Should you remove the foam from stewed meat or soup? You may miss the real "essence"

People who cook regularly know

When making soup or stew

There are always some bubbles floating on the surface

Some people say these bubbles are the essence

Some people also say that these bubbles are not clean and should be poured out.

So should I go or stay? Can I eat it?

Today, I will show you how to figure it out~

1. Where does the foam in food come from?

When stewing food or brewing tea or coffee, some small bubbles will be produced when the liquid contains surfactants that have foaming and foam stabilizing effects.

Surfactant is a compound that can reduce the surface tension of a liquid. It is an "amphiphilic" molecule that can blend with water and oil.

Image source: Pixabay

When the liquid is stirred, air will enter the liquid, thus forming foam.

Most of the foam produced in food is due to the "amphiphilic" characteristics of certain biological macromolecules, such as saponins, proteins, carbon dioxide, etc. that are unique to some foods.

2. It is best to skim off these two types of foam

The reddish-gray foam of the broth needs to be skimmed, while the milky-white foam can be kept for cooking bone soup and broth. Whether the foam produced by the broth needs to be skimmed depends on the score.

In order to improve the taste, many chefs recommend blanching bones and meat before making soup. At this time, a lot of red-gray foam will be produced, which is usually blood foam and impurities in the meat. It is recommended to skim it off and then wash it again with clean water.

When the soup is cooked, there will be foam in it, but the amount of foam is less, the color is milky white, and it looks much cleaner. This is because the protein and fat in the meat are cooked out. The foam can be kept at this time, but if you think it affects the appearance or you are losing weight, you can also skim it off.

Note: When blanching meat, you must use cold water to slowly "force" out the blood foam and debris in the meat. If you use hot water, the protein on the surface of the meat will shrink immediately, and the blood foam cannot be "forced" out.

The foam in cola and Sprite can easily hurt your stomach

When you open a bottle of cola or Sprite, there will often be bubbles. Many people like to take a sip while the bubbles are still there. The bubbles go from the gastrointestinal tract to the chest and rush straight to the nasal cavity. How refreshing! But after a long time, the bubbles disappear, and the air is gone, so it becomes boring to drink.

Image source: Pixabay

The foam produced when you open a carbonated drink is actually carbon dioxide. Excessive carbon dioxide will irritate the gastric mucosa, thereby reducing gastric acid secretion, affecting the normal digestive function of the stomach and intestines, and thus leading to a decrease in appetite.

In addition, Indian medical scientists have found that people who consume a lot of carbonated drinks such as cola have a relatively high incidence of esophageal cancer. The researchers speculate that it may be the pressure of carbon dioxide that causes gastric acid to reflux into the esophagus, thereby irritating the esophagus and increasing the risk of esophageal cancer.

Therefore, it is better to drink less of such carbonated drinks, especially if you already have digestive tract diseases. It is best not to drink them.

3. If there is a lot of foam in the soy milk, it may be a "false boil". If a lot of foam appears when the soy milk needs to be boiled again , many people will take it as a sign that it is boiled. But in fact, this may be a "false boil" phenomenon.

Soy milk contains a substance called saponin, which will produce a lot of foam when heated to 80-90℃. These foams are like "eye-catching tricks", making it look like it is boiled, but in fact it is not thoroughly cooked.

If you drink this kind of soy milk, the saponins it contains will affect the body's absorption of protein and cause indigestion; if you consume too much, it can also easily cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and other discomforts.

Therefore, when foam is produced when cooking soy milk, you should continue to cook it over low heat for about 10 minutes until the foam disappears completely and the soy milk has no beany smell. This is when it is fully cooked and safe to drink.

The foam produced by the following foods can be retained!

01 When we cook noodles and dumplings, foam will be produced due to the precipitation of starch and protein. It is generally harmless to the body and does not need to be skimmed off.

02 When brewing tea, a layer of foam will appear. This is actually the tea saponin in the tea leaves. Animal experiments have shown that it has certain antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, and can inhibit the absorption of fat.

03The layer of foam on freshly squeezed juice is extremely nutritious and does not need to be skimmed off.

Source: Chongqing Tianji Network Co., Ltd.

This article is compiled from Life Times, Science Popularization China, and I am a Great Doctor official account

Statement: Except for original content and special notes, some pictures are from the Internet. They are not for commercial purposes and are only used as popular science materials. The copyright belongs to the original authors. If there is any infringement, please contact us to delete them.