Be sure to skim off any foam that forms when boiling this stew.

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

Is it really made up of ingredients that are harmful to the body?

 

There is usually no need to skim off the foam from the stew. This is because the bubbles that form as the water boils are mixed with starch and protein from the stew ingredients or seasoning.

 

For example, when boiling fish stew, the blood and proteins from the fish's intestines and skin clump together, forming a cloudy foam. When boiling soybean paste stew, the proteins in the soybeans rise to the surface as foam. Seasonings like red pepper powder can also mix into the foam.

 

In fact, when the Chungnam National University Agricultural Science Research Institute analyzed the foam components that form when boiling cheonggukjang, soft tofu stew, and kimchi stew, they found that most of them were nutrients such as moisture, crude protein, and starch.

However, it is better to skim off the foam that forms when boiling meat or bones or clams in water.

 

This is because the fat and fat pieces of meat are mixed into the foam.

The foam that forms when boiling clams may contain impurities from within the clams. It's best to skim off the first layer of foam.

 

Skimming the foam from a stew doesn't significantly reduce the nutrients in the dish. The nutrients contained in the foam are extremely small. If you don't want the soup to become cloudy due to the foam, there's no problem with skimming it. However, because the foam contains seasonings like red pepper powder and pepper, skimming too frequently can make the stew taste bland.

 

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When I make stew, I also feel like bubbles are rising.

It looks like an impurity, so I remove it.

 

When boiling meat, bones, or shellfish,

It's better to kick it out