When cooking at home, do you have the habit of washing the wok after stir-frying each dish? If so, congratulations, that is the correct way. If not, you must change this habit, because these cooking methods are no different than "poisoning" yourself.
Bad Cooking Habit 1: Not Washing the Wok After Stir-frying
No matter how much oil is left or how clean the wok looks, you must wash it after stir-frying. Xia Pengbin, a dietitian from the Department of Clinical Nutrition at the Zhongda Hospital, points out that the seemingly clean surface of the wok can have grease and food residue attached to it. When heated again at high temperatures, it may produce carcinogens such as benzopyrene. Moreover, when you stir-fry the next dish without washing the wok, you'll find that the leftover food in the wok burns easily, which also poses a certain carcinogenic risk. Therefore, for healthier meals, wash your wok clean!
Bad Cooking Habit 2: Using Leftover Oil to Cook
Some people often save the oil used to fry chicken wings and fish to continue cooking with. This practice is highly inadvisable because reused oil contains residual carcinogens. Therefore, you should carefully measure the amount of oil needed for cooking, and it's best to use it only once. Of course, if the oil hasn't been used for high-temperature frying, it can be used a maximum of 2-3 times.
Bad Cooking Habit 3: Adding Ingredients Only When the Oil Smokes
Many people have a habit of waiting for the oil to get hot before adding ingredients (the sign of hot oil is when it starts to smoke), believing this makes the dish tastier. But is this really healthy? Experts explain that when the oil starts to smoke, the temperature has already reached 200°C. At this point, adding ingredients to the pan can produce carcinogens. Furthermore, at such high heat, the nutritional value of the vegetables is mostly destroyed. Therefore, experts recommend using a hot pan with cool oil. The trans fatty acids produced by oil at high temperatures are harmful to the human body.
Bad Cooking Habit 4: Turning Off the Range Hood Immediately
Many people think that once the dish is done cooking, they should turn off the range hood since they won't be inhaling the smoke anymore. However, this seemingly casual habit hides a "danger." Because many dishes, when overheated, release toxic substances that are harmful to the respiratory system and may induce lung cancer. In fact, the range hood also needs time to exhaust the fumes. The harmful fumes will linger in the kitchen right after cooking. If you turn off the range hood at this moment, these toxic gases will not be expelled and will be inhaled when you re-enter the kitchen. Therefore, after cooking, it's a good idea to let the range hood continue to run for 3-5 minutes to ensure all harmful gases are completely discharged.