Recently, in certain areas of Hunan, a video of "there is still a little water-insoluble substance left after noodles are washed" suddenly became popular on the Internet. In the video, someone is scrubbing the noodles in water, and the washed out The stuff was a milky yellow gelatinous substance, and it was said that some kind of plasticizer was added to the noodles.
The consumer also said in the video that many noodles now have "glue" added and are inedible. Suddenly, the theory that noodles have become poisonous food has become widespread.
However, this is not the case. The "plot" quickly reversed. Later, experts from various places, TV stations, and the Food and Drug Administration came forward to refute the rumors through various channels. The "plot" in the noodles was misunderstood. The "gluten"-like substance is actually "gluten - the protein in wheat", which is a normal nutrient in flour.
Inspectors from the Dalian Food Inspection Institute purchased four types of noodle samples from the market and washed them in water. There was a large amount of milky yellow gelatin in all of them. The inspector said that the milky yellow substance is actually the protein in the noodles, which is what we call gluten.
The main reason why noodles taste chewy is its contribution. If the protein content in the flour is too low, the toughness and elasticity of the noodles will be relatively insufficient, and the noodles will break easily, thus affecting the taste. Plasticizers do not have the effect of making noodles more chewy and are much more expensive than flour.
Rice is abundant in the south of my country, so most consumers in the south have no habit and experience of making pasta. They do not know enough about the ingredients of flour, so they do not know what gluten is. Some people mistakenly think it is "glue"; they love pasta. It’s easier for northerners who like to “cook skewers” ??to understand that the so-called “glue” in those noodles is actually the gluten we often eat in barbecue restaurants!
There are two main types of gluten proteins. They are gliadin and glutenin respectively. They can combine with each other to form a complex network structure; protein is the skeleton of noodles. You can think of noodles as a sponge built of protein molecules, and starch granules and lipids are like the water in the sponge.
Rumors stop only for the wise. We hope that consumers will recognize the truth and not misunderstand, let alone become facilitators of spreading rumors.
Enjoy traditional Chinese food with confidence!