How to apply and use cooking seasonings

The purpose of cooking is to make the food more nutritious and taste more delicious. In cooking, a variety of seasonings play an indispensable role. How should you use cooking spices when faced with so many? The following is how to use cooking spices compiled by the editor of SenseView. I hope it can help you.

How to use salty cooking seasonings. The original taste of salt is salty, and it is the basis of taste. No matter what flavor it is, it will taste delicious only when salt is added, so it is also called salt as the root of all flavors. The main functions of salt are to produce fresh flavor, remove odor, and keep food fresh. Salt is usually added later to make the vegetables fresher and more tender. If it is added too early, the vegetables will easily become stale.

Sweet. Sugar is one of the main condiments. It is the main condiment for sweetness. It can also be used with other condiments such as salt and vinegar to create a delicious compound flavor. The main functions of sugar are: increasing taste; adding color, making food bright red, bright but not dark; nourishing qi, sugar is sweet and has the effect of nourishing qi and strengthening the spleen. When cooking, salt should be added first, then sugar, and finally vinegar. It is not advisable to put the sugar too early to avoid burning the pan.

Acid. Vinegar is the main seasoning for sourness. The functions of vinegar are: to remove fishy smell, so vinegar is often added when cooking fish dishes; to emit a mellow aroma and increase the color and aroma of dishes; to relieve greasiness. Vinegar should be added after the dish is heated, so as not to lose the aroma of vinegar, which is only sour and has no fragrance. If you thicken a little gravy before serving, you can increase the flavor and prevent the loss of aroma.

Spicy. Spicy flavors such as onions, ginger, and garlic are also important seasonings in traditional Chinese cooking. Pay attention to the following points when cooking:

1. Onions and garlic should be stir-fried a little raw, so that the aroma will be stronger if they are undercooked.

2. Ginger should be put in together with the raw materials and heated at the same time to effectively remove the fishy smell and mutton smell.

3. Pepper is the best soup stock and is extremely delicious, but the soup must be cooked before adding it to avoid losing the aroma.

4. Chili peppers can make bitterness, so stir-frying bitter melon with chili peppers can reduce the bitterness.

The efficacy of condiments in cooking and the correct use of MSG

MSG can give plant foods a umami taste and meat foods a fragrance. When heated above 120°C, MSG will turn into charred monosodium glutamate, which not only has no umami flavor, but is also toxic. MSG works best when used between 70℃ and 90℃, so it must be added after the dish is cooked.

Tips:

1. MSG should not be added to cold dishes. MSG can fully exert its freshness-enhancing effect when the temperature is 80℃-100℃. It can be dissolved in a small amount of hot water before being released.

2. MSG should not be added when preparing fillings. Many people add some MSG when preparing dumpling fillings and spring roll fillings, which is very unsafe. After MSG is mixed into the fillings, they will go through high-temperature processes such as steaming, boiling, and frying. However, as long as the temperature exceeds 100°C, MSG will denature. Not only will it lose its flavor, but it will also form toxic sodium pyroglutamate, which is harmful to human health. In addition to not mixing the stuffing, when making hot dishes, MSG should only be added when the dishes are about to come off the fire.

3. No need to add MSG when cooking meat and vegetables. Meat already contains glutamic acid. When heated with salt in dishes, it will naturally produce sodium glutamate, the main component of MSG. In addition to meat, there is no need to add MSG to other umami-flavored foods, such as eggs, mushrooms, wild rice, seafood, etc.

Chicken Essence

Chicken Essence is delicious and can be used in moderation when cooking dishes to stimulate appetite. The umami flavor of Chicken Essence mainly comes from sodium glutamate, which is a component of glutamate. Sodium salt, which has a strong meat flavor and is easily soluble in water. After chicken essence enters the gastrointestinal tract, the sodium glutamate contained in it can quickly decompose glutamate. Glutamic acid is an amino acid that participates in metabolic activities in the human body. It has the effect of improving brain function and stabilizing people's emotions, and is beneficial to intellectual development. The best time to add chicken essence is when the dish is about to come out of the pot.

Tips:

1. When stewing, pork ribs and other foods with inherent umami flavor, adding chicken essence will make the food taste bad and affect the taste of the dishes. At this time, you can use ordinary MSG and other condiments instead.

2. Chicken essence contains about 10% salt, so the appropriate amount of salt should be added to food before adding chicken essence.

3. It should be noted that chicken essence contains nucleotides, and its metabolite is uric acid. Therefore, patients with (heart or immune system diseases, skin diseases, liver diseases) must not add chicken essence when cooking.

Cooking wine

Cooking wine is mainly used to remove the fishy smell of fish and meat and increase the aroma of dishes.

Cooking wine should be added when the temperature in the pot is the highest during the entire cooking process. The fishy substances can be dissolved by ethanol and evaporate together. Fish and meat with poor freshness should be soaked in cooking wine before cooking to allow the ethanol to dissolve. Soak it into the fibrous tissue of fish and meat to remove odor.

Tips:

1. Chinese cooking wine is divided into two categories: rice wine and white wine. Usually white wine is used for stir-frying vegetables and greens, and rice wine is used for meat. It can bring out the fresh flavor of food, remove fishy smell, etc.

2. Western-style cooking wine is divided into red wine, white wine and spirits. Usually, white wine is used for white meat and red wine is used for red meat. Like fish, cook it with white wine.

Soy sauce

Soy sauce can increase the flavor of food and make its color brighter, thereby increasing appetite. It is recommended to add soy sauce after cooking so that the amino acids and nutrients in the soy sauce can be effectively retained.

Tips:

When frying vegetables, be sure to turn off the heat before adding soy sauce. Otherwise, the nutrition of soy sauce will be destroyed and the umami taste will be lost, and the sugar contained in it will also produce sourness due to high temperature changes.

Vinegar

Vinegar can not only remove odor, remove fishy smell, relieve greasiness, increase flavor, soften vegetable fiber, but also prevent high temperature from damaging the vitamins in raw materials. The best time to add vinegar when cooking is at both ends. In some dishes, such as fried bean sprouts, vinegar is added immediately after the raw materials are put into the pot. This can not only protect the vitamins in the raw materials, but also soften the fiber in the vegetables; and some dishes, such as stir-fried bean sprouts, add vinegar immediately after the raw materials are put into the pot. For sweet and sour pork ribs and mutton stir-fried with green onions, vinegar is added once after the raw materials are put into the pot. Its function is to remove the smell and smell. Add vinegar once before the dishes are taken out of the pot to relieve greasiness, increase aroma, and season.

Tips:

The acetic acid contained in vinegar is a weak acid and its concentration is very low. It will not destroy the nutrients of carrots and celery when used for salad dressing, so you can rest assured. edible. Carrots and celery are rich in nutritional value. Carrots contain a large amount of carotene, which can be turned into vitamin A after ingestion. Vitamin A is the key to maintaining eye and skin health, and can promote the absorption of calcium and prevent calcium deficiency. Celery is rich in vitamins and plant fiber. The weather in summer is hot and physical exertion is high, and people tend to lose their appetite. Adding some vinegar to cold dishes will not only be crisp and refreshing, increase appetite, but also replenish consumed vitamins and dietary fiber. In addition to carrots and celery, any vegetable that can be eaten cold will do. Seasoned with vinegar.

Zanthoxylum bungeanum powder

Zanthoxylum bungeanum is a unique spice in China. It ranks first among the thirteen spices. It can be ground into powder to become Zanthoxylum bungeanum powder. It can be used as a condiment and as a food. Serve as a dip. Zanthoxylum bungeanum powder has a fragrant smell, which can remove the fishy odor of various meats, change the taste, promote saliva secretion, increase appetite, and at the same time dilate blood vessels, thereby lowering blood pressure.

Tips:

As a folk remedy, Zanthoxylum bungeanum can be used to treat vomiting, wind-cold-dampness paralysis, toothache and other diseases. In addition, excessive consumption can easily consume intestinal water. Cause constipation. Readers, please use it in moderation and with caution.

Estimation method for the amount of seasonings There are many types of seasonings, but the amounts are small, and they are often taken and used when used, so it is difficult to weigh them in advance or during cooking, and the estimation method is often used to determine Consumption of seasonings. Three estimation methods can usually be used:

(1) Container estimation method

On the premise that the capacity of a certain container is known, based on the size of the part occupied by the seasoning in the container , estimate its quantity, and then calculate its cost based on the purchase unit price of the seasoning. This method is generally used to measure liquid seasonings, such as soy sauce, cooking wine, tomato sauce, etc. For example, it is estimated that about 150 ml of soy sauce will be consumed to marinate a certain raw material. The unit of soy sauce is 2.8 yuan/500 ml. Then the cost of soy sauce consumption is 150?500?2.80=0.84 yuan.

(2) Volume estimating method

On the premise that the total amount of a certain seasoning in a certain volume is known, estimate its usage quantity, and then purchase the seasoning according to the quantity. Unit price, calculate its cost. This method is mostly used for powdery or crystalline seasonings, such as salt, sugar, monosodium glutamate, chicken essence, pepper, dry starch, etc. For example, to cook freshly cut apples, it is estimated that 300 grams of white sugar will be consumed. The unit price of white sugar is 5.20 yuan/kg, so the cost of white sugar is 5.2?0.3=1.56 yuan.

(3) Specification comparison method

It is to determine the seasoning of new products by comparing the seasoning dosage of certain old products produced with similar ingredients, similar quality, and the same cooking method. A method of dosage.

This method is more convenient for cost accounting of catering products with similar main ingredients and ingredients and the same cooking methods. For example, compare the sugar and oil content of shredded apples to estimate the sugar and oil consumption of shredded taro, and obtain the cost of sugar and oil consumption of shredded taro.