More than ten years ago, there was a kind of food that was once popular all over the country with its rich meat flavor and friendly price. It became a classic good partner with instant noodles. Now it has become a hot topic and is caught in the debate of “unsafe” and “unhealthy”.
It is-ham sausage.
How is ham sausage tempered?
Although the variety of ham sausage is quite rich, the definition of ham sausage in the national standard is very simple:
Fresh or frozen livestock meat is used as the main raw material, pickled, stirred, chopped (or emulsified), poured into plastic casing, and sterilized at high temperature to make meat enema products.
- First of all, there must be meat, but the content is not required. Salt, spices and other condiments will be added to ham sausage for pickling. What is added is the secret formula of each brand. The chopping and mixing process is very important, similar to the beating strength when making meatballs. Whether the finished product has uniform texture and good taste depends on it. After filling into the plastic casing, after high-temperature heating, the sticky meat paste will form a net structure and become an elastic sausage (small partners who like hot pot can imagine the shrimp slippery before and after entering the pot).
The definition of the national standard is relatively broad, giving manufacturers the opportunity to give full play to their brains at will. Chickens, ducks, fish, meat, corn, mushrooms, small pickled peppers… can all be put in, but the most common ones are water, soybean protein and starch.
How many ham sausage additives?
In theory, ham sausage can be made with meat and salt. But in practice, in order to balance taste, cost and safety, food additives and other ingredients are essential, such as preservatives, edible gums and flavors.
Take the preservative that everyone is most afraid of as an example, sodium nitrite is the most controversial.
In fact, the requirement of nitrite in Chinese meat food standards is very strict (≤ 30 mg/kg), which is lower than that in the United States (200 mg/kg).
As long as it is a qualified product from a regular manufacturer, there is no need to worry about safety.
Food additives are not demons, but a double-edged sword that needs to be controlled.
Is there much salt in ham sausage?
Salt is an essential participant in ham sausage.
On the one hand, salt can make protein [dissolve] in lean meat, wrap fat particles and form a network structure, forming a unique taste of ham sausage;
On the other hand, high salt content can also play a role in bacteriostasis to a certain extent.
Compared with food additives, the salt in ham sausage should be more worried. A ham sausage (50 g) has about 400 ~ 500 mg sodium, which is basically the salt of half a meal.
Why don’t you feel particularly salty when eating? Because sugar is usually added to neutralize it.
Is there much fat in ham sausage?
Although I can’t see it, there is not much fat in ham sausage.
It’s just that they are all broken into very small particles, and then they are wrapped in protein during the process of chopping and mixing, so we can’t see it.
However, although the fat meat is more fragrant, the taste of ham sausage will still deteriorate if too much is added.
The national standard does not stipulate the proportion of fat and lean meat in ham sausage, but it is marked that its fat content should be 6 ~ 16%.
Ham sausage is carcinogenic?
It is true that processed meat products increase the risk of cancer.
Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared processed meat products, such as ham sausage, bacon and sausage, a category 1 carcinogen. It is mainly related to nitroso compounds, heterocyclic amines, saturated fats and so on in these foods.
However, if you only eat occasionally, don’t worry too much.
[Category 1 carcinogen] represents [conclusive carcinogenic evidence], which means that there is very conclusive evidence that this substance can increase the risk of cancer in human beings, but it is not directly related to carcinogenic ability-how much you eat every day will lead to cancer.
WHO’s announcement of such news is more to alert everyone.
Dr. Clove’s advice is: give priority to fresh meat, which is not only healthier but also has various tastes. It can be stewed or braised in soy sauce. As for ham sausage, it is good to limit it to an occasional emergency.
How to choose ham sausage?
The first principle is to be safe, and the products of large manufacturers are relatively guaranteed.
If you pursue a little more nutrition and quality, you will have to look at the ingredient list and the nutritional composition list.
- Ingredients: Try to choose the top of [XX meat], such as chicken, minced fish, lean pork, etc. Nutrition Composition Table: Choose those with high protein, less fat and less sodium.
These meat and sausages are not ham sausages.
In large families that process meat products, there are many foods similar to ham sausage, such as…
1. Luncheon Meat
Pork is used as raw material and is made through pickling, chopping, seasoning and other processes. Vegetables and animal viscera cannot be added.
It is characterized by relatively real meat content, which can be said to be a deluxe version of ham sausage, but the fat content has also been upgraded, usually 20-30%, with delicious food and energy coexisting.
Hot pot, incense pot, Mao Xuewangda must be very familiar with it.
2. Canned ham
The appearance is very similar to luncheon meat, but no starch is added, and because the raw material is lean pork, the fat content is lower (generally no more than 9%), which should be the most luxurious choice for ordinary food.
Rolling Chain: Ham Sausage (Ordinary Youth) Luncheon Meat (Literary Youth) Canned Ham (Moat)
3. Chinese sausage
It is a raw and dried sausage product made of livestock and poultry meat as the main raw material, chopped or minced, pickled with salt, wine and other auxiliary materials, poured into casing and then baked/aired/air dried. It has sweet mouth, spicy taste, garlic flavor and other flavors and has local characteristics.
The biggest difference with ham sausage is that it is raw, dry and fat and thin.
The sausage pot rice tastes very good, and Sichuan sausage with steamed bread is also quite attractive!
Step 4 Smoked and boiled sausages
Although it belongs to sausage, it is more like ham sausage with plastic casing removed and animal casing waistcoat worn. Fat and thin (fat cannot be clearly seen) and smooth intestine body, the star product is the most common Taiwan roasted sausage on the roadside.
In addition, those corn hot dog sausage and crisp sausage with crisp casing are all members of this large family.
5. Ham
Although it is less than a word than ham sausage, it is more than one grade expensive. It is made of fresh pig legs after a series of processing, such as pickling, stacking, turning over and pressing, washing, sun shaping, hanging, air drying, fermentation and ripening. It has a strong aroma and is generally used to enhance the flavor and freshness of dishes.
Of course, the most famous are [Jinhua Ham] and [Xuanwei Ham]!
Although ham is delicious, it is more used to increase freshness in cooking. Famous dishes [pickled and preserved] and [Buddha jumping over the wall] all depend on the contribution of ham.
The common problems of the above products are: more salt…