How should we remove the bitterness and peculiar smell from the spices in the stewed soup in the early stage?

Most of the spices used in cooking are Chinese herbal medicines, which are generally dried plants, such as roots, stamens, branches, bark, leaves, fruits, etc. Some of them have strong aromas and pungent tastes. , some have a slightly bitter aftertaste, and some are stained with sediment during drying or transportation. The use of spices in cooking is to use its aroma or stimulating taste to add fragrance to ingredients, remove fishy and foreign substances, and increase appetite.

If the spices are not preliminarily processed in the brine, the bitter and astringent smell in the spices will be brought into the brine, which will destroy the overall flavor of the brine in the long run. However, the bitter and peculiar smell of spices is difficult to remove, because if they are removed, their own fragrance will also be removed, so what we have to do is to minimize the bitter and peculiar smell.

I use two methods when dealing with spices on a daily basis, one is the reasonable combination and dosage of spices, and the other is the warm water soaking method. Reasonable combination and dosage of spices

You may have questions after reading this. Why is the method of removing bitterness and peculiar smell not written in the front, but the method of combining spices? This is because I think the best way to remove the bitterness from spices is to reduce the amount of spices and mix them wisely to maximize their impact.

The reduction mentioned here is not a reduction in the actual sense. To be precise, the amount of spices must be reasonable, not too little or too much. Too few spices will not have the effect of increasing fragrance and removing fishy and foreign substances, while too much spices will produce a bitter and astringent Chinese medicinal taste.

The method of reasonable mixing and dosage of spices is divided into three parts. The first is to master the proportion of individual spices and ingredients, the second is to use the complementary relationship between spices, and the third is to control the total amount of spices. and the dosage ratio between ingredients.

We all know that spices are generally divided into aromatic spices and bitter spices. Aromatic spices have less bitter taste, so the bitter taste comes mostly from bitter spices. The commonly used bitter spices we use include: kaempferol, nutmeg, white cardamom, grass cardamom, grass fruit, Amomum villosum, galangal, angelica, tangerine peel, etc.

1. Master the proportion of individual spices and ingredients (take 50 pounds of ingredients as an example):

10-20 grams of kaempferol, 15-30 grams of nutmeg, 10-10 grams of white cardamom 20 grams, cardamom 10-20 grams, grass fruit 15-25 grams, Amomum villosum 10-15 grams, galangal 20-50 grams, Angelica dahurica 20-50 grams, tangerine peel 10-15 grams.

In a set of reasonable ingredients, bitter-flavored spices are often used as ingredients. They mainly play the role of removing fishy and foreign substances in the brine, and then increasing the aroma. Under the guidance of the compatibility principle of "the emperor, his ministers and his envoys", the minister's materials will generally be about half less than the emperor's materials. But there are exceptions. For example, angelica dahurica and galangal can also be used as ingredients in braised chicken products or pig by-products.

2. Use the complementary relationship between spices

It is difficult for a single spice to stand in a recipe. Only through complementation can compound flavors appear and the role of spices be realized. In this complementary process, it can not only make up for the lack of aroma, but also suppress bitter and unpleasant tastes. Spices can complement each other, or multiple ingredients can complement each other.

Complementary pairs: Caoguo-nutmeg, Angelica dahurica-galangal, tangerine peel-cinnamon, etc.

Multiple materials complement each other: Use the monarch’s materials with a variety of ministers’ materials to complement each other.

Cinnamon-Alpinia-piperon, star anise-Amomum villosum-white komom, Angelica dahurica-lilac-cao Kou.

3. Control the total amount of spices and the proportion of ingredients:

Pork, beef and other ingredients have a strong fishy smell, so they prefer spices when marinating, so always use spices. The dosage will be more. Ingredients such as braised chicken, seafood, and soy products have little odor, so the dosage is relatively small. The total amount of spices I summarized accounts for about 1-2 of the ingredients, so the combination is more reasonable.

In my work, when braised pork ingredients, the total amount of spices is generally calculated as about 1.5% of the ingredients. When converted, 100kg of ingredients requires 1.5kg (750g) of spices. According to this ratio, the bitter taste of spices will be greatly reduced.

Warm water soaking method

After mixing the spices together according to our usual ingredient ratio, add warm water to cover, soak for about ten minutes, then rinse with clean water, put it into the spice bag and use it directly. ?

Note:

① Use warm water when soaking, not cold water. The low temperature of cold water cannot remove the bitter and odor. ② The soaking time should not be too long, ten minutes is sufficient. If it is too long, the fragrance will be seriously lost.