Soy sauce is a kitchen secret for many Chinese to improve the color, aroma and taste of dishes. It has low color value but connotation.
Ordinary white rice, simple hot vegetables, light steamed fish, fatty braised meat… Many dishes and soy sauce are the divine assists to achieve their delicious taste.
However, there are many ways to make soy sauce, such as raw soy sauce, old soy sauce, brewing and preparation. Today, I’ll take you to learn how to make soy sauce. Ah, no, buy soy sauce.
Raw or regular?
Anyone who has been in the kitchen knows: [mixed vegetables with raw soy sauce, braised in soy sauce with old soy sauce].
In fact, there is a difference between raw smoke and old smoke: caramel color.
“Raw smoke:
The color is light, and because microorganisms decompose proteins more fully and have more free amino acids, the taste is more delicious, which is very delicious when used to mix vegetables.
And now many manufacturers also like to add some sodium glutamate and disodium nucleotide (monosodium glutamate and chicken essence) to make raw smoke fresh and fresh.
Old smoke:
With the help of caramel color, it is easier to dye the dishes with red and bright sauce color, so of course it is better than braised in soy sauce.
If the old smoke is used to mix the vegetables, regardless of the taste, the originally bright dishes will become dark and the street will be directly thrown visually.
There are also a lot of soy sauce, both raw and old… … …
What you said must be extremely fresh, seafood soy sauce, shrimp seed soy sauce, mushroom soy sauce… right?
Actually… They all just have a new name.
However, soy sauce with different flavors will also add some special flavor substances.
- Seafood soy sauce may be added with dried scallops; Shrimp seed soy sauce with shrimp seeds; Of course, mushroom soy sauce is added with mushroom. Thallus laminariae soy sauce and thallus laminariae extract
… …
It is good to choose the flavor you like, and to eat is to have the courage to try!
How to buy a good bottle of soy sauce?
1. First of all, distinguish whether to mix vegetables or braise in soy sauce.
Don’t use raw smoke and old smoke.
2. Secondly, distinguish between accompanying meals (dipping, not heating) and cooking.
Soy sauce used for accompanying meals will have stricter standards for bacteria content. If the same bottle is used for stir-frying and dipping, it is more suitable for accompanying soy sauce (theoretically it will be indicated on the package).
3. Again, choose [brewed] instead of [prepared].
- Brewing soy sauce: made by fermenting soybean or defatted soybean and adding some ingredients; Preparation of soy sauce: a mixture of brewed soy sauce and acid hydrolyzed vegetable protein seasoning liquid, wherein brewed soy sauce is ≥ 50%.
The color, aroma and taste of the prepared soy sauce will be worse, and there may also be a small amount of toxic 3-chloro-1, 2-propanediol.
Therefore, when buying, look at the packaging and choose [brewing soy sauce].
4. The most critical point is whether it is fresh or not. Look at [amino acid nitrogen].
This is a simple and crude index, the range is generally 0.4% ~ 1.3%, the larger the number, the higher the grade of soy sauce, the more delicious the taste.
How to choose, you know.
If you are tired of eating ordinary varieties, you may as well buy a bottle of colorful varieties, what seafood, Tricholoma matsutake, mushroom, grapefruit… all can be tried.
Children’s Soy Sauce: There is nothing special about what
However, among all kinds of fancy soy sauce, there is one that needs attention: children’s soy sauce.
Parents like to give their children the best. Many manufacturers use zero pigment, zero preservatives, low salt and light mouth, and contain XX kinds of amino acids as selling points. A small bottle of soy sauce has sold several times more than ordinary soy sauce.
This money is spent… It’s really unjust.
- Soy sauce is used for seasoning. It is better to let children eat well by supplementing amino acids and other nutrients. Children’s soy sauce is not necessarily [low salt]. Instead of paying a high price to pursue [low salt], it is better to learn to put less soy sauce. The most important thing is that babies under 1 year old do not need soy sauce or salt in their diet at all! After the age of 1, we should also try our best to be light and salt-free and develop a healthy diet.
I saw some advertisements saying: [This soy sauce is suitable for babies over 5 months old], which is absolutely insane.
Is there any preservative in soy sauce?
The answer is: Yes.
When I was a child, I went to play soy sauce with plastic bottles. There was always a white film on the surface of the soy sauce jar in the canteen. That is called mould (b ú), which is the product of bacterial activities. This shows that although soy sauce is already salty, the viability of microorganisms is even more terrible.
Therefore, today’s brewing enterprises usually add preservatives to soy sauce to inhibit the activities of microorganisms, so that we can buy safe soy sauce instead of a bottle of bacterial culture solution.
As for the preservatives that many people worry about being toxic, however, as long as the products are qualified, they will be safe.
To tell the truth, too much soy sauce in stir-frying leads to excessive sodium intake, which is the biggest health problem of soy sauce.
Less soy sauce is healthier.
For soy sauce, the biggest emphasis is to pay attention to control the amount.
A tablespoon (10 mL) of soy sauce contains almost 1.5 ~ 2 g of salt, and the recommended amount of salt is 6 g a day.
Moreover, most soy sauce contains delicate flavor substances. If soy sauce is put in, you have to put less or no monosodium glutamate chicken essence, otherwise you will become fresh again accidentally and eventually become a throat.
In addition, the legend that [soy sauce cannot be eaten if there is a wound] is completely color discrimination and has no scientific basis.
How to preserve soy sauce?
Although soy sauce is rich in salt and preservatives, its quality is relatively stable. However, there will occasionally be some minor problems during use, so it is best to:
- If you buy a small bottle, or use it separately, the bottle is too big to put, and it is easy to shake your hands down much. Cover the lid every time it is used up and wipe the bottle mouth clean. Put it in a cool place to avoid direct sunlight, and it is best to refrigerate it. Low salt or preservative-free soy sauce, refrigerate.