Shandong's high school entrance exam really has a cooking test! How many points can you get for this "scrambled eggs with tomatoes"?

A few days ago, a piece of news appeared online, saying that "scrambled eggs with tomatoes is included in Shandong's exam questions", which attracted a lot of attention. Some netizens said, "Even if you like cooking, not everyone has made scrambled eggs with tomatoes, so it's unreasonable to put it in this question"...

First of all, it needs to be explained that the statement that is "hotly circulated" is not the whole picture of the matter, but information modified with the traffic code of "selectively presenting part of the facts": this "scrambled eggs with tomatoes" question does not appear in the regular high school entrance examination, but is one of the three "multiple-choice questions" given by Shandong Experimental Middle School to students participating in the "comprehensive quality interview for recommended student selection."

In addition to the "scrambled eggs with tomatoes" question about "labor education", the other two questions are regular math analysis questions and open-ended design and invention questions. In other words, the math analysis question is a "difficult problem" that students are familiar with, while the "labor education question" and the "design and invention question" are both open-ended questions that can fully reflect the students' "comprehensive qualities"丨Screenshot from Lightning Video

As a test question, it is not as simple as just being able to "cook" a dish. The key point is to "analyze the chemical substances (at least 5) and chemical reactions (at least 1) that may be involved in the production process" - this is the focus and difficulty of the question.

Now, I will answer this question as well. Of course, this is an open-book test, so the difficulty is a bit lower.

（1）Briefly describe the preparation process of this dish

1. Prepare ingredients: 2 medium-sized tomatoes, 3 eggs; ingredients include: vegetable oil, salt and sugar.

2. Beat the eggs in a bowl and cut the tomatoes into small pieces.

3. Heat the pan and add appropriate amount of oil. Pour the eggs in after heating. Wait for the eggs to solidify, then scoop them into a bowl for later use.

4. Add a small amount of oil to the pot, heat it up, pour in the tomatoes and stir-fry. When the tomatoes become soft, pour in the eggs, stir-fry and mash them, add appropriate amount of salt and sugar to season, and serve.

Wrong↑丨giphy.com

(2) Analyze the chemical substances (at least 5 kinds) and chemical reactions that may be involved in the production process.

Chemical substances include: sodium chloride, monosodium glutamate, glucose, lycopene, carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin…

The dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes involves a variety of chemical knowledge, among which the more important ones are:

1. The origin of the “Chinese Olympic colors”

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes is a combination of bright red and yellow, which is festive and lively. It is consistent with the classic color tone of the Chinese Olympic delegation and is deeply loved by the Chinese people.

The red color of tomatoes comes from lycopene, a carotenoid with strong antioxidant activity, which is believed to help remove free radicals in the human body, thus benefiting health. Lycopene is fat-soluble, and frying with oil can dissolve it more efficiently.

Image: Pixabay

The yellow color of eggs comes from the pigments in the hen's food, such as carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin, etc., which can come from the hen's feed ingredients or added feed pigments. Free-range chickens eat whatever they want, so the yolk color is also random; commercially farmed chickens can be customized, that is, the customer pays extra money, and the farm adds pigments to the feed.

It should be emphasized that the color of egg yolk only affects the visual effect and has nothing to do with nutritional value.

2. The aroma and taste of scrambled eggs

There is a little trick for scrambled eggs: do not add water and fry for a longer time, the scrambled eggs will be more fragrant, but also harder and even a little brown. If you want a soft and tender taste, you can add some water when beating the eggs and shorten the scrambling time.

Image: giphy.com

The coagulation of eggs is the process of "denaturation-gelation" of egg protein. The lower the water content of the egg, the harder the gel formed; the higher the water content, the softer the gel formed. In other words, the aroma and tenderness of scrambled eggs are like a dialectical contradiction. To enhance one, the other must be reduced. The aroma and taste of the eggs can be controlled by whether to add water, how much water to add, and to what degree of scrambling, which is what we usually call "heat".

3. The source of the fresh and fragrant flavor

Among all kinds of vegetables, tomatoes have a high content of free amino acids. A large part of them is glutamate, and the sodium salt of glutamate is MSG. However, the glutamate content in tomatoes does not reach the human perception threshold, that is, the umami taste it produces is not enough for us to taste. Adding salt (sodium chloride) has a "flavor-enhancing effect" on glutamate, which is equivalent to amplifying the umami taste.

Image: giphy.com

In addition, eggs are rich in protein, which means they are rich in amino acids. However, these amino acids are often present in the protein in a shrunken form, not in a free state, and thus do not produce umami flavor. In addition, eggs also contain a relatively large amount of glucose. Under high temperatures, these glucose will undergo a Maillard reaction with the protein and a small amount of free amino acids therein, thereby producing some flavor components.

4. The origin of sweet and sour taste

The "sweet and sour taste" of scrambled eggs with tomatoes is one of the common "flavors" that people like.

The "acid" comes from the organic acids in tomatoes. During the stir-frying process, the cut tomato cells will break and the juice in the cells will flow out. The rich organic acids in the juice bring a rich sour taste. Some tomatoes are not acidic enough, so chefs will add tomato sauce to enhance it. Commercially produced tomato sauce ensures a stable acidity through raw material selection and seasoning (such as adding acetic acid).

Image: giphy.com

The "sweet" taste comes from the added sugar. The ratio of sweetness to sourness is called the "sweet-sour ratio", and a reasonable and appropriate sweet-sour ratio is the key to the deliciousness of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Hand in the paper. I wonder how many points I can get for this answer?

Author: Yun Wuxin

Editor: Maiya Yang

An AI

Someone, I found a sweet dish called scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

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