First of all, water is clear
Usually, the silk knots we buy in the market are packed in plastic, bag by bag, all soaked in water, so there is a saying that the water is clear. First, let's talk about the water here! The aqueous solution for soaking silk knots is called citric acid, which is widely used to make various drinks, soda, candy, snacks, wine, dairy products, canned fruit juice and other foods. In all the markets of organic acids, it accounts for more than 70%, and its toxicity is less than one tenth of that of salt. As a foaming agent for silk knots, citric acid must be transparent, so once the silk knots show signs of turbidity in the foaming process, it means two possibilities: one is that the water mixed with citric acid is not pure enough, and the other is that the silk knots are suspected of being out of date. Therefore, if foodies want to buy silk knots and go home to make their own hot pot, they must remember this clearly!
Second, white knot
I believe many people also have this question, that is, the konjac tofu we usually see is brown. Why is this konjac knot white? In fact, konjac itself is white, but the skin is brown, and konjac processing is also divided into finishing and rough processing. Rough machining is: peeling-dicing-drying-grinding-cooking. Finishing is based on rough machining, including impurity removal and alkaloid removal. Generally, high-quality super-grade powder is used to make silk knots, so the produced silk knots will appear white. However, in the processing of konjac flour, because the skin is brown, it is impossible to completely remove the impurities left on the skin during grinding. So although the silk knot is white, there will be black spots on the white silk knot. This is also an important method to identify silk knots. It can be inferred from the above that if the knot you buy is completely white without any impurities, then you should pay attention. It is likely that some black-hearted manufacturers added a lot of starch, so that the knots made will not contain or contain very little konjac powder, and the effect of konjac will be very unsatisfactory.
Third, silk is tough.
Because konjac flour can form konjac gel when it meets water, the higher the quality of flour, the higher the viscosity of the gel and the better the toughness of the knot, so when we choose the knot, we should also choose the one with better toughness. But how to judge the toughness of silk knots? We can take a bag of knots when choosing, without unpacking, squeeze one of them aside and gently pinch the silk with our fingers. If it is broken, it means that the toughness is not good. If there is no fracture deformation, it means good toughness. Of course, the toughness of the silk knot will also have a great impact on the taste. High toughness will have a refreshing taste of q-bomb!
Fourth, cooking resistance.
After the above three points, we can basically judge the quality of silk knots, so what does cooking resistance mean? A good knot is very resistant to boiling, which is not only related to the raw materials of the knot, but also related to the technical content of the knotting workers in the factory. The problem of raw materials has been described in detail in the third point. Let's talk about the knotting technique in detail here. Because the silk knot has a certain toughness, but the toughness should maintain its Q-elastic and refreshing characteristics, so the technical requirements for workers are very high when tying the knot. If the knot is tied too loosely, when cooked at high temperature, the knot will spread with the expansion and contraction of the silk; If the knot is tied too tightly, the silk knot will break easily, and such a silk knot will not form. Uncooked silk knots are white, and when cooked, they will be bright white and slightly transparent.