4 signs to recognize good ham without borax

Ham and sausage are always attractive dishes for many people. However, if you are not careful, you may buy poor quality ham, containing a lot of flour, even borax.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duy Thinh, Institute of Biotechnology and Food (Hanoi University of Science and Technology), borax is a substance that creates crunchiness for dishes, and also helps to preserve them longer without fear of spoilage.

However, borax is an extremely toxic substance and is banned by the Ministry of Health for use in food preservation and processing.

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When borax enters the human body, it is difficult to eliminate and accumulates in the liver and kidneys, causing damage to these organs. In addition, borax also causes degeneration of the reproductive organs, causing infertility. Children who eat food containing borax 1-2 g/kg of body weight can die after 10-12 hours.

Therefore, it is best for families to make their own ham to eat, especially during Tet. If you have to buy it, you should choose to buy it from reputable and trustworthy establishments and addresses that have been announced to be free of borax and have been certified by the Ministry of Health for food safety.

To be more sure, here are some ways to distinguish between good ham and ham with borax, you can refer to:

Identification features

Color

Good ham: When cut, it has an ivory color that is slightly pinkish, the surface has many holes, the ham looks smooth and a bit wet.

Because, if the ham is made from good lean meat, when ground, the meat will become sticky and encase a layer of air inside, so when boiling or steaming the ham, that air will expand and find a way to get out, creating holes inside the ham.

Ham with borax: Smooth surface, no holes. The reason is because the ham has been mixed with flour and made from meat that does not meet quality standards.

Fragrance

Good ham is the kind that has a faint aroma of meat mixed with the smell of the wrapping leaves.

If you see a piece of ham with a strong, fragrant smell, be careful because that ham has been mixed with borax.

Flavor

With good ham, when eaten it will have a sweet aroma, slightly crispy, soft.

The meat is unusually crispy, feels dry, pulpy and crumbly. In addition, ham containing borax is usually very crispy and crunchy when eaten, but when just finished eating, it will have a slightly astringent taste on the tip of the tongue.

When blotted with turmeric paper

How to make turmeric paper: Crush the turmeric, soak it in alcohol for 3-4 hours, then filter the turmeric solution. Next, soak the filter paper in the turmeric solution for about 1 hour.

Then, take it out to dry the surface and soak the filter paper in the turmeric solution for about 1-2 hours, then take it out to dry in the wind. Cut into small pieces (1.5-2cm) and store in a sealed box for later use.

Use turmeric paper to cover the surface of the ham, the paper does not change color.

Use turmeric paper to cover the surface of the ham. If the turmeric paper turns from yellow to orange or red, it means the ham contains borax.

According to SKDS