Pork is a dish we often eat, but after you've eaten so much of it, I want to tell you: "There is a right way to eat. Diet, cooking, ingredient selection, and pairing must be noted; otherwise, eating this way will only leave you with health problems." So, what is the correct way to eat pork?
Pork should not be overcooked
When stewed or boiled at high temperatures of 200-300°C, creatine, sugar, and other harmless compounds in the meat react with amino acids to form carcinogens (aromatic amines). Among the compounds produced by high-temperature pork, 9 of these aromatic amines are carcinogenic.
Pork should not be soaked for too long
Pork contains a large amount of protein, which can be divided into myosin and sarcoplasm. Because sarcoplasm is very soluble in water, we cannot soak pork in water for a long time. When pork is soaked in hot water for a long time, it will lose sarcoplasm. Did you know that once the inorganic acids, glutamic acid, and monosodium glutamate in sarcoplasm are lost, it will affect the texture of the cooked pork?
Therefore, the correct way to handle pork is to rinse it quickly with cold water and not to soak it for long.
Do not eat dead pork
A pig's gut contains a large number of bacteria. A sick pig has low resistance, which can lead to these bacteria entering the circulatory system through the lymphatic system, thus making the pork unclean. If a person eats this kind of diseased pork, they can easily get sick from the infection.
Do not eat high-temperature fried cured meat
Cured meat contains nitrate. After being deep-fried or pan-fried, it will produce nitrosopyrrolidine (a carcinogen). In other words, cured fish, cured meat, sausages, ham, and other foods should not be fried.
Do not eat meat nodules
Gray, yellow, or dark-red meat nodules from areas like the pig's neck should not be eaten, as they contain many viruses and bacteria, and eating them can easily lead to infection.
Only by understanding these things can we allow our friends who love pork to eat with more peace of mind and better health. To help everyone make pork more delicious, I'll share some more tips for cooking pork.
Small tips for eating pork correctly:
1. Add salt later
The reason pork becomes tough when cooked is simple: you add salt too early. Adding salt too early can cause the pork to lose more moisture during the stir-frying process, making it very tough.
2. Add a few drops of vinegar before finishing
It's best to add a few drops of vinegar just before the pork is done cooking. This will make the pork more tender and delicious.
3. Coat the meat with starch
Mix the shredded or sliced pork with starch before stir-frying. This will make the cooked meat whiter, more tender, and more delicious.
4. Thicken the pork sauce
Thickening, professionally known as "batter coating," means mixing the shredded or sliced pork with seasonings like soy sauce, scallions, ginger, and starch before cooking. This also results in delicious-tasting pork.
5. Swirl hot oil in the wok
It's frustrating when meat sticks to the pan. The solution is simple: first, heat the empty wok until it's hot, then pour in oil and swirl it around the pan. When you then add the shredded or sliced pork to stir-fry, it won't stick.