As we all know, people from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in China like to drink "slow-cooked soup", which is characterized by long hours of simmering. Many people believe that the soup should be simmered for at least 3 hours, or even longer. However, nutrition experts do not agree with this view.
Simmering for 1.5 to 2 hours is recommended
Experts believe that the soup should not be simmered for too long, and the ideal simmering time is between 1.5 to 2 hours, which can best preserve the nutrients. Start by boiling the soup with high heat and then simmer it with low heat. Putting a variety of ingredients into the soup ensures a balanced nutrition and promotes digestion and absorption. However, if the simmering time is too long, it can cause the loss of nutrients such as protein and fat in the food. Therefore, it is recommended to eat the meat and soup together, as not all protein in the food can be extracted into the soup.
Herbal ingredients should not be simmered for more than an hour
In addition to meat, the use of herbal ingredients is also a characteristic of slow-cooked soup. If meat cannot be simmered for a long time, what about the herbal ingredients? According to experts, for herbs such as Astragalus and Codonopsis, which are used for tonifying Qi, simmering them for 40 to 60 minutes on low heat is sufficient. If the time is too long, the active ingredients of the herbs will be destroyed in the solution.
So how can meat and herbal ingredients be synchronized? Experts recommend the following method: if the simmering time for the soup is two hours, soak the herbal ingredients separately for one hour, then after one hour of simmering the soup, add the soaked herbal ingredients and the water into the soup, and continue simmering for another hour together with the other ingredients. This way, the nutrition and medicinal properties of the ingredients can be preserved to the maximum extent.
Furthermore, experts suggest that it is best to choose herbal ingredients that are suitable for most people's constitution and have a balanced tonifying effect, such as Chinese yam, goji berries, Codonopsis, Rehmannia, and Solomon's seal rhizome.
