Identification of popular food: milk tea condiments!

Image source: Qiantu.com

1. Tapioca pearls: to put it simply, they are starch balls

Sago is often used to make ice porridge, sago dew and other desserts. It is a food artificially prepared with starch as raw material. It originated in Southeast Asia and is a product obtained by drying and processing the starch in the trunks and stems of palm trees.

At present, domestic manufacturers mostly use tapioca starch, wheat starch, corn starch, etc., supplemented with water, white sugar and other materials. In terms of nutritional ingredients, tapioca is mainly composed of starch, which is a carbohydrate and can provide energy to the human body.

2. Pearls: Also starch balls

Pearls come from the pearls in Taiwanese bubble tea. They are soft, sticky and sweet. Like tapioca, they are starchy foods, and their main raw material is tapioca starch.

Many people on the Internet claim that the pearls in milk tea toppings are made of gelatin and are harmful to the body. This statement is wrong. Gelatin is a protein and a food thickener, which is a type of food additive. It is usually decomposed from the collagen in the skin and bones of animals and is often added to yogurt to thicken it. The raw material of pearl milk tea is tapioca starch, and gelatin is generally not added. However, in order to ensure the elasticity of the pearls, manufacturers will add some thickeners, such as guar gum, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, etc.

3. Grass jelly: a long-standing specialty jelly

Grass jelly can be simply understood as black jelly made from the plant grass jelly.

Grass jelly, also known as jelly grass and fairy grass, is cool in nature and sweet in taste. The jelly and grass jelly made from it have the effects of detoxification, beauty, antipyretic and diuresis, and are a good thirst-quencher in the hot summer.

The main component of grass jelly gel is a polysaccharide with gelling properties. Grass jelly polysaccharide is an indispensable raw material for manufacturers to produce foods such as herbal tea drinks, jelly, roasted grass jelly and tortoise jelly. However, most of the grass jelly powder sold on many platforms currently contains other ingredients such as white sugar and thickeners to improve the taste and gelling properties of grass jelly.

4. Crunchy Bobo: The popular specialty jelly

The original name of Crunchy Bobo is Agar Ball. Agar refers to the extract obtained by breaking the wall of red algae. The main component is plant polysaccharides, which have a high cellulose content. This means that it is low in calories and easy to feel full.

However, some businesses now use konjac flour and food thickeners to imitate the taste of agar. The main component of konjac flour is also plant polysaccharides, which has similar characteristics to agar and does not provide high calories. The additional sweeteners and food flavors can give consumers a variety of choices in terms of crispy taste.

5. Blood glutinous rice: candied milk tea condiments

Blood glutinous rice is a type of rice with a purple-red seed coat. Because the rice is very sticky, a purple-red aqueous solution will appear after soaking, so it is called blood glutinous rice. Due to the high content of amylopectin, it will have a sticky taste after cooking. However, glutinous rice with a high content of amylopectin is not easy to digest compared to ordinary rice, so it is not easy to eat too much.

In addition, the glutinous rice used as a milk tea condiment is usually treated with sugar to extend the shelf life and increase the taste. More sugar will make people consume more calories. Therefore, even if you order a cup of sugar-free milk tea with glutinous rice, the sugar content may still be high.

Source: China Science and Technology Press