Edible Alkaline Water is a traditional ingredient commonly used in Cantonese pastries. It is an alkaline solution obtained by our ancestors by boiling grass ash with water for one day and taking the supernatant with a pH value of 12.6, and its main components are potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate.

Molecular formula: K2CO3

Molecular weight: 138.20?

The main use of alkaline water is to be added in the processing of mooncakes and noodles, so that the acid in the syrup can be neutralized to produce C0 gas, so that the mooncakes have no acidic taste, texture puffy; so that the mooncake crust softness and hardness of the mooncakes; so that the mooncakes are uniformly full of color.

But if you put in too much alkaline, it will make the color of the mooncake look dark, easy to scorch and blacken, and the crust will be easy to mold after baking, affecting the softness of the mooncake crust. If you put too little water in the mooncake, it will be difficult to color the cake embryo during baking or the color will not be uniform, and the edges of the cake will appear milky white spots or wrinkles after baking, which will affect the appearance of the mooncake.

Expanded Information

The characteristic production method of Cantonese mooncakes is to add alkaline water during the mooncake processing, however, in the new version of the Standard for the Use of Food Additives, this ingredient is not included in the list of permitted additives. Alkaline is a composite additive for which there is no national standard.

Now the use of the alkaline water is no longer grass ash, but with potassium carbonate and sodium carbonate as the main ingredient, supplemented by carbonate or polymerized phosphate and other alkaline mixtures formulated in the function of the same as the grass ash alkaline water, so it is still called alkaline water. Large quantities of alkaline water can irritate the eyes, respiratory system and skin.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Edible Alkaline

HealthNews.com - A variety of mooncakes labeled as containing alkaline water, additives do not meet national standards