When you boil stew, foam forms on top. Many people think it is toxins or impurities and remove it.

Is it really made up of harmful substances to the body?

 

You usually don't need to skim off the foam from stew. It is because the foam that forms when the water boils contains starch and proteins released from the ingredients and seasonings of the stew.

 

For example, when boiling fish stew, blood and proteins attached to the fish innards and skin coagulate, forming cloudy foam. When boiling soybean paste stew, soybean proteins float up as foam. Seasonings like red pepper powder may also mix into the foam.

 

Actually, when the Chungnam National University Agricultural Science Research Institute analyzed the foam components that form when making cheonggukjang, sundubu jjigae, and kimchi jjigae, most of them were nutrients such as moisture, crude protein, and starch.

However, it is better to remove the foam that forms when boiling meat, beef bones, or shellfish in water.

 

Because pieces of fat and connective tissue in the meat get mixed into the foam.

The foam that forms when boiling clams may contain impurities from inside the shellfish. It is best to remove the first foam.

 

Removing the foam from stew does not significantly reduce the nutrients in the food. The nutritional components in the foam are extremely minimal. If you dislike the cloudy taste caused by the foam, it is okay to remove it. However, since the foam contains seasonings such as red pepper powder or pepper, removing it too frequently may make the stew bland.

 

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When I boil stew, somehow the bubbles that rise up...

I'm removing it because it seems like an impurity.

 

When boiling meat, beef bones, or shellfish...

It's good to remove it.