Friends and family rarely gather together, and everyone prepares a lot of food on top of the Chinese New Year's Eve meal. But the more meals are cooked, it is inevitable that there will be a lot of leftovers. So, what kind of leftovers are recommended not to stay overnight? How is it safer to keep leftovers, and how to fully heat leftovers? How can you tell if leftovers can no longer be eaten? Let's make it all clear today.
A hearty Chinese New Year's Eve rice is always unavoidable to have leftovers
01
Can you eat leftovers?
Many people worry that leftovers have nitrite, which can cause cancer.
Indeed, the nitrite content in leftovers increases as storage time increases. When nitrite enters the human body, under certain conditions, it will be converted into nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are carcinogens that can induce liver cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer and so on.
However, whether leftovers will cause cancer depends on the "dose". As long as you don't eat dozens of kilograms of overnight meals at a time, you don't have to worry about carcinogenics.
In fact, the nitrite in leftovers comes mainly from bacterial activity. As long as it can inhibit bacterial activity, nitrite can also be controlled. In daily life, the most common practice is refrigeration, which can effectively reduce the production of nitrite.
Studies have conducted 24-hour refrigeration overnight treatment on 10 kinds of vegetables such as tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, cucumbers, rape, onions, garlic, potatoes, eggplants, carrots, soybean sprouts, etc., and found that the nitrite content in 10 kinds of vegetables met the requirements of food safety standards. There are also studies that randomly select three kinds of green leafy vegetables for stir-frying processing, and the results show that the nitrite content does not change significantly within 12h during the storage of cooked vegetables, and the nitrite content will rise sharply in cooked vegetables stored in room temperature bags after 12h of storage; However, as long as it is stored refrigerated, nitrite has not exceeded the standard within 48 hours.
After stir-frying and processing, the vegetables are refrigerated and stored in time, so there is no need to worry about nitrite content丨Figure worm creativity
Therefore, as long as the storage is reasonable, eating some leftovers normally does not have to worry about cancer.
02
Which dishes should not be leftover?
New Year cooking is inevitable that there will be too much leftover, all poured will feel wasteful, in fact, as long as it is properly preserved, the dishes can be left, but some dishes are better to try to eat on the same day, can not be left.
Do not leave vegetables and other vegetarian dishes
Compared with meat and other meat dishes, vegetables and other vegetarian dishes are more likely to lose nutrients, if you must have leftovers, try to keep meat and other meat dishes, do not leave vegetables and other vegetarian dishes, after all, meat is usually more expensive, nutritional value is also higher. The remaining vegetables, especially overnight green leafy vegetables, compared with other overnight dishes, vitamin C and other nutrients are lost, and the health value will be greatly reduced.
After cooking vegetables overnight, the nutritional value will be greatly reduced丨Shoot 呲呲
Don't leave cold dishes
Many people at home will also prepare cold dishes when Chinese New Year's Eve meals, such as shooting cucumbers, cold pork ears and other marinated dishes, but I want to remind everyone that cold dishes should not be kept as much as possible, whether it is meat or vegetarian, it is best not to eat leftovers. Because after the cold dish is swept by everyone, it will bring in a lot of bacteria, and then left overnight, it is easier to breed bacteria, which can easily lead to diarrhea and other problems.
Try not to leave the cold dish behind丨 Picture worm creativity
Fish and shrimp seafood are not recommended leftovers
Fish, shrimp, hairy crabs, etc. are also frequent customers of Chinese New Year's Eve rice. It is recommended that fish and shrimp seafood try not to be left, on the one hand, it is easy to breed bacteria, more importantly, eating fish and shrimp seafood mainly pursues delicious taste, but after the rest is placed for a long time, umami will be lost in large quantities, and even produce peculiar smell. It is better to eat as much as you want, buy as much as you want, and finish your meal while it is fresh.
Seafood and aquatic products are best eaten on the same day丨Figure worm creativity
In many places, there are Chinese New Year's Eve rice that require fish to be kept for New Year's Eve, which means "fish every year", and you can eat the fish body, leaving the head and tail of the fish for New Year's Eve.
03
How do I save leftovers?
The problem with leftovers is mainly nitrite, but as long as they are properly preserved, leftovers are also edible. How exactly should it be stored?
Store in the refrigerator in time
No matter what kind of food, the longer it is left at room temperature, the more microorganisms will multiply, so it should be put in the refrigerator as soon as possible. Some families feel that the room temperature is low in winter, and they don't need to put a refrigerator, in fact, it is not okay, unless it is placed outdoors at minus ten or twenty degrees.
Generally speaking, refrigerated leftovers are not a big problem for 1-2 days, and even 3-4 days can be left out. However, for the sake of safety, it is recommended that you do not refrigerate leftovers for more than 2 days; If the storage time needs to exceed 2 days, store it in the refrigerator freezer.
Overnight dishes can only be stored for up to 3-4 days丨U.S. FDA
Sealed in aliquots
If the amount of leftovers is large, you can consider storing them in advance, such as using different crisper boxes, food boxes, covering the lid or plastic wrap, and next time you eat, take the appropriate number of servings according to the number of people to heat, you can avoid the problem of repeated heating. And divided into small portions for storage, more conducive to cooling, these measures can control the content of nitrite very low.
It is better to refrigerate and store it in parts丨Figure worm creativity
04
How do you heat leftovers well?
Refrigerate the preserved food, and remember to fully heat it thoroughly when you take it out and eat it next time.
What is ripeness? A basic principle is to bring food centers to a safe temperature. For example, common meat can usually be eaten with confidence as long as the "core temperature" reaches 75 °C. Different meats, different thicknesses, the temperature is also different. For example, the temperature of fish meat is lower, as long as the core temperature is greater than 62.8 °C for 15 seconds, it is safe.
The USDA recommends a safe core temperature for all common meats丨USDA
Many people may not have a food thermometer at home, or find it inconvenient to use, do not worry, when heating leftovers, pay attention to thoroughly cook or turn over the food until piping hot, for example, soups and stews should be boiled and maintained for at least 1 minute.
Many people use microwaves to save trouble, but simply using the microwave to heat leftovers is prone to uneven heating. It is recommended that you cover the leftovers in the microwave and stir and turn them to ensure thorough heating.
Microwave oven heating should pay attention to the problem of uneven heating丨Figure worm creativity
Of course, we must also remind everyone that leftovers should not be heated repeatedly and as much as they should be eaten. If you know that the meal is not finished, heat half of it first, and put the rest back in the refrigerator.
05
How can you tell if leftovers can no longer be eaten?
If leftovers have been kept refrigerated for more than 4 days, or if there is already a noticeable odor. Then try not to eat it.
Do less to have less leftovers, but don't eat a meal from the first day of junior high to the fifth day of junior high school