Hot pot balls can be eaten with confidence

In winter nights, I always want to eat some steaming hot pot and Oden to warm up my body, and all kinds of fresh and tender pills are often the focus of hot pot

The meat content will generally be truthfully labelled

Balls cooked in hot pot can be roughly divided into meatballs and surimi products

So, is it illegal to call it meatballs, but it is not pure meat? In fact, there are no mandatory regulations in this regard, only some recommended standards, and you can put as much meat as you want

The most common type of meatballs with the best price and the lowest product requirements, usually in accordance with the standard "Quick Frozen Prepared Foods" (SB/T 10379-2012) issued by the Ministry of Commerce: containing chicken, pork, fish, shrimp Minced meat products or seasoned aquatic products, pork, chicken, fish, shrimp meat content ≥ 10%; minced meat products or seasoned aquatic products containing crab meat, beef, mutton, crab meat, beef, mutton content ≥ 8%

For those with higher product requirements, the standard "Meatballs" (SB/T 10610-2011) may be followed, which stipulates that the content of poultry and livestock meat in poultry meatballs should take the first place, and the water content in aquatic product meatballs should be the first.

Such as fish balls, fish cakes, fish cakes, fish tofu, shrimp balls, lobster balls, shrimp cakes, cuttlefish balls, cuttlefish cakes, shell meat balls, simulated scallop columns and simulated crab meat, all belong to the category of surimi products

High in fat and sodium

A simple and effective way to make meatballs tender and meaty is to add fat

If you pay attention to the nutrition facts table, you will find that some 100 grams of meatballs have 20 grams of fat

Most of the hot pot pills on the market have a sodium content of more than 500 mg/100 g, many of which reach 700-800 mg, and a few even reach 1000 mg

Buy 100 grams of balls, about 5 fish balls, lobster balls, and 4 larger beef balls

Strict limits on additives

Most pill products will have a very long ingredient list with a lot of food additives, which is why they are often rumored

In order to make the meatballs delicious, in addition to the proportions of meat, salt, water, starch, soy protein, and fat, they also need the assistance of food additives, such as gums (carrageenan, xanthan gum, etc.

How to choose and cook

When choosing meatballs, consumers are best to buy packaged products, whose production date, shelf life, ingredients, nutritional ingredients, and implementation standards are clearly marked, and supervision is relatively guaranteed

If consumers do not pursue meat content, as long as they are relatively healthy, the criteria for purchasing are low-fat, high-protein, and low-sodium.

　　In the process of processing, the structure of the food pellets causes the heat to transfer slowly from the surface to the center.

　　So when cooking the balls, even if the balls have floated, try to wait 5 minutes before eating them

(Gu Zhongyi)

　　"China Food News" (December 23, 2021 06 edition)

　　(Editor-in-charge: Qu Yuening)