Molecular gastronomics of hot pot

like many famous dishes, hot pot originated in the folk. After many years of evolution, today's hot pot is a walk into the hall of great elegance, and can even represent the food culture of Chengdu and Chongqing. As a "simple lazy" way of cooking, why is hot pot so attractive?let's explore molecular gastronomics.hot pot first need to use high-temperature oil to fry the base. The more high-end hot pot, the more seasonings you fry. There are different scented substances in the seasoning, some soluble in water and some soluble in oil. After high-temperature frying, those that can only be dissolved in the oil can also be extracted. Add water and boil, and the solubility of the water is dissolved into the soup. The perceived scent of the human body is a specific combination of different scented substances, just as different instruments ensemble a symphony. Different substrate combinations, different frying details, will get different flavor material composition, which also leads to different flavors. Different hot pot shops have their own "secrets", which also caused a variety ofof hot pot flavor.oil is a feature of hot pot, a cooking method, and an important aspect of what nutritionists call it. But oil is too important for hot pot - it's hard to eat hot pot, which reduces the amount of hot pot. On the one hand, many scented substances are only dissolved in the oil - the oil does not exist, the fragrance will be attached? The oil is then attached to the dish, and those scented substances come into close contact with the body's scent perception system. On the other hand, before the water boils, the presence of oil isolates the contact between water and air, thus reducing the evaporation of water, which makes the soup "open" faster. And fast heating is just one of the advantages of hot pot.mention the oil of the hot pot, you can't help but say "old hot pot". After the guests finished eating, there was still a lot of oil in the pot. These oils are recycled and re-used through clarification, over-consideration, and cooking. In today's food safety is extremely sensitive, such old oil can even be classified as "broad trench oil" ranks. Whether it contains "harmful substances" is another question, and psychological discomfort makes it difficult for many people to accept it - as in the past, for example, when the media used to describe it as "spitting with other guests". In the "media exposure" and netizens under the word of mouth, many hot pot shops and even hot pot associations have also said that "deactivity of old oil."but the old hot pot can be regarded as the characteristics and tradition of Chongqing hot pot. It's not just about reducing the use of oil and saving costs, it's also about taste. Many enthusiasts of "authentic hot pot" think that the old hot pot tastes better. This is not entirely psychological - in the process, the scented substances in the base of the hot pot will leave some in the oil, the ingredients also have some scented substances into the oil, so the old oil and fresh oil, there will be a richer taste.from a food safety perspective, the old oil recovered through traditional process specifications is not necessarily a big problem. However, after all, old oil is someone else to eat the rest of the recycling products, for many people, it is difficult to overcome psychological discomfort. Between traditional "classic delicacies" and "food safety" or "psychological feelings", different levels of eaters may have different choices. It may not be necessary to use legal means to carry out "one size fits all", and it should be a more reasonable solution to guarantee consumers' "right to know" and "right to choose".hot pot can easily create a warm dining atmosphere, suitable for family or friends gathering. The food itself has a unique appeal. First of all, hot pot bottoms are rich in flavor and the ingredients are usually thinly sliced, which allows them to cook quickly, avoiding prolonged heating that destroys the flavor of the ingredients themselves. At the same time, the surface area is large and easy to absorb the seasonings in the soup, thus becoming more "tasteful". Secondly, in addition to adsorption of scented substances, the ingredients themselves will have some scented substances dissolved into the soup. Different ingredients dissolve different flavor substances, and may make hot pot soup more rich flavor. Third, the flavor of food comes largely from the "aroma" of olfactory perception. The molecules that produce aromas are volatile, and after cooking is over, those volatile molecules continue to disperse. When the hot pot is hot, you can eat the ingredients before the aroma is gone., to give full play to the advantages of hot pot, hot pot should be "less each time, hot cooked to eat." Less, less impact on the soup temperature, you can become more quickly cooked. Cooked can also be quickly eaten, and avoid a long time stew or fish out after the loss of fragrance. Some people like a variety of ingredients at a time, flowers green is very eye-catching, but similar to soup - although there is nothing not, but the advantages of hot pot, it is difficult to play.different ingredients under the order of the pot, for the hot pot experience is not without impact. Ingredients such as mushrooms and fish are mainly flavored ingredients such as amino acids and nucleotides dissolved during the burning process. And vegetables dissolved in the grass acid, danning, vitamins, polyphenol compounds and so on, often are not a good taste. From a health perspective, nutritionists recommend eating "healthy ingredients" such as vegetables to help control the amount of meat consumed. However, this order, will make vegetables extracted into the soup those ingredients somewhat destroy the "pure" soup, and then meat, the taste is not so wonderful.