Fasting days
The Chinese began to grow soybeans three thousand years ago. East took about a thousand years to fully explore its full potential food. Chinese bean family is really great - it mung beans (mung beans), and Asuka beans (azuki beans), and fava beans (broad beans), and peas. These and many other types anyway used in Chinese cooking. But none of the legume family can not be compared meaningfully with soy, which the Chinese call the Great Bob.
This is no accident! In the Chinese system of food soy takes the third place after rice and wheat. Their relatives soy bean different low-carb, but at the same time it is much richer in protein and oil, from the viewpoint of dietary soy makes democratic source of nutrients. Content therein proteins and calcium are much higher than in natural milk or natural meat products.
The largest soy consumption falls to vegetarians, but also people with other principles of food eaten soy in one form or another every day. One only soy sauce - seasoning, plays a key role in Chinese cuisine - is used in relatively high volumes per capita. And then there is soy milk, soy flour, soy cheese.
At the dawn of its history, three thousand years ago, soy was only a modest step-daughter in wheat and millet. She was considered a kind of fertilizer, improving poor soil nitrogen, which are sown crops. People took a thousand years to open in this Cinderella princess and understand its true nutritional value.
The long history of soy, which is not over, and written even in our days, has given the world many varieties of soybean that can grow in almost any soil and carry almost any weather conditions. Like crops, soybeans harvested when its seeds (beans) are fully ripe, are dry and hard. Soybeans can be divided into several major subtypes depending on the color of beans: green, black and yellow soybeans.
In the days of the Zhou Dynasty (1050 - 256 BC.) Soy was named one of the five sacred grains, which included wheat, barley, rice and millet. While soy has been known as "shu» (shu), mature beans roasted and used it as a whole, and also used the leaves. But then soy is not considered a delicacy, while the preferred grain millet thought after him - rice and wheat, and already in fourth place was soybeans.
Initially,soy grown in the northeast of China - Manchuria, spread over the rest of China proceeded relatively slowly. By the first centuries of our era soybeans reached central China, then - its southern provinces, crossed the border and took root in Korea. Shortly before the arrival of Europeans in the XVI century, soybeans were grown in Japan and Southeast Asia ...
Soy contains a unique complete proteins, almost not inferior in nutritional quality and nutritional value of proteins of animal origin, extraordinary oil comprising components that are close to the lipids of fish and magnificent ensemble completely unique biologically active components, including the essential nutritional lecithin and choline, vitamins B, C, and E, macro- and trace elements and other substances, and besides it contains no cholesterol and lactose.
Why did it take so much time to notice and appreciate all these advantages uncrowned queen? There were at least two obstacles. Firstly, the taste of cooked beans itself. Even after a very long cooking soybeans remain tough and bitter. Secondly, whole soybeans are poorly digested by the stomach. This fact explains why today, in comparison with other legumes, beans, peas, soybeans rarely used in food as a whole. Only after generation, people learned to extract from soy all its nutrients, especially protein, but it needed to improve the methods themselves of soybean. And one of the first of these methods was to obtain soy milk.
Soymilk - Is essentially cooked and pyurirovannye soybeans. To this day in China continue to receive this product simply "pradedovskim" method, except that the sweetening or podsalivaya it. Soy milk, though resembles the consistency of cow's milk (or other animal milk), but the taste is totally different from him, and certainly not in any way soy milk can not replace a natural, 0tem more motherly. As a rule, the soy milk fed China breakfast.
Another method for pre-processing of soybeans, improve its digestibility for the human body is digestion or fermentation. The first known in the history of fermented soy products have become salty black beans. It was really a breakthrough in human nutrition, which also helped to improve the taste of soy beans. It is not known exactly how the discovery was made of this method - accidentally or not, but it happened in the period between 206 BC and 220 AD The modern method of producing salted black beans (in this case black - the result of the fermentation process) are now being used in Chinese cuisine, only slightly different from the original method, which originated at the beginning of our era.
If you will buysoy sauce directly in China, then a bottle of sauce will see the inscription «Jiang you», which literally translates as "butter sauce". But if you have ever tried in my life soy sauce, it is safe to be able to say that the oil it is totally different and the structure he is not oily. The exact date of receipt of soy sauce is unknown. But history shows that in the time of the Song dynasty soy sauce was one of the most important spices in Chinese cooking. And certainly aware that the invention of soy sauce once and forever changed the Chinese cuisine. The process of obtaining soy sauce is very complicated, it can take anywhere from six months to two years.
It is worth remembering that soy sauce is very salty, so if you are cooking a dish in which it belongs, the use of salt would be redundant. By the way, for this reason, in Chinese cuisine salt is less important than in other ethnic cuisines. Soy sauce in Chinese cooking and is often used as a preservative. Daily eating soy sauce, Chinese daily provide your body with riboflavin, vitamin B6, magnesium, copper, protein, iron, phosphorus, manganese and niacin. Thus, it may be wise to follow the example of the wise Chinese and partially replace salt soy sauce?
Soybeans rich in protein, many nutrients and vitamins, but what they lack for exceptional collection of utility, it's vitamin C. However, nature is not cheated soybeans this vitamin, it not only gave the beans and sprouts, which, incidentally, is very easy get at home. A method of germinating soybean is as follows: take the earthen vessel (you can take an ordinary flower pot or jar with a hole in the bottom), which put a piece of cloth. In it is placed the required quantity of beans, previously washed and soaked for 6 hours in cold water, and closes the top cloth to protect from light. Next, the beans are watered twice a day, and in the summer 3 times. In winter, watering well over warm water and keep in a warm place. Sprouting ends after 3-5 days in the summer, and in winter through promuzhutok time up to 15 days. Ready considered shoots when they reach a length of 4-5 cm.
When used cotyledons germs are removed, they are not going to eat. Too long shoots fibrous and not as nutritious and tasty. Bean sprouts are eaten as a flavoring for soups, sometimes cooked in a little water with the addition of soy sauce or roasted. Soybean sprouts can be prepared different varieties of lettuce with different seasonings. Soy sprouts are always pre-pour over boiling water. Heat treatment increases the nutritional value of germs and, in addition, makes them more palatable.
Soybean oil is quite popular around the world, in Chinese cooking as it is second only to rape (third place was given to peanut butter).
As already mentioned, the Chinese generally do not eat soy beans entirely. But this only applies to mature, withered on the stem and pod beans. Mature but still green beans that have not had time to dry, can be eaten as a whole, as more acceptable to the stomach than the fully ripened beans. However, not all kinds of varieties of soybean and suitable for these purposes. Beans that without prejudice to the well-being can be eaten, called edamame (edamame), a word of Japanese origin. Edamame fried, stewed as ordinary vegetables, eaten as a snack right in the pods. Spicy version of a snack (with black pepper, garlic and anise) is very popular in Taiwan's tea shop.
And, of course, speaking of soybeans, it is necessary to say a few words abouttofuOr doufu - tofu. We'll talk about it some other time, but now only say that doufu finally approved soy as one of the most important elements of Chinese cuisine. Scientists believe that the first doufu was prepared by adding salt to the soy milk. In Chinese cooking doufu plays the same role that meat and dairy products in other national cuisines. Any Chinese chef knows how to cook a wide variety of delicious dishes from this silky white cheese.
Another amazing product that owes its birth to the ingenuity of the Chinese people -soy meat. When two thousand years ago, two Indian Buddhists arrived in China and brought the doctrine of the goodness of lean supply, they found in the person of the Chinese people grateful listeners. Meat was a luxury in China, and the peasants rarely could afford it. It is on this basis were born the great Chinese art of deception gastronomic - soybeans in the hands of skilled cooks can easily "turn" is not only meat but also fish. Vegetarian in China almost feels somewhat slighted. It can without remorse enjoy delicious chicken legs or cutlets, knowing nothing of chicken, except taste, these burgers are not present. False meat is very popular in the east, vegetarian restaurants and kitchens temple in China and Taiwan.
Soy in Chinese culinary culture not just ingredient and drug. On its medicinal properties of the Chinese learned almost immediately after it drew my attention, because one of the principles of Chinese cooking is the health benefits of any food intake. Soybeans treated with heart, liver, kidneys, intestines and other organs. Compared with other countries, especially Europe and the Americas, the percentage of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and other diseases in China is much lower. The inclusion of soy products in food reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, which are a major cause of mortality in the world. Soy is a supplier of complete protein, the equivalent of meat and dairy contained in foods of animal origin, but unlike them, does not contain cholesterol.
Soy products can successfully be used as a low calorie product in weight control programs. Due to the large number of plant fibers is achieved long-term effect of saturation and stimulates bowel movements.