How to choose soy sauce and vinegar correctly

Ordinary people open seven doors a day: rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. Recently, some friends always ask me how to choose soy sauce and vinegar. What kind of products are healthier and safer? Indeed, 20 years ago, there was no choice between soy sauce and vinegar, and now it is getting harder and harder to choose. A store has dozens of varieties, and a brand has different product lines. I'm not an expert in brewing, so I can only briefly talk about my purchasing principles from the perspective of consumers. The main raw materials of soy sauce are soybean and flour, and the main raw materials of vinegar are grain and bran, in which the content of vitamin B group will increase during fermentation. Therefore, soy sauce and vinegar not only provide salty and sour taste, but also provide amino acids, potassium, magnesium, vitamin B 1, B2 and other nutrients for human body. The key point is that real brewed products have these benefits, but those products that have been chemically hydrolyzed or blended with salt, vinegar essence and pigment do not have these benefits. The first principle: be sure to buy pure brewed products. Generally speaking, the words "traditional craft", "brewed product" and "carefully brewed" will be written on the packaging of soy sauce or vinegar produced by brewing technology, in case you don't know. Buy brand-name, pure-brewed products, then the quality will usually not disappoint. If these words are not written on the label, it goes without saying that it is definitely not a pure brewed product. It is possible to use chemical hydrolysis process or simple blending. Chemical hydrolysis to make soy sauce is fast and low cost, but its quality is poor and its nutritional value is low, and it may contain trace toxic substance "chloropropanol". There are white vinegar in vinegar products, and white vinegar is also divided into brewed products and blended products. Brewing white vinegar is vinegar fermented with alcohol, with light yellow color and slight fragrance. White vinegar is made of vinegar essence, water, salt, sugar and essence. The color is pure white and the taste is unnatural. There are different grades in the brewed products. If you pursue the quality of life, you can consider buying high-quality and first-class products. Products labeled as "Selected" and "High Quality" usually have stronger taste and flavor. The second principle: buying different series of soy sauce and vinegar according to cooking needs is also divided into different categories according to people's needs. For example, soy sauce can be divided into soy sauce and soy sauce. Soy sauce is heavy in color and strong in coloring. Generally, more caramel pigment should be added. The color of soy sauce is slightly lighter and the coloring power is lighter. Generally speaking, little or no caramel pigment is added to the product. Vinegar can be divided into aged vinegar, fragrant vinegar, smoked vinegar and fruit vinegar. Old vinegar has the strongest taste, strong acidity and fresh taste. Vinegar is soft and slightly sweet; Smoked vinegar has a strong fragrance, and fruit vinegar has the sweetness of fruit. Generally speaking, soy sauce should be used for cooking or soaking, while soy sauce is usually used for stewing and stewing. There are also some products that can be used in both directions. You can use balsamic vinegar for cold dishes, mature vinegar for dishes fried with vinegar, and fruit vinegar for some western food and refreshing cold dishes. Some brands have prepared jiaozi vinegar, cold vinegar and so on. In addition, garlic juice, ginger juice, sugar and other ingredients are added to the vinegar, which tastes pleasant and is easier to use. The third principle: if you look at the label carefully, you will find that the soy sauce product is marked with "amino acid nitrogen", which is the umami index of soy sauce. Generally speaking, the higher the amino acid nitrogen, the stronger the flavor of the product. For example, two products, one with an amino acid nitrogen content of 0.4% and the other with an amino acid nitrogen content of 0.8%, are definitely more delicious. At present, many soy sauce products have added monosodium glutamate and nucleotide flavor enhancer, which are the two basic components of chicken essence. Because monosodium glutamate is an amino acid, the amino acid nitrogen of this product is particularly high. There are even some products called fresh soy sauce, which is more delicious, and a few drops are enough-it must be remembered that after use, there is no need to add monosodium glutamate and chicken essence. The main quantitative index of vinegar is "acetic acid content". The higher the acetic acid content, the more sour the vinegar tastes. If it is pure brewed vinegar, the quality is better. Soy sauce tastes salty and mellow, while vinegar tastes sour and soft, usually because there is a small amount of sugar in it, which plays a role in harmonizing tastes. Finally, talk about additives in soy sauce and vinegar. In addition to fresheners, according to industry practice, preservatives should be added to soy sauce and vinegar. This is because although soy sauce and vinegar are getting better and better, due to insufficient salt and acidity, molds and bacteria cannot be fully inhibited. Soy sauce and vinegar can't be put in the refrigerator, and they can't be eaten all at once. After opening, it can be placed at room temperature for one or two months, which is easy to breed microorganisms. Many years ago, there was often a white film on the surface of the vat filled with bulk soy sauce and vinegar, commonly known as "fermented grains", which was caused by microbial reproduction. When soy sauce is put into a bottle, it often grows such a layer. Consumers nowadays are very picky. Who will buy this long piece of soy sauce vinegar? Therefore, it is necessary to ask preservatives for help, usually adding potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate or sodium dehydroacetate. Preservatives are added to ensure the health of consumers, and adding them according to the allowable amount of the state will not cause harm. Some products claim that there is absolutely no preservative, but it is not necessarily reassuring. One possibility is that this product adds too much salt, which will harm the health of consumers; If the taste is not too salty and no additives are added, then the safety cannot be guaranteed. Health warning: 1. Patients with hypertension, coronary heart disease and diabetes should control soy sauce and salt. Because it contains sodium chloride, sodium glutamate and sodium benzoate, it is a dense source of sodium. 2. Patients with gout should pay attention to the fact that soy sauce contains purine from soybeans, and many products have specially added nucleotides for freshness, so they must not be added more. 3. Vinegar itself contains salt, up to 3%. Sour taste can enhance the salty taste, so if you put vinegar with heavy taste, you should put less salt accordingly. Both soy sauce and vinegar contain umami substances, so if they are added, you should put less monosodium glutamate and chicken essence. Fresh soy sauce, in particular, can replace all umami seasonings. Like salt, it is better to put it later and less. Otherwise, the total sodium intake will be too high.