There’s a lot to know about seasoning dishes healthily

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When cooking, it’s important to know when to add seasonings and which ones to use, in order to maintain the dish’s color, flavor, and aroma while also minimizing the loss of nutrients, thus benefiting human health. This is a real art. Oil – used in hot pans; the rape leaves have a delicious flavor and do not stick to the pan easily. Salt – There are specific considerations regarding the use of soybean oil or canola oil for cooking. To reduce the loss of vitamins in vegetables, salt is generally added after the vegetables have been stir-fried ； When using peanut oil for cooking, since it is prone to contamination by Aspergillus flavus, it is necessary to first add salt and heat the pan; this helps to **reduce aflatoxins ； When cooking with animal fat, half of the salt can be added first to remove residual organochlorine pesticides from the fat, and the other half can be added afterward ； When preparing meat dishes, to keep the meat tender, it is best to add salt when it is about 80% cooked. Vinegar – It’s best to add it early. If a little vinegar is added to the vegetables after they are put into the pot while cooking, it helps reduce the loss of vitamin C in the vegetables, promotes the dissolution of minerals such as calcium, iron, and phosphorus, and thereby enhances the nutritional value of the dish as well as its absorbability by the body. Soy sauce – Cooking soy sauce at high temperatures for a long time before serving will destroy its nutritional components and cause it to lose its umami flavor. Therefore, soy sauce should be added just before taking it out of the pot. Sugar – add sugar first then salt. When preparing dishes such as sweet and sour carp, sugar should be added before salt; otherwise, the ‘dehydrating’ effect of salt will cause the proteins to coagulate, making it difficult to fully taste the sweetness of the sugar. This results in a sweet exterior but a bland interior, affecting the overall flavor of the dish. Special note: Sugar should not be taken simultaneously with traditional Chinese medicine decoctions, as components such as proteins and tannins in these medicines can react chemically with sugar, reducing their efficacy. Alcohol – When cooking meat dishes such as fish and mutton at the highest temperature in the pot, adding some cooking wine can help eliminate any strong odors through its evaporation. Therefore, the best time to add cooking wine is when the temperature in the pot is at its highest during cooking. Additionally, when stir-frying shredded meat, wine should be added after the meat has been fried ； Wine should be added to the fried fish after it is cooked ； It’s best to add wine to the fried shrimp after they are cooked ； For soups, once the water is boiling, switch to a low heat for simmering; add alcohol during this process. Monosodium glutamate – Add it before removing the pot from the heat; when heated to over 120°C, it turns into pyroglutamic acid sodium, which not only lacks umami flavor but is also toxic. Therefore, monosodium glutamate is best added just before removing the dish from the heat.