The alkaline noodles used in food are also called edible soda ash, edible alkali and edible sodium carbonate, and their water solubility is alkaline; Baking soda for food, also known as edible baking soda and sodium bicarbonate, is water-soluble and weakly alkaline, and will decompose to produce carbon dioxide gas when it meets acid.
When cooking porridge, wash rice, millet, broken corn, beans and other grains, soak them or not, add a proper amount of water, and heat them until they become thick, that is, porridge. The porridge made of rice is called rice porridge, the porridge made of millet is called millet porridge, the porridge made of broken corn is called corn porridge, and the porridge made of rice or millet and beans is called miscellaneous grains porridge. So, is it better to put alkaline noodles or baking soda in porridge?
Main Changes in the Process of Cooking Porridge Cereals such as rice, millet or cornflakes and beans contain nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, and dietary fiber. Changes in the process of porridge cooking are mainly changes in carbohydrates and protein.
1, the change of carbohydrate
There are many carbohydrates in rice, millet or corn and beans (except soybeans). Among them, rice, millet or corn contain about 70% carbohydrates, and beans other than soybeans, such as adzuki beans, adzuki beans, black beans and mung beans, contain about 55%~65% carbohydrates. These carbohydrates are mainly starch, followed by dietary fiber and a small amount of soluble sugars (such as glucose, fructose and sucrose). In the process of cooking porridge, the change of carbohydrate is mainly the change of starch.
In the process of porridge cooking, water enters rice, millet or cornflakes and beans, and then enters the starch granules. At the temperature of 60℃~80℃, starch particles absorb water and expand, and the volume can be increased by a hundred times. First, the protein film wrapped on the surface of starch granules broke, and finally, rice, millet or cornflakes and beans burst, and the starch granules broke and became sticky gelatinized starch (also called α-starch). This is the reason why the cooked porridge is thick.
2. Changes in protein
In the process of cooking porridge, protein in rice, millet or corn flakes, beans and other grains began to absorb water and expand. With the increase of temperature, it will denature and solidify, tightly wrapping starch particles, resulting in slow water absorption and slow starch gelatinization. Therefore, it takes longer to cook porridge. How can I cook thick and delicious porridge quickly?
The common method is to add alkaline noodles or baking soda when cooking porridge.
The main change is to put alkaline noodles or baking soda in porridge, which can shorten the cooking time of porridge, make porridge thicker and more delicious, and have a unique alkaline taste (this is the taste that some people like, but I don't like it). Why?
1, protein and the change of starch
When cooking porridge, add alkaline noodles or baking soda to make water alkaline, so that part of protein in rice, millet or corn flakes, beans and other grains is dissolved, and then denatured and solidified by heating. The protein-free film of starch granules is completely dispersed, and the water absorption speed becomes faster. When the temperature rises to 60℃~80℃, the starch granules quickly absorb water and expand, and the volume increases, which makes rice, millet or corn flakes, beans and other grains burst and almost all starch granules are broken.
2. Changes in vitamins
There are many vitamins, such as vitamin B 1, vitamin B2, nicotinic acid and so on. Such as rice, millet or cornflakes and beans. Among them, vitamin B 1 and vitamin B2 are easily destroyed when heated in alkaline conditions, which reduces the nutritional value of cooked porridge.
If you cook porridge with corn whiskers, most of the nicotinic acid (about 68%) in corn is bound nicotinic acid, which cannot be absorbed by human body. The best way is to add 0.6% alkaline noodles (no alkaline taste), so that a part of bound nicotinic acid (about 40%) can be absorbed by human body, and the loss of vitamin B 1 and vitamin B2 is also less.
It can be seen that when cooking porridge, adding alkaline noodles or baking soda can shorten the cooking time, and the cooked porridge is thicker and more fragrant, with a unique alkaline flavor; Doing so will also reduce the nutritional value of cooked porridge; When cooking corn porridge, appropriate amount of alkaline noodles should be added, which can improve the nutritional value of cooked porridge. Because baking soda will produce carbon dioxide gas when heated, it will bubble when cooking porridge, which may lead to overflow. So if you like to eat porridge with alkaline taste, it is better to put alkaline noodles than baking soda when cooking porridge. So, can you cook thick and delicious porridge without adding alkaline noodles?
Method for cooking thick and delicious porridge without adding alkaline noodles
When cooking porridge, if you want to make the cooked porridge sticky and fragrant, you must find ways to make the starch particles in rice, millet or cornflakes, beans and other grains absorb water as soon as possible, and the volume increases, breaking the protein film that wraps the starch particles, so that the rice, millet or cornflakes, beans and other grains burst, and the broken starch particles, namely gelatinized starch, run into the water, and the water-soluble protein is denatured and solidified by heating. How come?
1, soak in advance
When cooking porridge, you can soak rice, millet or corn flakes, beans and other grains 30 minutes to 3 hours in advance, so as to let the water enter the interior and let the starch particles absorb the right amount of water in advance (about 30% weight gain). Because starch absorbs less water, its volume does not increase much. Therefore, the soaked rice, millet, corn flakes, beans and other grains look just slightly swollen. This can shorten the water absorption time of starch granules in the process of porridge cooking, make the starch granules absorb water and expand rapidly, make the wrapped protein film burst, and then make rice, millet or corn flakes, beans and other grains burst.
Therefore, soak rice, millet or corn flakes, beans and other coarse cereals in advance and then cook them. In this way, delicious porridge can be cooked quickly.
2. Put the soaked rice, millet or corn, beans and other grains into the refrigerator for freezing.
If you want to cook more viscous and delicious porridge, you can put rice, millet, corn flakes, beans and other grains with a weight gain of 30% after soaking in a bag, put them in a refrigerator for freezing, and then take them out, pour them into an electric pressure cooker, add 8~ 10 times of water, cover them, plug in the power supply, and press the porridge/soup button to cook more viscous porridge.
It is concluded that the thick and delicious porridge is mainly the result of starch particles becoming gelatinized starch and water-soluble protein or alkali-soluble protein being denatured and solidified by heating.
When cooking porridge, adding alkaline noodles or baking soda can shorten the cooking time, and the cooked porridge is thicker and more delicious, with a unique alkaline flavor; Doing so will also reduce the nutritional value of cooked porridge; When cooking corn porridge, appropriate amount of alkaline noodles should be added, which can improve the nutritional value of cooked porridge.
If you like to eat porridge with alkaline taste, it is better to put alkaline noodles than baking soda when cooking porridge; Soak rice, millet or corn flakes, beans and other coarse cereals in advance, and then cook them. In this way, thick and delicious porridge can be cooked quickly. Put the soaked rice, millet or corn flakes, beans and other whole grains in the refrigerator to freeze, and you can cook more viscous and delicious porridge.