[현대건강신문=채수정 기자] The Rural Development Administration revealed how to select strawberries with high sugar content and how to enrich the texture of Korean beef.
When purchasing strawberries, there is no process of sorting them by sugar content other than sorting them by eye, so even the fruits in the same container have a slightly different taste.
The Rural Development Administration investigated the characteristics of each variety of strawberries in Korea and the taste of strawberries preferred by consumers.
As a result of the survey, △sweetness was highest in the order of ‘Vitaberry’, ‘Geumsil’, and ‘Kingsberry’, and △sourness was highest in the order of ‘High Berry’, ‘Arihyang’, and ‘Geumsil’. In terms of hardness, ‘Vitaberry’, ‘Arihyang’, and ‘Seolhyang’ appeared highest in order. In terms of the part eaten, the sweetness tended to increase from the top to the bottom.
The Rural Development Administration also surveyed 50 consumer groups on strawberry purchase trends and taste preferences. As a result, 50% of the respondents cited sweetness, sourness, and flavor, and 36% chose freshness as what they consider when purchasing strawberries. 64% of the respondents preferred only sweetness, and 32% preferred the harmony between sweetness and sourness.
In addition, the Rural Development Administration introduced a low-grade beef aging method that allows you to enjoy Korean beef more deliciously and economically.
Aging is a technique to improve the taste of beef by keeping it at a refrigerated temperature for a certain period of time. The aging method of beef is largely divided into dry aging and wet aging. Wet aging is a method of vacuum-packing beef and aging it at a refrigerated temperature of 0 to 4 degrees for more than a week, sometimes up to 9 weeks.
According to a study by the National Institute of Animal Science, when first-grade Korean beef sirloin was aged at 4 degrees Celsius for 14 days, proteolytic enzymes in the muscle were activated, and the shear force value, which indicates the tenderness of the meat, was reduced by about 50%, making it much softer. In addition, the content of glutamic acid, which gives savory taste, increased by about 3 times.
If you want to wet-age Korean beef at home, you must first carefully check the meat grade and packaging when purchasing the meat. First, choose relatively inexpensive grade 1, 2, and 3 meats according to your taste by examining whether there is a lot of marbling (intramuscular fat).
Grilled or stir-fried parts such as sirloin, fillet, and scallop meat with low grade and low intramuscular fat can be enjoyed more deliciously if they are aged. However, the lower the grade and the lower the fat, the longer the aging period.
The Rural Development Administration said, “The maturation temperature is set at a specific temperature between 0 and 4 degrees, and the same temperature is maintained during maturation, and the temperature change is minimized by placing it in a compartment in the refrigerator that is not frequently opened or in a kimchi refrigerator.” Silver varies according to grade, region, and aging temperature. For example, it is good to set the aging temperature to 2 degrees for a grade 1 sirloin and mature it for about 3 weeks.”
