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Heavy hotpot smell on clothes may be due to additives, chef says
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THE heavy smell left on diners’ clothes and hair after a hotpot meal may be caused by use of additives in the soup mix, a chef at a hotpot restaurant in Hubei Province told the media.
The chef, surnamed Li, told Chutian Gold Daily that the strong smell often is caused by a variety of hotpot additives and flavoring and fragrance agents.
Hundreds of different additives are sold in the condiment market, some of which are concentrates or mixtures of natural ingredients. Some, however, contain artificial ingredients.
The heat and steam of the hotpot spread the aromas, making them the smell stronger than additives in other dishes, the newspaper reported yesterday, citing chef Li.
Li said he can use five bottles of selected additives — fragrance agent for hotpot, hot and spicy liquid, concentrated bone soup, braised flavor additive and hotpot flavor additive – costing only 225 yuan (US$37) in total to make several dozen hotpots, which is much cheaper than the traditional hotpot soup base made from beef tallow and pork bones.
One of the concentrated bone soup mixes sold on Taobao.com can make about 100 liters of bone soup and is sold for only 45 yuan, according to the product description on the website.
The product description of a hot and spicy liquid sold for 58 yuan said it can effectively remove a variety of food odors and enhance the flavor and fragrance of the soup.
The product description of an oil-based hotpot fragrance said it is made of oil extracts from natural spices.
After an experiment run by the newspaper and Li, volunteers were asked to describe the differences between the traditional pot and the “chemical pot” made mainly of additives. All of them said the “chemical pot” smelled the best and had the best flavor, at least for the first taste.
However, half of them said the traditional pot tasted ordinary at the first, but didn’t leave the greasy sensation like the “chemical pot” did after being boiled for a long time.
“The chemical pot will make you feel like your mouth is parched and tongue scorched,” one of the volunteers said.
That’s a common expression in Chinese that describes the body’s thirst for water in hot weather, after heavy exercise, or after eating too many additives like monosodium glutamate.
The volunteers also said that the smell of the “chemical pot” is similar to that of instant noodle soup, only stronger and more complex.
Also, the “chemical pot” smell left over on fabrics was much stronger than that of the traditional hotpot.
Sun Baoguo, an academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor of food science at Beijing Technology and Business University, said not all food additives are harmful to humans if they are used within limits, according an article posted on Xinhuanet.com.
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