Stink can also be cute
Food isn't always full of color and flavor, and some foods that smell obviously smell bad and may fall in love with it if you dare to eat it. Those who love it praise its fragrance, and those who hate it complain about its smell, which is probably the best interpretation of the smelly food.
If there is a special smell of snacks that many people are obsessed with, I believe that everyone will think of stinky tofu. It smells very smelly, but when you eat it, your teeth and cheeks are fragrant and the aftertaste is endless. This wonderful feeling may be the reason why everyone is obsessed with it.
Stinky tofu can be divided into two types: stinky tofu milk and stinky dried tofu. Legend has it that a vendor surnamed Wang grinds tofu every day to sell on the street, and because tofu is easy to spoil in the summer, he salts the remaining tofu he sells. Once he went out for a few days because of an incident, and when he returned home, a smell came to his nose, and after careful searching, he found that the original tofu had deteriorated, but he was reluctant to discard it, so he tasted it, who knew that this rotten tofu tasted but smelled and intriguing. Later, stinky tofu milk was also sent to the court as a small dish of imperial meals, and was loved by Empress Dowager Cixi, who personally gave it the name: "Royal Qingfang".
In addition to stinky tofu milk, stinky tofu is also a favorite of "stinky people". Stinky tofu varies from region to region to region, but all have their own characteristics. Changsha's stinky tofu is tofu is placed in the winter shoots, shiitake mushrooms, koji wine, Liuyang tempeh brine in the brine soaked, until its surface produces white hair, the color becomes gray, smelly, and then fried in a frying pan until the color turns black, the surface expands and then fished out, poured with garlic juice, pepper, sesame oil can be eaten; Shaoxing's stinky tofu Production process is similar, but the ingredients are different, the tofu is dipped in the marinade of the stinky amaranth stem, can be steamed or fried, and the stinky tofu that is fried is golden and attractive. Stinky tofu is also used in various places with other ingredients to make delicious food, such as Guangdong's stinky tofu fat sausage pot, which has a delicious taste.
Stinky tofu "smells stinky" because tofu in the process of fermentation and pickling, the protein contained in it is decomposed under the action of proteases, and the sulfur amino acids contained in it are also fully hydrolyzed, resulting in a compound called hydrogen sulfide, which has a pungent odor. After the protein is decomposed, amino acids are produced, and amino acids have a delicious taste, so they "eat fragrant".
The various nutrients of tofu are almost lost after being made into stinky tofu, but on the contrary, they will be improved. For example, proteins have become polypeptides and amino acids that are more easily absorbed by the human body; many of the phytic acids originally contained in soybeans will hinder the absorption of minerals and no longer exist after fermentation; isoflavones in soybeans have become free forms after fermentation, which is more conducive to being absorbed and played by the human body.
However, it should be noted that the production process of stinky tofu is more complicated, after brine production, halogen fermentation and other procedures, during the period if the temperature and humidity control is not good, susceptible to infection by other bacteria, light cause human gastrointestinal diseases, heavy lead to the proliferation of botulinum toxin, producing a highly toxic botulinum toxin. Therefore, although the stinky tofu is delicious, you must pay attention to food safety in addition to eating.
Natto is a common traditional fermented food in Japan, made of soybeans fermented by natto bacteria, with stickiness, dark yellow color, the surface of the beans is attached to a layer of white mucus, with chopsticks to pick up a natto, can pull a long silk, smell with the nose, and smell.
The word "natto" first appeared in the book "The New Ape Music" written by Fujiwara Akiaki. However, the natto written in the "New Ape Music" is the salt-simulum natto, which is called tempeh by Chinese. It is said that it was first brought into Japan by the monk Kanjin. Jian Zhen was a monk, and tempeh introduced to Japan was mainly brewed and eaten by the monks of the temple, so it is also called terrestrial natto.
Like Chinese tempeh, temple natto does not have a sticky pluck. The so-called natto now mostly refers to the one with the plucked silk. This kind of natto, which can be pulled out of silk, is native to Japan. While there are too many versions of the legends about how natto appeared, one thing is consistent among all legends: the beans that have been cooked are fermented because they have been stored for too long and can pull out filaments like lotus roots. The Japanese saw that the boiled beans that had been left for a long time had become slimy and thought they were broken, but they were reluctant to throw them away. So sprinkle some salt and eat it hard. This time, I found that it tasted better than the boiled beans that were not broken. Thus, natto was born naturally.
Natto is good, but it's not for everyone. Natto contains high protein and purines and other substances, can induce gout, increase the burden on the kidneys, patients with purine metabolism disorders and patients with increased blood uric acid concentrations are best not to eat more; patients with chronic renal insufficiency should not eat; patients with postoperative and wounds that have not healed should not eat. In addition, because nattokinase is not heat-tolerant, it should be eaten as unheated as much as possible, and it can be eaten as a spice mixed with vegetables. And eating natto for dinner has the best health effect.
Generally speaking, people hate mold on food because of the understanding that mold means that the food is no longer fresh, and eating it may even be a health problem. However, blue-grained cheese may be a special case, and the multiplication of green mold not only makes the cheese form a beautiful blue pattern, but also adds its spicy flavor.
It is said that blue-grained cheese was born in the Locfort region of France. At that time, cheese would be aged in damp and stuffy caves, but some cheeses grew mold due to too long maturity. It was a pity for people at that time to abandon such a precious food, so a brave young man stood up and tasted this foul-smelling cheese for the first time, after which he found that he himself was not poisoned, but felt that this moldy cheese tasted wonderful. Thus, the blue cheese was born, which also made people really appreciate the taste of bacteria.
Before the cheese is fully ripe, the maker will poke a few holes in the cheese to allow oxygen to enter the inside of the cheese, so that the fungus can grow inside the cheese. Fungi break down the fats and proteins in cheese, leaving many stomata in the cheese, and the fungus breeds in these pores, creating blue veins. These molds are not toxic and do not form toxic substances inside the cheese, so they can be eaten with confidence.
Rays are a high-end ingredient in Jeolla Province, South Korea, and the most special thing about it is that it ferments itself and then emits a strong pungent ammonia. This pungent smell is also unbearable for gourmets who dare to try all kinds of strange smells. However, its annual sales in South Korea are as high as 11,000 kilograms.
This ray is made from a shark-like ray family. This fish has no bladder, no kidneys, and digests waste products through the formation of uric acid through skin exudation. When rays begin to ferment, the urea in its skin is converted into ammonia. After consumption, this unpleasant smell will remain on the eater for several hours, even on the hair, clothes, and skin.
For rays, lovers and haters describe it this way: the smell it emits is reminiscent of outdoor public toilets. At the dinner table, rays mostly come in the form of chewy pink sashimi, and those who love it praise the smell of ammonia it emits.
For lovers of rays, frozen rays can compete with foie gras on the tip of the tongue with a pinch of salt and red pepper. In their view, the appeal of the ray mainly comes from its smell, coupled with the irritation that the choking smell of ammonia brings to the mouth.
In the era without refrigerators, it was found that rays were the only fish that could be transported to the mainland dozens of kilometers away without being pickled. Rays do not have a bladder, and the discharge of uric acid is carried out through the skin. Once fermentation begins, the fish's body begins to seep out ammonia, which also acts to prevent decay.
Now whoever mentions Sweden, I am afraid that the winds of the Baltic Sea, the warm currents of the Atlantic Ocean, the bell orchids and the auroras are no longer blurted out. Instead, it is canned herring, fully known as canned herring in the Baltic Sea, which has taken a different path and become Sweden's "image ambassador" in China with its undisguised unique taste.
Canned herring is a traditional Swedish delicacy, which is a kind of canned food that emits a strong odor and a sour taste by mixing herring with salt and putting it into canned food. Salted herring is prepared by catching herring during spawning in the spring, then salting the herring and letting it ferment naturally for 1-2 months in an unlearned tube. The uniqueness of pickled herring is the natural fermentation, in order to ensure that the herring does not rot and deteriorate during the fermentation process, the makers always put the newly caught herring in thick salt water and cook it over low heat, and then put it in cans to let it ferment naturally. The biggest feature of fermented herring is its ubiquitous, hard-to-dissipate stench. People who have never eaten pickled herring often cover their noses because of its pungent stench, and the Swedish government is said to have banned the opening of canned herring in residential areas. International flights are also not allowed to carry this can, as changes in air pressure cans can rupture, with serious consequences, as its odor is equivalent to 200 times that of natto.
This food, which most people are intimidated by, is a favorite of the Swedes, and they recommend it to every foreigner. In Sweden, every year on the 3rd Thursday of August, people hold a party dedicated to herring tasting, which is said to be the best time for pickled herring. They eat potatoes, onions, sour cream or light, tasteless dough, chewing them carefully or swallowing them in large chunks.
Canned herring canned and eaten directly will not only make you feel salty and salty, but also make your taste buds suffer too much stimulation and cause discomfort. The correct way to eat it is to treat it as a side dish or sandwich it in a bread sandwich. In fact, as long as the canned herring is eaten in the right way, you can enjoy its unique flavor.