Can soup made with evaporated milk be very nutritious? Who is not suitable for drinking milky white soup?

A few days ago, an online video showing "two spoons of condensed milk make a pot of soup" made many people develop an inexplicable fear of the milky white soup made by "Hextech".

Some netizens asked: Is this soup made with evaporated milk harmful? Can we still drink milky white soup in the future?

In fact, using evaporated milk to make mutton soup is just a chemical knowledge of "making emulsions". However, some people do need to be careful when drinking broth made with evaporated milk + chicken essence, or even other milky soups.

Knowledge Point 1

How did the milky soup come about?

Everyone knows that crucian carp can be cooked into a milky white "milk soup".

The reason why fried crucian carp can be cooked into a milky white soup is because fat and water form a kind of "emulsion", or "emulsion". In plain words, it is a milky white liquid like milk.

People all have this experience: pour two spoons of oil into water, and no matter how hard you try to disperse the oil drops, they will quickly gather together to form a layer of oil floating on the water. This is what is called "oil and water are incompatible."

However, if there is something called "emulsifier", it can make the oil droplets and water live in peace. One hand of the emulsifier is hydrophilic, and the other hand is hydrophilic, so it is called "amphiphilic substance". It stretches out its hydrophilic hand to grab the small oil droplets and surround them; it also stretches out its hydrophilic hand to grab the water molecules outside the oil droplets. In this way, the small oil droplets surrounded by the emulsifier can be dispersed in the water with peace of mind.

Thousands of tiny oil droplets "scatter" the light, making it appear milky white. Therefore, milky white is not a special pigment, nor does it mean that it has any nutrition, it is just an optical phenomenon.

As for crucian carp soup , crucian carp itself has fat (oil), and a lot of oil is added when frying the fish. During the medium-high heat, the soup continues to boil, breaking up the oil droplets. During the stewing process, some soluble proteins in the fish body slowly dissolve and run into the water, acting as emulsifiers. In this way, a milky white soup is formed.

Knowledge Point 2

What are the “natural emulsifiers” in food?

Many food proteins can act as emulsifiers , such as some proteins in crucian carp, some proteins in milk, some proteins in soybeans, and gelatin formed by stewing collagen in meat skin and bones.

However, it is a bit slow to slowly stew out the protein in solid food and cook collagen into gelatin, ranging from half an hour to two or three hours, which is indeed a bit worrying.

Compared with proteins, phospholipids have much stronger emulsification ability.

The phospholipid family exists in many natural foods rich in fat , such as egg yolks, lean meat, soybeans and soy products, nuts, oil seeds, etc. There are many types of phospholipids in phospholipids, and the most common one is lecithin. Speaking of the term lecithin, you can understand that the yolk of poultry eggs is particularly rich in lecithin.

So-called "mayonnaise" is made by using egg yolk as an emulsifier to emulsify a large amount of cooking oil and other hydrophilic condiments such as vinegar and salt water. The phospholipids contribute the most to this, and some proteins with emulsifying properties also help.

When cooking soup, if you want to turn the clear soup into a light yellow milky soup, you can add two spoons of mayonnaise. Or you can add a cooked and crushed egg yolk and mix well .

Of course, adding some lecithin directly will reduce the cost. When nuts and seeds are used to extract oil, lecithin will go into the oil along with the fat. However, during the oil refining process, lecithin will be separated and removed. This is because lecithin is not heat-resistant. If it is used to cook, a lot of oil smoke will be produced, and the flavor and color of the dishes will be affected. At the same time, lecithin likes water very much and is easily oxidized, so the oil with it is not easy to store for a long time.

These seemingly "troublesome" phospholipids become by-products of oil processing . (Therefore, unrefined cold-pressed oil is a good source of phospholipids.)

But instead of being wasted, it found two important uses.

First, it is made into health products . Lecithin also has a good emulsifying effect in the human body, which is beneficial to blood lipid metabolism, so it is often used in health foods that improve blood lipids. The lecithin molecule contains the ingredient "choline", and choline is the manufacturing material of "acetylcholine", the neurotransmitter responsible for memory. Therefore, lecithin is often used in health foods related to improving memory.

Second, it is made into an emulsifier for food . For example, when making milk powder, adding some lecithin makes it easier to stir in water and less likely to clump. When making various high-fat desserts, adding some lecithin makes the taste smoother. When making protein-containing beverages, adding some lecithin makes the emulsion more stable.

Knowledge Point 3

Which milky white liquids need the help of emulsifiers?

Whether it is milk, soy milk, peanut milk, walnut milk, coconut milk, almond milk, oat milk, etc., the principle is the same. As long as it contains both fat and emulsifying protein, and a little natural emulsifier such as phospholipids, it can create an emulsified state, and the liquid will appear milky white, and it can be called something like milk, or milk soup.

For example, if you want to make oat milk , but oats only have carbohydrates, no fat, and lack emulsifiers (β-glucan is not effective enough), you can't make a perfect emulsion. Then add some oils such as rapeseed oil and some phospholipids , and you can get it done.

However, the principle of emulsion production is quite "ordinary" and "old", and it is not new technology or high technology at all. Calling it "Hextech" is a bit exaggerated.

Knowledge Point 4

What is “evaporated milk”? Does it contain harmful substances?

There are two types of "evaporated milk" products on the market. One is "full-fat evaporated milk", which belongs to the "evaporated milk" category of "condensed milk".

Its main ingredients are milk, water and milk powder, which is a concentrated milk product made from milk and milk powder. Although there is a certain loss of vitamins, it is still a good source of protein and calcium, and its nutritional value is good .

The other type is "non-dairy evaporated milk", which is made from milk, vegetable oil (usually palm oil), whey powder, anhydrous butter and food additives. Compared with full-fat evaporated milk, its nutritional value is obviously lower , with less calcium and various vitamins.

However, it does not contain artificial trans fatty acids as rumored, because the "non-dairy fat" is palm oil, not hydrogenated vegetable oil. Compared with the pure palm oil used in frying instant noodles and potato chips, its nutritional value is much higher, because after all, the first ingredient is milk, and whey powder rich in protein and calcium is added.

In order to make these fat-rich evaporated milks easily dispersed in water, food additives are added to help , including soy lecithin, disodium hydrogen phosphate and carrageenan.

As we have just mentioned, soybean lecithin is a beneficial and harmless natural emulsifier.

Disodium hydrogen phosphate is an ingredient that also exists in the human body. It mainly plays the role of fine-tuning the pH value and improving the taste.

Xanthan gum is a widely used thickener in food. It can make the product taste more delicate and the fat in the milk is not easy to separate. Xanthan gum is often used in salad dressings, ice cream, popsicles, cakes, meat products and other foods. It contains very low calories and is a soluble dietary fiber.

Needless to say, milk and milk powder, palm oil is the most commonly used oil for frying instant noodles, whey powder is added to infant milk powder and fitness protein powder, soy lecithin, disodium hydrogen phosphate and xanthan gum are all permitted for use in various countries, not only in my country, but also in the United States, Japan and the European Union. In short, no matter which "evaporated milk" is used to make soup, there is no safety problem.

These two types of "evaporated milk" are widely used in milk tea shops and dessert shops. When drinking beverages and eating desserts, no one has ever questioned this...

Knowledge Point 5

Compared with real broth, what is the nutritional difference between soup made with "evaporated milk"?

If you use full-fat evaporated milk to make soup, it is equivalent to drinking diluted milk. If you use non-dairy evaporated milk to make soup, it is equivalent to drinking more diluted milk + a small amount of emulsified palm oil .

In fact, the real top-quality soup stock is not milky white, but clear, residue-free and delicious chicken soup or meat soup. After removing the floating oil, the fat content of the soup stock is very low, and it concentrates a large number of water-soluble umami ingredients, such as amino acids, umami peptides and other small molecular nitrogen-containing substances. It also includes soluble potassium and relatively heat-resistant B vitamins such as vitamin B2, B6, B12, pantothenic acid, biotin, etc.

In comparison, diluted milk does not contain as many small nitrogen molecules, and the potassium content is not as high after dilution. It also has an advantage, which is that it has lower purine content than broth. Milk is a super low-purine food, and it is naturally even lower after dilution. Unfortunately, after adding chicken essence, the purine content will increase significantly . This is because chicken essence contains "flavor nucleotide sodium salts", which are the source of purine.

If we compare the milky white thick broth with the diluted non-dairy milk + chicken essence, both have the same disadvantages - they both contain a lot of saturated fat and a lot of purine. Whether it is fat from pork, beef, or mutton or fat from palm oil, drinking too much of either is not conducive to preventing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Knowledge Point 6

Who is not suitable to drink milky white soup?

Having said that, everyone should have understood.

No matter how it is made, milky soup is made by emulsifying fat and dispersing it in water. The thicker the milky white color, the more fat it contains and the higher the calories. Therefore, this type of soup is not suitable for people who need to control their weight .

At the same time, whether it is soup made from pork, beef or mutton, or soup made from non-dairy milk, they all contain a high proportion of saturated fat. People with elevated blood lipid levels and those at high risk of cardiovascular disease are not suitable to drink a lot of soup . In comparison, soup made from non-dairy milk is worse because it contains 16-carbon saturated fatty acids, which have a worse effect on blood lipids.

Whether it is a thick soup made from meat or a soup made from non-dairy milk + a large amount of chicken essence, it contains a lot of purine and is not suitable for gout patients and people who need to control their blood uric acid levels .

Salty soup can quickly absorb a lot of salt. According to general taste, a bowl of 200 grams of soup contains about 1 gram of salt. Hypertensive patients and kidney disease patients who need to control salt intake should try to avoid drinking large bowls of salty soup , whether it is boiled meat soup or mixed milky white soup. Salty soup + a lot of saturated fat is even more harmful to these patients.

Knowledge Point 7

What can I add to make a milky soup quickly?

When cooking at home, you can directly add milk or soy milk. Diluted milk and soy milk can not only make the soup quickly turn milky white, but also increase the nutrition and taste of the soup.

In fact, soup made with whole milk without chicken essence, or soup made with regular whole milk, is very suitable to replace broth for gout patients and people who need to control blood uric acid levels. This is because milk itself is not only low in purine, but also helps to lower blood uric acid levels . In comparison, the purine content of soy milk is slightly higher, but as long as it is diluted several times, it will not cause a rapid increase in blood uric acid.

In addition, you can also consider adding mayonnaise and cooked egg yolks to the soup to make it light yellow. For example, the method of stewing vegetables in water and oil that I recommend can be upgraded with cooked egg yolks to make it ** "Soup version of stewed vegetables in water and oil":

First put a bowl of water (only half a bowl of water is needed for daily stewing) or clear soup in the pot, add a tablespoon of sesame oil and boil together.

Add the chopped green leafy vegetables , stir well and simmer for a minute or two.

Then open the lid, add the chopped cooked egg yolk and egg white to the dish and mix well, then add a few pieces of ham cubes. Turn off the heat and add some salt or chicken essence to taste.

In this way, the egg yolk blends into the soup, and the soup turns into a rich light yellow color. The white egg whites, red diced ham and green leaves complement each other, making it look very beautiful and taste even more delicious.

It's very simple to make a nutritious and healthy "milk soup" with these few tips. Why not give it a try?

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Fan Zhihong_Original Nutrition Information