The application of enzymes in food can be traced back to thousands of years ago. We know that cured meat, air-dried meat, sauce products and so on are all fresh and related to ripening and fermentation, but in fact, it is enzymes that really play a role.
Delicious: the flavor evolution of a piece of meat
Enzymes are molecules that exist in food and microorganisms. It can improve the flavor and geology of food through its own actions, just like an invisible magician.
Acid discharge: the meat is tender and juicy.
Why do you advocate eating cold meat instead of hot meat now? One of the reasons is that when animals are slaughtered, they will suffer great fear and pain. This kind of stress reaction will make animals release some bad substances and make meat go bad.
Sour meat is also called chilled meat.
However, when the raw meat at room temperature is sent to the cooling room and left for a period of time, a series of changes will occur in the muscle tissue. Protein will produce more nucleotides and flavor substances under the action of enzymes, and the decomposed umami flavor is equivalent to the main components of monosodium glutamate. After acid removal, the taste of meat has been greatly improved, and the molecular structure of meat has been changed, making the muscles soft and juicy, and the meat is rich in flavor, so it is "fresh".
Dried: Full-bodied and concentrated flavor
The common dry cooking method of beef is to store it in a low temperature and high humidity environment with a temperature of about-1-0℃ and a humidity of 75-80% for at least 7-24 days or even several months, and then air-dry. This will bring rich meat flavor and some salty, sweet and even bitter taste. Although the inside of the meat will lose about 30% water, the fleshy tissue will be more compact and the flavor will be more intense. After cooking, the meat will still have a lot of gravy and will be more delicious than before.
Dry cooking makes meat taste mellow.
Sauce flavor: unique fermentation of sauce
Many of these umami substances are related to food processing. For example, soybeans are rich in protein. In the fermentation process, protease can decompose protein in beans into small peptides and amino acids, and glutamic acid is also released in the form of free sodium glutamate, thus producing umami flavor. Therefore, the freshness of fermented products of soybean, such as soy sauce, lobster sauce and miso, will be greatly increased.
Bean fermentation
Soy sauce: Enzymes can release ester flavor.
The main raw materials for making soy sauce are soybean, wheat and salt. High-temperature heating kills the miscellaneous bacteria, so that protein and starch molecules lose their natural tight structure and fully disperse, which is convenient for the attack of enzymes, and protein is hydrolyzed to form a strong umami flavor.
Brew soy sauce
In the south of China and other coastal areas, soy sauce with "fresh and salty" flavor is widely used, which has strong umami flavor and ester fragrance. If you want to keep the fragrance of the ester, try not to cook or heat it at high temperature for too long, and put it in the best order to avoid decomposing the umami substance sodium glutamate and losing its umami flavor.
Seafood sauce: Enzymes can improve the fermentation speed.
Fish sauce, shrimp sauce, crab sauce, etc. Made of high-protein small miscellaneous fish, shrimp, crab, etc. After fermentation, it tastes extremely delicious.
Fish sauce/gravy
To make fish sauce, sometimes in order to speed up the fermentation, fish viscera can be added, and the contained protease will help the hydrolysis of protein and make the fermentation more efficient. There are also some fermentation processes, in which koji is directly added and various enzymes produced by Aspergillus are used to assist fermentation, so that the fermentation speed can be faster.
Crispy Brussels sprouts with fish sauce
Sweet noodle sauce: Enzymes can promote the formation of sweetness.
Making sweet noodle sauce with enzyme has a long history. It mainly relies on glucoamylase and protease secreted by Aspergillus oryzae, yeast, bacteria and other microorganisms to act on starch raw materials, and a series of changes occur through fermentation at appropriate temperature. In addition, the process will produce a certain amount of sugar and sweetness, which can play a refreshing and sweet role. Some molecules produced by fermentation have formed a unique flavor through complex chemical reactions.
Roasted chestnut meat made with sweet noodle sauce
TIPS 1: Where did the enzyme come from?
The sources of food-related enzymes are mainly divided into endogenous enzymes and exogenous enzymes.
Endogenous enzymes are mainly various enzymes contained in animals and plants. Endogenous enzymes make these raw materials mature or qualitatively change after slaughter or harvest. Exogenous enzymes, partly from food microorganisms, improve the original flavor, texture and nutritional components through the action of various enzymes secreted by them and their metabolites.
Such as protease, amylase, glucoamylase, etc. , has a catalytic effect, and can accelerate the transformation of protein and starch into amino acids and sugars, thus promoting the formation of umami flavor.
TIPS2: Enzymes, how to produce umami substances?
There are more than 40 kinds of umami substances in food, which are mainly divided into three kinds: amino acids, and the common umami substance is glutamic acid, which is widely found in animals and plants, such as cheese. The common flavor substances of nucleotides are inosinic acid and guanylic acid. Inosine is widely found in meat, while guanosine is mainly found in fungi. A small amount of organic acids are distributed in meat, but most of them are distributed in shellfish.
Enzymes have been playing a role in our diet. With the development of biological science, I believe it will create richer and better flavors in catering!