Are tomatoes a fruit or a vegetable? This problem must have bothered everyone for a long time, so the "Home to Eat" column group invited Shi Jun, a doctor of botany, to answer questions for everyone, in addition to tomato lover Yao Xueying and chef Gu Yuliang to bring delicious tomato dishes to everyone.
Expert class: Cherry tomato is relatively long, belonging to the oblong oval; Millennials are shorter and relatively rounder.
Are tomatoes a fruit or a vegetable?
At the end of the 19th century, the United States needed to import a large amount of tomatoes, because of tariffs and the characterization of tomatoes diverged, some people think that tomatoes are fruits so tax-free, and some people think that tomatoes are vegetables that need to be taxed. Whether tomatoes are vegetables or fruits has been debated for eight years, and finally in 1893, due to tax considerations and its attributes that need to be cooked in the kitchen, the authorities defined it as a vegetable, and the dispute over the characterization of tomatoes came to an end.
Tomato's "Past and Present Lives"
The tomato's home is in the Andes Mountains of South America, around 500 BC, and wild tomatoes are included in vegetable gardens. In the early sixteenth century, Europeans moved tomatoes to the European continent, but tomatoes were sent to flower beds instead of vegetable gardens, most likely because of a misrepresentation in a botanical book that labeled poisonous tomatoes and were named "wolf peaches". It was not until the mid-seventeenth century that tomatoes were grown and eaten in Italy, Spain and England. Since tomatoes joined the ranks of vegetables and fruits, people have continuously hybridized, bred and cultivated more and more high-quality varieties, and developed ever-changing practices, and tomatoes have finally become a popular food in the world.
Folk master dish - plum-stained small tomatoes
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Pick the right amount of cherry tomatoes (good size and sweeter) and remove the stems of the cherry tomatoes after washing.
Tips: The appropriate temperature for growing cherry tomatoes is 15 °C ~ 25 °C, and the ripening period is about two months.
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Bring water to a boil, put the cherry tomatoes in a pot and blanch for 30 seconds, then put out the cold water, peel and put it in a sealed jar.
Tip: Tomatoes are easier to peel after being fished out in cold water.
-03-
After the prune is pitted, put it into a sealed jar and spread it on top of the tomato, then add the seeded lemon slices for Titian, and finally inject lemonade into the sealed jar, cover the lid and refrigerate for 24 hours.
Tip: Add lemonade to add sweet and sour and fruity notes.
Simple plum-stained small tomatoes are just appetizers, and the next thing to do is the new online cuisine - North African eggs, which is a clever combination of eggs and tomatoes, with high value, simple cooking, and rich taste, which is simply addictive.
At the same time, North African eggs are still a balanced and healthy meal, some people say that it is Mediterranean cuisine, some people say that it comes from the Middle East, why is it called "North African eggs" is not the focus of everyone's attention, how it is with tomatoes and eggs these two familiar ingredients to convince so many people's hearts is the mystery of our discussion, let us find out next!
Folk master dish - North African eggs
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Choose a large, juicy tomato and change the tomato to a knife.
Tip: It is not easy to juice by knifeing down the groove of the tomato.
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Heat the oil, add bacon, sauté the bacon until slightly browned, add the onion, red pepper, salt, tomato, tomato sauce, pour hot water and stir well, add pepper, cover and simmer for 5 minutes, then add tomato paste and stir well.
Small class: The nutritional value of tomatoes eaten raw and cooked
(1) Eating raw tomatoes can absorb vitamin C, vitamin C heating may be destroyed, and eating raw is conducive to absorption;
(2) Cooked tomatoes can absorb lycopene, which is more conducive to the absorption of the human body after heating.
Small experiment: How to prove that lycopene is soluble in oil?
(1) Prepare an empty bottle, squeeze the tomatoes into juice, pour one-third of the water bottle, and then pour in the cooking oil, you can see the cooking oil floating;
(2) Close the cap tightly, shake vigorously, and wait for 20 minutes to see the difference.
Experimental conclusion: Edible oil can be seen to turn red, so it is proved that lycopene is soluble in edible oil, belongs to fat soluble, and is better absorbed after cooking.
-03-
Turn off the heat, make a hole in the tomato soup and beat the egg, cover it and simmer for a while to serve with bread.
Tip: Digging holes in the tomato soup and beating the eggs is more conducive to keeping the shape of the eggs intact.
Plum-stained tomatoes are cold and cold to eat, which is simply amazing in the hot summer, so delicious that you can't stop eating! The first bite of North African eggs, the rich tomato flavor bursts in the mouth, making people feel very amazing.
Expert Lecture: Fructose is more sweet at low temperatures.
It's not strange to cook with tomatoes, but have you ever tried making your own ketchup with tomatoes? Today Chef Gu Yuliang will teach you to make your own healthy and rich tomato sauce, dipped in anything delicious!
Special chef dish - homemade tomato sauce
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Cut the tomato into pieces with a knife and cut the red pepper into sections.
Tip: Add red peppers for a more rosy color and a richer taste.
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Put the tomatoes, onions, minced garlic and red peppers into the blender, add water to beat into a thin paste and pour into the pot, add rock sugar, butter and rice wine to simmer, add some salt and stir well before leaving the pot.
Special Chef Dish – Tomato Nut Chicken
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Remove the chicken thighs and change them to pieces.
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Add salt, soy sauce, water starch and half an egg white to the chicken thighs and stir well, marinate well, pour a little oil for oil sealing, and let it sit for 2-3 minutes.
Tip: Add egg whites to marinate to make the chicken thighs more tender.
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Cut zucchini and green pepper into sections (you can freely mix vegetables according to your preference).
-04-
Heat the oil and sauté the marinated chicken thighs, zucchini and green peppers.
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Put the bottom oil in the pot, add homemade tomato sauce, add hot water to dilute, add water starch to make the sauce thick, then pour in the chicken thigh meat and side dishes, drizzle with oil and stir-fry continuously, and finally sprinkle with nuts and stir-fry evenly.
The chicken is very tender to eat, both sour and sweet, and the addition of zucchini increases the taste of this dish, making people have to give a thumbs up after eating!
Do the tomato-loving rice balls have already drooled down three thousand feet when they see this? Wipe your saliva and do it!
Source: CCTV goes home for dinner