Why does the bought razor lose 20% as soon as it drains? Aquatic products expert: this is caused by "professional regulations", "fatification" and "puffiness"
Why did the bought clams lose weight as soon as they drained? Not only razor clams, but also clams, geoduck, abalone, etc. Why do they have such a fast "weight loss" effect?
In the late spring and early summer, as a large number of seafood, especially shellfish, are on the market, many foodies have increased their desire to try new things, but while eager to try, they found a peculiar phenomenon, that is, part of the seafood that was bought home was "weight loss" and shrinking. very serious. Through the information reported by the public, Mr. Zhou visited some wholesale markets and vegetable markets unannounced, and discovered that the mystery was caused by repeated soaking of seashells and other seafood in salt-reduced water.
There are only 8 taels left in a pound of razor squeezed dry water
Early this morning, Mr. Zhou Daojun came to an aquatic product stall near Zhaozhou Road and Tangjiawan Road. There were screws, razor clams, razor clams, clams, abalone and other aquatic products. The stall owners shouted In the middle, two sisters-in-law Ma came to the booth one after the other, and saw the plump and plump razor clams that were full of mouths and praised them, "Well the razor clams this morning!"
Because of special attention, Jun Dao spent 15 yuan to buy a catty. After buying the clams, Jun Zhou immediately squeezed the open clams with two fingers, and the water in the clam shells was immediately squeezed out. After the razor shell was closed tightly, the reporter placed the razor on the electronic scale and found that the original one-pound razor had only 8 weights. "Look at it, how can the weight vary so much? Should I buy the razor or buy water!" Zhou Shijun used too much force and squeezed out some of the water that the razor razor should hold, but even if it was not squeezed like this, it can still be seen that the soaked razor was over-hydrated.
Seeing that Zhou Daojun was tossing like this, the stall owner was anxious, "Who does anyone buy razor clams like this? The clams originally lived in water, so it’s strange that they don’t die if they leave the water!" The proprietress on the side was even more anxious, and she turned her head to say The boss helped out, "Did you come to buy the razor or to make trouble? The razor and the water are the same family. The razor that is squeezed out of the water will definitely die. How can such a razor be eaten?"
Regarding the strong protests from the boss and the proprietress, Zhou Daojun was silent and just watched quietly. At this time, the two sisters-in-laws who were still holding their thumbs seemed to wake up, "The amount of water in the clams is indeed heavy. "As he turned his head and evacuated the stall, the thoughtful gentleman saw the situation and left with the razor.
Shipped from Changjie three times after cleaning and soaking, gaining over 20% weight
A certain aquatic product market in northern Shanghai is a large-scale and influential aquatic product market in Shanghai. Due to long-term contacts and interviews with the aquatic product market, Mr. Zhou had an interaction with many of the bosses. After interviewing the aquatic product retail stalls, Mr. Zhou visited the market immediately. In the wholesale market, I wanted to know the whole process of razor clam listing, and a boss Zhang, who had been in the razor clam business, greeted him with a smile.
Boss Zhang is busy at this time. Because a truck of clams was just delivered from Ninghai Long Street, Boss Zhang moved the goods while communicating with Zhou Daojun, "The clams in Long Street are famous, and you can see that they are fresh and fat. For two days, my daily wholesale volume was several thousand catties." Boss Zhang was talking, and Mr. Thoughtful approached him. Indeed, after a long journey, the razor clams were transported to the wholesale market and the mud that was originally on the razor clams had disappeared.
"Aren’t the razors dug out from the mud in the tidal flat? How come they are now clean?" Seeing Zhou Daojun’s layman’s words, Mr. Zhang explained, "Why don’t you want to be covered in mud? Our wholesalers require The delivered clams were clean, so the clams were cleaned before they were delivered from Changjie where they were produced."
Speaking of this, I gradually entered the subject. "So soaking in the water is just to refresh the razor clams?" Zhou Daojun couldn't help asking. "In addition to washing the mud on the shells, there is another purpose to increase the weight of the razor clams." For the response of Boss Zhang, he was thoughtful and immersed in the mist. Seeing Jun Dao Jun full of suspicion, Boss Zhang explained casually. It turns out that the razor clams from Changjie taste the best in April and May. The salt content of the culture is generally about 20 per thousand. After the razor clams are dug out, they will be washed with lower-salt water immediately, and trucks will come all the way into the wholesale market. Waiting for vendors and secondary wholesalers to come to wholesale.
"In fact, everyone in this line of business has experience. You don't need to grab the salt and put the salt in the water. You know what the salt content is in the water. It's not far from ten. Once the razor enters the wholesale market, the bosses will watch and watch. , To determine the condition of the razor clams after entering the site, such as the freshness of soaking in water, the degree of fatness, the salt content of the transported soaking water, etc., and then consider whether to change the water and soak again."
"If the appearance does not seem to be fat enough, or there is a possibility of gaining weight, the bosses will also change the water and soak, generally from the place of production to the retail sale, it is necessary to clean and soak three times." Boss Zhang further explained that generally every time the soaking, the water will be reduced. The salt in it. Soaking in water with lower salt content can increase the weight of the razor clams. Generally, there is no problem with a 10-20% weight gain, and the maximum weight gain is more than 30%.
shellfish and other seafood are similar to "catsies"
According to the situation in the vegetable market and the wholesale market, Jun Zhou brought back a pack of clams for inspection by an expert from the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute. After seeing the razor clams he brought back, the aquatic product expert told Zhou Daojun that in addition to razor clams, shellfish seafood businesses usually have this kind of "fatification" method, which is to soak clams, clams, geoduck, abalone, etc. It turns out that salty water can "fatify" such seafood, that is, increase the weight of seafood. Some seafood such as shellfish are easier to absorb water, which means it is easier to gain weight, and so can marine fish, but the amount of weight gain is small. In fact, this kind of "fat-enhancing" measures just make seafood "puffy". All the weight added by seafood is water. People will definitely suffer a loss after buying them back.
“The “cat greasy” of seafood has become the “rule”. Soak it with water lower than the original salt. In order to maintain the balance of salt and water in the body, seafood such as shellfish will absorb water from the environment and the seafood will gain weight. If the salt content in the water is lower than the lower tolerance limit of shellfish and other seafood, the seafood will die in a short time. Therefore, from a business perspective, both wholesalers and retailers will control the salt content of the soaking water to a low level. Not within the scope of letting seafood die."
Regarding the "mud clams" sold in the vegetable farms, such as those dug out from the mud flats, the expert believes that the "mud clams" that used to be transported from the production areas in the vegetable farms are rare now. The “mud clams” sold at the vegetable farms are probably fake “mud clams” that are soaked and re-wrapped from the place of origin, instead of the real “mud clams” of the past. People who do not know how to do it are easily deceived.
Experts: Industry standards should be formulated to ensure that consumption does not suffer
Buying "fatification" razor clams will not only cost you money, but the aquatic product expert also believes that if seafood such as razor clams is soaked in a water body that is not ideal for a long time, the freshness will be reduced, the nutrients will also change, and the taste will definitely change. difference. Many businessmen often take advantage of the people's ignorance and focus only on the appearance and the mentality of the horse to deceive consumers by "increasing fat". Therefore, he suggested that when purchasing seafood, consumers should choose large-scale professional aquatic product markets or supermarkets as much as possible. At the same time, consumers should also pay attention to observation. If they are buying over-full seafood such as razor clams, they should be carefully considered. , Can reduce the possibility of spending wrong money.
Ge Jinhai, executive chairman of the Aquatic Products Commerce Branch of the China Fisheries Association, told reporters that the industry used to sell aquatic products for weighing, but there was a saying in the industry that dripping was not a line. Now, many merchants who are profiteering and selling aquatic products are dripping in line. There are many reasons for the "fatification" of seafood such as shellfish. One important reason is that there is no industry standard for seafood soaking. For example, there is no water quality requirement for seafood soaking, soaking time regulation, salt content standard, etc. The lack of standards causes many Dealers do not hesitate to harm the rights of consumers for their own interests, and it is difficult for the relevant departments to supervise them. To this end, he suggested that it is necessary to formulate industry standards for such aquatic products, so that government departments have a basis for law enforcement and there are arguments for consumer rights protection.