lycopene, which can reduce the risk of prostate and liver cancer. To absorb lycopene, tomatoes should be eaten cooked. However, if you want to get vitamin C, eating them raw is more effective because vitamin C is easily lost during cooking.