Four Types of Food Not Suitable to Pair with Pork
Pork is one of the most common foods people consume daily. Because it is eaten so often, people have also invented many new and creative ways to cook this traditional dish. While innovation is good, being ignorant of nutritional knowledge and cooking randomly can lead to health problems...
Soybeans
From the perspective of modern nutrition, soybeans are not suitable to be paired with pork because they contain a high amount of phytic acid, with 60%-80% of phosphorus existing in the form of phytic acid.
It often forms complexes with proteins and mineral elements, affecting the availability of both and reducing their utilization efficiency;
Additionally, minerals in soybeans, such as calcium, iron, and zinc, bind with those from lean meats and other non-vegetarian foods, thereby interfering with and reducing the human body's absorption of these elements.
Therefore, pork and soybeans are not a suitable combination, and stewing pig's trotters with soybeans is an inappropriate pairing.
Lamb Liver
As the saying in Traditional Chinese Medicine goes: "Eating pork with lamb liver will cause a feeling of oppression in the chest."
This is mainly because lamb liver has a bitter and cold nature, known to nourish the liver, improve vision, and treat liver wind and deficiency heat.
Pork is rich and greasy, and upon entering the stomach, it generates dampness and heat. In terms of food pharmacology, the combination is unsuitable. Lamb liver has a strong gamey smell, and when cooked with pork, it is prone to creating an odd flavor. From a culinary perspective, it is also not a good match.
Cilantro
Cilantro, also known as coriander, can remove fishy odors and goes well with lamb.
Cilantro is pungent and warm in nature, and it is believed to deplete qi and harm the spirit. Pork is rich and greasy, promoting dampness and heat and producing phlegm. Ancient texts record: "All meats have a nourishing effect, except for pork, which has none."
One depletes qi, while the other has no nourishing effect, so pairing the two is detrimental to health.
Beef
The saying that pork and beef should not be eaten together has a long history. The "Yin Zheng Yao" (Important Principles of Correct Diet) states: "Pork should not be eaten with beef."
This is mainly from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine. First, in terms of food pharmacology, pork is sour, cold, and slightly cool in nature, with a greasy and yin-cold character, while beef is sweet and warm in nature, able to nourish the spleen and stomach, strengthen the waist and legs, and has the effect of pacifying the middle and replenishing qi.
The two are one warm and one cold; one nourishes the middle and stomach, while the other is cold, greasy, and depleting.
Their natures are in conflict, so they should not be consumed together.