Hot Pot Survival Guide: The bottom of a clear soup pot may not be safe either

Don’t think that choosing a clear soup pot when eating hot pot is equivalent to choosing a “healthy option”. The bone broth, mushroom soup, and seafood clear soup pot sold in most restaurants on the market may even have higher risks in terms of high sodium, high purine, and invisible fat than the red oil pot base you avoid.

Last month, I had a hot pot party with some friends. One of them, a brother who had suffered from gout for just half a month, waved his hand when he walked in and asked for a clear soup pot instead of red pot. He said, "This is light, I can drink two bowls of soup and it will be fine." As a result, he drank three bowls in a row. That night, his feet hurt so much that he couldn't stand. He went to the hospital to check that his uric acid spiked to 580. He still can't figure out, "I didn't drink beer or eat seafood, so why did it relapse?" 」

After all, in the perception of most people, a red soup pot is filled with half a pot of red oil, and a dish with chopsticks can be hung with oil stars. High oil and high salt cannot escape. On the other hand, a clear soup pot is either clear to the bottom, or milky and rich, which is bound to the word "health" at a glance. However, this "looking safe" actually hides many pitfalls that are easy to ignore.

Don’t take it seriously. I’ve seen random inspections of hot pot soup bases conducted by various consumer associations. Among the 20 common hot pot soup bases on the market, the average sodium content of clear soup pots reached 327 mg per 100 ml, and the highest sodium content in a mushroom soup pot even reached 570 mg per 100 ml. What concept? When you drink a 300 ml bowl of soup, you eat almost 5 grams of salt, which is close to half of the recommended daily salt intake for adults. If you eat some shabu-shabu dipped in sesame sauce, your daily salt intake may exceed twice the standard. Of course, some people will refute: "I can make clear soup at home, right? 」Of course, if you just use water and add onion and ginger to cook it, without adding any additional seasonings, the sodium content will definitely be low, but if you add soup stock, chicken essence, and MSG to enhance the freshness, it will not be much different from what is sold outside. Some people also say that it’s always okay to choose a clean water pot bottom, right? Yes, the risk is indeed low when it comes to the bottom of a pot with a few slices of ginger and two green onions floating in clear water. However, many people add various pickled meats, meatballs and other high-salt dishes to it while simmering it. The sodium content in the soup will also increase at the end of the cooking process.

More hidden than high sodium is the problem of purine. The core reason why the gouty brother at the beginning was infected was those three bowls of mushroom soup. Many people don’t know that mushrooms, pork bones, and seafood are high-purine ingredients. The longer they are cooked, the more purine is dissolved. Test data shows that the purine content of mushroom soup pots cooked for more than 2 hours can reach more than 400 mg per 100 ml, which is higher than that of many red soup pots. After all, people generally do not drink the soup directly from red soup pots. Instead, clear soup pots become the "invisible porters" of purine. Many fitness bloggers have said before that when eating hot pot during the fat loss period, you should choose a clear soup pot. This is actually only half correct: if you choose a pot with no additives and do not drink soup throughout the process, and only boil vegetables and low-fat ingredients such as lean beef and chicken breasts, it is indeed healthier than a red oil pot. However, if you choose a bone soup pot and like to drink two sips of soup, you may consume more purines and fat than eating a red oil pot.

There are also many people who have been deceived by the "nutritional filter" of the milky white soup, thinking that it is boiled collagen essence, and drinking it can replenish the skin. To be honest, that milky white layer is really not collagen, but a suspension formed by boiling the fat in the bones and emulsifying it with the protein. A nutritionist has previously measured that a 200 ml bowl of milky white bone soup has a fat content of about 15 grams, which is almost the same as eating three spoons of peanut oil. Do you think you can avoid gaining weight by drinking this during your fat loss period? Of course, some people say, "I just love drinking this flavor. What's wrong with drinking it once in a while?" 」, that’s totally fine, I’m just afraid that if you drink it as a “health soup” every now and then, then it’s weird that your blood lipids are not high.

I've been doing a lot of hot pot cooking in the past two years, and I've gained some experience in choosing clear soup pots: When going out to eat, first look at the state of the bottom of the pot when it's served. If it's pungent before it's cooked, or the color is as white as milk, then there's a high probability that a lot of seasonings have been added. I usually ask the waiter directly if they can change to a clear soup pot that only has onions and ginger. If that doesn't work, I'll choose a pot with separate bottoms and where the raw materials can be seen. In addition, no matter what the bottom of the pot is, don’t drink soup that has been cooked for more than 20 minutes, especially soup after simmering beef, mutton, and seafood. The purine and sodium content are ridiculously high. It would be easier to make it at home. Blanch the bones in advance and wash them. Don't add any miscellaneous freshness enhancers when boiling. Skim off the floating oil before taking it out of the pot. Add less salt when drinking. This kind of clear soup pot is really safe.

In fact, there is no need to describe the clear soup pot as a scourge. To put it bluntly, we eat hot pot to have fun. As long as you don’t regard “clear soup equals health” as a stereotype and pay a little attention to avoid pitfalls, you can enjoy the meal without worrying about the hidden risks. Next time you have a hot pot party, don’t drink from the mushroom soup pot.