1. Blanch before cooking
Blanching is a technique for pre-treating ingredients before cooking, especially for foods with high levels of purines, such as meat and seafood. By blanching, we can take advantage of the water-soluble nature of purines to effectively remove some of the purines, thereby reducing the purine content in food.
Control the blanching time:
Blanch the water for too long to avoid overcooking or loss of taste. Generally speaking, the blanching time is between a few minutes and ten minutes, depending on the type and size of the ingredients. For smaller ingredients, such as shrimp or small pieces of meat, the blanching time may be shorter; For larger ingredients, such as whole cuts of meat or large pieces of seafood, blanching may take a little longer.
2. Choose a low-temperature cooking method
Choosing a low-temperature cooking method is an effective strategy to reduce the purine content of food during the cooking process. When using low-temperature cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, and stewing, the food is heated evenly and at a relatively low temperature, which helps to better retain the original nutrients of the food.
Due to the higher temperature of the oil, it may cause some of the purines in the food to be destroyed, which may produce additional purines during the cooking process. At high temperatures, there may be changes in the chemical composition of food, including the decomposition and recombination of purines, which increases the purine content in food and should be avoided as much as possible.
3. Remove oil from food
Fats and oils may contain higher levels of purines, especially in animal fats. Therefore, removing the fat that floats on the soup after cooking or removing excess fat from ingredients such as meat before eating can reduce purine intake. In addition, choosing lean parts and avoiding excessive fat and sebum intake is also an effective way to reduce purine intake.
When making soups or stews, a layer of grease tends to appear on the soup surface after cooking. This layer of oil may contain high levels of purines, so removing them is an effective purine lowering strategy. The oil slick can be gently skimmed off with a spoon or a special oil-water separator can be used to remove the grease.