Sea cucumber is highly nutritious and has a great texture, making it a popular seafood for many people. However, many people don't know how to eat or choose sea cucumbers. Let's talk about that below.
Many benefits of dried sea cucumber
1. Sea cucumber is low in cholesterol and has relatively low fat content, making it a typical high-protein, low-fat, and low-cholesterol food. It is considered an excellent dietary therapy for patients with hypertension, coronary heart disease, hepatitis, and the elderly. Regular consumption is very beneficial for treating diseases and strengthening the body.
2. Sea cucumber contains chondroitin sulfate, which helps human growth and development, delays muscle aging, and enhances the body's immunity.
3. The content of vanadium, a trace element in sea cucumber, ranks first among all foods. It can participate in the transport of iron in the blood and enhance hematopoietic function.
4. Recently, American researchers have extracted a special substance from sea cucumber—holothurin. This compound can effectively inhibit the growth and metastasis of various molds and some human cancer cells.
5. Eating sea cucumber has good effects on aplastic anemia, diabetes, gastric ulcers, etc.
6. Sea cucumber is sweet and salty in taste, and warm in nature. It acts on the heart, kidney, spleen, and lung meridians; it has the effects of nourishing yin and tonifying the kidney, strengthening yang and benefiting essence, nourishing the heart and moistening dryness, replenishing blood, and treating ulcers.
Dietary taboos for sea cucumber
1. No more than one per day: The method of eating one sea cucumber per day is more suitable for people with weak constitutions. For healthy people, especially in areas with a relatively dry climate, excessive consumption of sea cucumber can cause "internal heat". For long-term consumption, remember not to exceed one per day.
2. Not suitable to be eaten with fruits containing tannic acid: Sea cucumber cannot be eaten with acidic fruits or foods such as persimmons, grapes, pomegranates, and hawthorn to prevent the tannic acid in sea cucumber from causing protein coagulation, thus affecting digestion and absorption.
3. Should be eaten less in spring: Spring is a season that easily causes "internal heat", especially in northern and inland areas where the climate is relatively dry in spring, so the consumption of sea cucumber should be appropriately reduced.
4. People with poor liver and kidney function should eat less: Sea cucumber can warm and tonify kidney deficiency and has the effect of benefiting the kidney and replenishing essence. However, excessive consumption of sea cucumber will increase the burden on the liver and kidneys. Therefore, people with poor liver and kidney function should remember not to overindulge.
5. Cooking methods should avoid deep processing: From a nutritional perspective, the simpler the sea cucumber is cooked, the better. Cooking methods like clear stewing, boiling, and cold dressing can retain all the nutrients in the sea cucumber and taste delicious. Cooking methods like braised sea cucumber will destroy the original nutrients of the sea cucumber, and the nourishing effect will be greatly reduced.
Braised Sea Scallion
How to choose dried sea cucumber?
To choose good dried sea cucumber, first, we need to look at the nutrition and choose the origin (Changdao Island), as the origin determines the nutrition and quality. Secondly, look at the quality and the rehydration rate. The sea cucumber you buy needs to be rehydrated to check its quality; the rehydrated sea cucumber is the one you finally get, and a ruler won't lie. Look at the opening; a high-quality sea cucumber has thick and clean meat visible at the opening. Look from the mouth of the sea cucumber; one with non-loose bone plates is of superior quality. Identify the shape: High-quality sea cucumbers are plump and cylindrical, with straight spines and a light weight; the longer the sea cucumber grows, the larger it becomes. Dried sea cucumbers that meet national standards for dryness can be stored in a cool, ventilated place for a shelf life of more than 3 years.
Finally, we need to look at the price and the cost-effectiveness. On the basis of the above two points, you must look at the price and choose the sea cucumber with the highest cost-effectiveness. After processing, authentic sea cucumbers from the Changdao sea area are dark gray and gray. If they are dark black, it is because sugar or carbon black was added during processing. Although they look good, this destroys some of the nutritional components and increases the weight for illegal profits. In terms of price, for first-grade unsalted and air-dried sea cucumber, it takes 25-29 pounds of fresh sea cucumber to process one pound of dried sea cucumber, depending on the water content of the fresh sea cucumber. Calculating based on this year's price of fresh sea cucumber at 80 yuan per pound (prices vary each year), the cost price is also over 2000 yuan. Therefore, sea cucumbers on the market sold at a price lower than this are repeatedly processed or mixed with impurities such as cement or furnace ash.
Burning sea cucumbers