10 Things You Should Know About Cooking: What Not to Do
Home Cooking Health Tips - What should the oil temperature be when stir-frying? Is it really true that "more oil doesn't spoil the dish"? What are the actual effects of "smoke and flame" on the human body? These seemingly simple kitchen questions are actually related to your family's food safety, health, and nutrition.
1. Don't add salt too early when braising meat: The main component of salt, sodium chloride, can easily cause the protein in the meat to coagulate, making the meat shrink, become tough, and hard to cook.
2. Don't let the wok get too hot: Frequently eating fried foods cooked in an overheated wok can easily lead to hypochlorhydria or gastric ulcers. If left untreated, it can even lead to cancer.
3. When boiling meat or bones, don't add cold water: Meat and bones contain a large amount of protein and fat. If cold water is suddenly added during boiling, the temperature of the broth will drop sharply. The protein and fat will quickly solidify, and the pores in the meat and bones will suddenly contract, preventing them from becoming tender. Furthermore, the natural flavor of the meat and bones will also be affected.
4. Don't eat undercooked soybeans: Soybeans contain a substance that inhibits the activity of trypsin in the human body. When people eat undercooked soybeans, they have difficulty digesting and absorbing the soy protein, and may even experience diarrhea. Eating well-cooked soybeans, however, will not cause these problems.
5. Don't add MSG when cooking eggs: Eggs themselves contain glutamic acid, the same component as MSG. Therefore, it is unnecessary to add MSG when scrambled eggs. MSG will destroy the natural umami of the eggs and is simply a waste.
6. Don't add MSG to acidic or alkaline foods: When MSG (glutamic acid) is added to acidic food and heated at high temperatures, it loses water and turns into sodium pyroglutamate. Although this is non-toxic, it has no umami flavor. In alkaline food, when the solution is in an alkaline condition, MSG (sodium glutamate) will convert into disodium glutamate, which is also tasteless.
7. Reused frying oil should not be eaten: The thermal efficiency of reused frying oil is only about one-third that of fresh oil. Furthermore, the unsaturated fats in the oil produce various harmful polymers when heated. These substances can stunt human growth and cause an enlarged liver. Additionally, vitamins and fatty acids in this type of oil are destroyed.
8. Don't thaw frozen meat at high temperatures: Thawing frozen meat near a stove or in boiling water is not recommended. The water in the meat's tissue cannot be quickly reabsorbed by the cells and will leak out, preventing the meat from returning to its original quality. At high temperatures, a hard membrane forms on the surface of the frozen meat, which hinders the diffusion of heat to the inside and creates an opportunity for bacteria to multiply, making the meat spoil more easily. Frozen meat is best thawed naturally at room temperature.
9. Don't peel the skin when eating eggplants: Vitamin P is a very useful vitamin for the human body. Among all vegetables in China, eggplants contain the highest amount of Vitamin P. The area where Vitamin P is most concentrated in an eggplant is at the junction between its purple skin and the flesh. Therefore, eggplants should be eaten with the skin on and not peeled.
10. Don't mix aluminum and iron cookware: Aluminum is softer than iron. For example, if the wok is iron and the spatula is aluminum, the softer aluminum spatula will wear down quickly and mix into the food. Consuming excessive aluminum is very detrimental to the body.