The bittern used for tofu is a brine block formed by evaporating and cooling the mother liquor left in the salt pond after salting seawater or salt lake water, which is also called bittern and bittern. Its main components are sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride and calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate and magnesium bromide.
Bittern is a traditional coagulant for tofu making in China for thousands of years. Bittern blocks dissolved in water are called bittern, which is a common coagulant for making tofu in northern China, and can make protein solution coagulate into gel. Tofu made of bittern as coagulant has strong hardness, elasticity and toughness, and is called old tofu, or north tofu and hard tofu.
Extended data:
I. Physical and chemical properties
Pale yellow liquid, astringent and bitter. Its main components are sodium chloride, potassium chloride, magnesium chloride and calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate and magnesium bromide. Its composition is related to its source and preparation method. Generally, magnesium chloride accounts for 15%~ 19%, magnesium sulfate accounts for 6%~9%, potassium chloride accounts for 2%~4%, sodium chloride accounts for 2%~6%, and magnesium bromide accounts for 0.2%~0.4%.
Second, the main application
Bittern is a traditional coagulant for tofu making in China for thousands of years. With bittern as coagulant, the solubility is good, and the reaction rate with soybean milk is fast, so the coagulation speed is fast, and the reticular tissue in protein is easy to shrink. Tofu made with bittern has a good flavor. According to the hygienic standard for the use of food additives in China, the dosage is required for normal production.
When using bittern as coagulant to make tofu, the concentration is generally18 ~ 22 be', and the dosage is about 2% ~ 3.5% of the weight of raw soybean. The way to order bittern is as follows: while stirring the cooked soybean milk, the bittern trickle is continuously added; Salt and bittern can also be added to cooked soybean milk intermittently with a certain time interval.
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