Soaking food before cooking has many benefits, it can make food swell, soften, especially detoxify, harmful substances for the body. Even the foods we eat daily like rice, beans… besides nutrients also have substances that are not good for the body. And soaking is a way to detoxify these substances, but many people are very subjective.
Therefore, soaking food according to the traditional experience of our ancestors is not only a way to quickly soften food, but it is also an almost mandatory measure for safety in eating.
Potatoes, cassava, fresh bamboo shoots without soaking can be deadly
In the group of toxic foods that need to be soaked to “dissolve” toxins, we cannot fail to mention fresh bamboo shoots, this is the most toxic type of food. Fresh bamboo shoots and cassava both have natural toxins no matter where they grow. That is cyanide, a dangerous poison that can kill in small amounts. It is the most dangerous toxin and kills very quickly. Bamboo shoots and cassava naturally have this substance, especially the peel and the two ends of the cassava. And bamboo shoots have it in the entire body of the bamboo.
Soaking is a way to remove these toxins into water. The more times you soak, the better. And soaking rice water will help them detoxify faster.
As for bamboo shoots, this toxin is very strong, so besides soaking, it also needs to be boiled several times and boiled in an open state for the toxins to evaporate. There have been cases of poisoning with cassava and bamboo shoots because of inadequate processing, leading to extremely dangerous cyanide poisoning.
As for potatoes, they also have a natural amount of toxins, especially when they sprout and the skin turns green, they will produce a lot of solanine which makes the potatoes turn green. Soaking potatoes before cooking is a way to detoxify. Moreover, if not soaked, after peeling and slicing, they will turn dark, making the cooked food look unattractive.
Soak eggplant to remove solanine
For vegetables like purple eggplant, green eggplant, white eggplant, before cooking and pickling, they need to be cut into small pieces and then soaked so that they release blackish liquid. Because they themselves have natural solanine, which is toxic and creates bitterness. When pickled, they need to completely convert to acid taste before eating at that time the toxins will decompose in the water. When eating eggplant, it is not advisable to eat it raw because the toxins are not eliminated, it must be cooked well to eliminate toxins.
Dried bamboo shoots need to be soaked to detoxify
Dried bamboo shoots have been detoxified for cydanide as above but when dried, there is a risk of sulfur contamination and there is still a bitter taste. Therefore, when eating dried bamboo shoots, you also need to soak them. Soaking bamboo shoots to soften them and eliminate bitterness, so when stir-frying, bamboo shoots taste sweet and delicious. If not soaked or soaked hastily with hot water to quickly bloom, it will not taste good. So it needs to be soaked in cold water, rice water overnight for bamboo shoots to eliminate bitterness, preservative substances.
Dried shiitake mushrooms also need to be soaked to expand before cooking and should be soaked in warm water. Because if they are put in hot water, they will soften quickly and not taste good.
Dried shiitake mushrooms also have light-sensitive toxins, so when eating, they should not be eaten fresh but must be dried to decompose the toxins and then soaked with water for them to expand and then can be eaten.
Various types of seeds (rice, brown rice, beans, raw peanuts…) need to be soaked to remove nutrient inhibitors
In particular, brown rice has a natural arsenic content, especially in the husk. Moreover, they, like soybeans, black beans, red beans… have natural germination inhibitors. If there is no such substance, freshly harvested seeds will germinate and cannot be stored. Therefore, the natural mechanism of seeds is to have nutrient inhibitors, when farmers soak the seeds in water to the proper degree, this substance decomposes and the seeds germinate.
Therefore, when eating these seeds without soaking, the germination inhibitors still in the seeds will reduce nutrient absorption.
Soaking various types of seeds also helps them soften and cook faster and better. For example, soaked glutinous rice will make delicious sticky rice, soaked brown rice will make soft and delicious rice, soaked beans will make them quickly tender and cooked, soaked soybeans will make delicious soy milk….
If you don’t soak these seeds before cooking, it can cause stomach pain and reduce nutrient absorption. Moreover, some types of beans like soybeans, black beans, after soaking, need to be cooked well.
So remember, this soaking tip for vegetables and fruits helps you cook better and safer food.
Soak bones before blanching and cooking to reduce odor
Meat bones contain a lot of marrow and dirt when moving. Therefore, you should soak them so that they release dirty water before blanching and cooking, then the food will be more fragrant. Soaking bones helps reduce the unpleasant odor of marrow. The marrow sticking to the bones makes them quickly invaded by bacteria and quickly become smelly. Soaking the marrow out of the bones, when blanching and simmering, the bone broth will be clear and not fishy.
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