How to retain nutrients in ingredients when cooking
How to retain ingredients when cooking and eat them nutritiously
Choose crisp and tender vegetables
Eating vegetables raw can retain 100% of vitamins and minerals, as well as a variety of Active health factors, such as hypolipidemic ingredients in onions, anti-ulcer ingredients in cabbage, bactericidal ingredients in garlic, etc.
However, raw vegetables may be contaminated by pathogenic bacteria and parasites, pesticide residues, excessive oxalic acid and other problems. Moreover, the varieties of raw vegetables are limited, and the consumption is difficult to meet the standard of one pound per day. Especially green leafy vegetables. People with gastrointestinal sensitivities, chronic diarrhea and intestinal infections may also experience discomfort when eating raw vegetables.
Cooking suggestions:
Vegetables with crisp texture and low oxalic acid and tannin content, such as lettuce, endive, cucumber, tomato, purple cabbage, etc., are more suitable for eating raw. It is recommended that when eating raw vegetables, you should choose vegetables from reliable sources and wash them before eating.
Quick stir-frying
Controlling oil temperature is the key
Stir-frying is a heating method that mainly uses heat transfer from fat and is supplemented by direct heat transfer from the pot. Its cooking speed is faster and the loss of dissolved water is less. The loss of water-soluble vitamins in the ingredients is usually less than that of stewing. However, adding more oil will greatly increase the fat content of the dish and cause the loss of carotenoids.
Cooking suggestions:
Stir-frying is about speed, so it is best to use ingredients that are crisp, tender and easy to cook. If the ingredients are hard, you can cut them into thin slices or small pieces, or blanch them in advance.
It is also important to control the oil temperature. It is best to put vegetables when the oil is about to smoke but has not yet started to smoke. You can use the following method to check the oil temperature: put the chopped green onion in first. When it has not changed color and there are more small bubbles around it, it means the oil temperature is suitable.
Baking
Do not touch open flames
The oven temperature can be controlled below 200 degrees Celsius. If the ingredients are wrapped in tin foil, the local temperature can be maintained at around 100 degrees Celsius. It can heat food evenly, retain nutrients better, and produce less harmful substances. It is also a recommended cooking method.
However, it is not recommended to use open flame charcoal grilled food (such as skewers) because the temperature cannot be controlled. Local heating exceeding 200 degrees Celsius will produce heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are carcinogens, and the grilled Food surfaces are also contaminated with large amounts of smoke particles containing carcinogens. Barbecue smoke itself produces a large amount of pm2.5, and the smoke is attached to carcinogens such as benzopyrene, which is very detrimental to lung health.
Cooking suggestions:
The roasting cooking method is suitable for all ingredients, but root vegetables and meat are more delicious when roasted. It is best not to grill over an open flame.
Microwave
Do not use oily foods
Foods rich in water, such as porridge, noodles, milk, vegetables, etc., are more suitable for heating in the microwave. Microwave heating has high efficiency and the cooking time is shortened accordingly. Therefore, the loss of vitamin C, flavonoids and chlorophyll is small, and there is almost no problem of loss of dissolved water, and it will not add too much fat to the dishes. The main disadvantage of microwave cooking is that the aroma is slightly lacking, and there is no effect of charring on the outside and tender on the inside.
Cooking suggestions:
Foods with a lot of fat and little water (such as cheese, nuts, pork belly, etc.), foods with membranes (such as egg yolks) or shells (such as eggs) etc.), dry food, food that needs a crisp surface, baby milk powder, baby food supplements, etc. should not be heated in the microwave.
High pressure
Suitable for meat, beans and grains
Compared with normal pressure cooking, cooking in a pressure cooker is not only easier and faster, but also because the pot is sealed, there is no need for exhaust or heating. After pressing, it is no longer in contact with the outside air, which is beneficial to preserving the antioxidant active ingredients in the food, and the degree of fat oxidation is low. For ingredients that require longer stewing time for normal pressure cooking, such as beef, grains, and beans, the vitamin loss is equivalent or slightly less.
Since the cooking temperature of household pressure cookers does not exceed 120 degrees Celsius and does not produce any carcinogens, it is very healthy and convenient.
Cooking Tips:
Safety is very important when using a pressure cooker. Before use, carefully check whether the valve seat hole of the pot lid is unobstructed and whether the safety plug is intact; the food in the pot should not exceed 2/3 of the capacity; when heating to the point where the pressure limiting valve makes a loud hissing sound, cool down immediately .
Steamed vegetables
Place the ingredients as flat as possible
Steaming vegetables is almost the most comprehensive cooking method to preserve nutrients. Steaming vegetables has neither the loss of nutrients dissolved into the soup when cooking or blanching, nor the excessive temperature during frying. The heating temperature does not exceed 100 degrees Celsius, the thermal decomposition loss is small, the oxidation loss is also small, there is no oil smoke, and Won't introduce too much grease.
To use the steaming method to make cold dishes, you can steam the ingredients first and then pour the juice. For example, green vegetables, cabbage, etc. can be steamed and then poured with soy sauce. For making hot dishes, there are different heating methods such as soup steaming, water steaming, and steam pot steaming. There are also seasoning methods such as steaming with black bean paste, steaming with rice flour, steaming with glutinous rice, and steaming with stuffing.