Introduction: Vinegar is a common condiment on people's dining tables, known for its effects of whetting the appetite and aiding digestion. However, not all dishes are suitable for adding vinegar. Which dishes taste best with a little vinegar?
7 Delicious Dishes That Need Vinegar
1. Stir-fried Bean Sprouts
In addition to being rich in vitamin C, bean sprouts also contain vitamins B1, B2, and other nutrients. These nutrients are easily oxidized and destroyed during cooking. Adding vinegar can help protect these nutrients. Additionally, vinegar has a significant coagulating effect on the protein in bean sprouts, making them crispier. Therefore, it's best to add some vinegar when stir-frying bean sprouts.
2. Cold-dressed Radish
Radish juice contains a pigment called anthocyanin, a type of water-soluble pigment that turns reddish in an acidic solution and purplish-blue in an alkaline environment. When preparing cold-dressed radish, adding a suitable amount of vinegar not only has a disinfecting effect but also makes the dish's color more vibrant, improving its sensory quality.
3. Cooking Fresh Chili Peppers
4. Braised Pig's Trotters
If you add a little vinegar while braising pig's trotters, the protein becomes easier for the human body to digest, absorb, and utilize. This is because pig's trotters are mainly composed of collagen, which easily breaks down from the trotters in hot, acidic water. This process also causes the gelatin in the bone cells to release phosphorus and calcium, increasing the nutritional value.
5. Simmering Small Fish and Braising Pork Rib Soup
Animal bones are rich in calcium, but this calcium mainly exists in the form of compounds and is not easily dissolved during boiling and stewing. Adding vinegar when simmering small fish or braising pork rib soup can help dissolve the calcium from the bones, making it easier for the body to absorb.
6. Sliced Lotus Root and Potatoes
Learn more delicious lotus root recipes, we recommend the专题: Healthy Autumn Eating: Clever Ways to Cook Lotus Root
Once sliced, lotus root or potatoes quickly turn brown. This is because the polyphenols in the lotus root or potatoes undergo oxidation catalyzed by polyphenol oxidase. Adding vinegar can inhibit the activity of this oxidase, preventing the color change.
7. Stir-fried Purple Cabbage
Purple dishes like purple cabbage and eggplant are rich in anthocyanin, which presents a beautiful red color under acidic conditions but turns blue or black under alkaline conditions. Therefore, adding a little vinegar when stir-frying purple vegetables like purple cabbage can make the color brighter and more vibrant.
Dipping Method
To better retain and absorb the nutrients from dishes with vinegar, you can also try the "dipping method." For example, you can first boil chicken wings, ribs, etc. (also add vinegar during the stewing process). When eating, soak the food in a small dish of vinegar for a moment before consuming. Another example is to use more vinegar when eating noodles or dumplings. This is because vitamin B in flour is more stable and easier for the body to absorb in the weakly acidic environment of vinegar.
Tip:
It's best not to add vinegar when cooking green leafy vegetables like bok choy. This is because green vegetables contain a large amount of chlorophyll and magnesium, which are bound together. Adding vinegar can cause the magnesium to be removed from the green vegetables, making them turn yellow and wilt, which affects their appearance.