Koreans eat kimchi every day. Why are they not afraid of nitrite poisoning?
Nitrite itself is not a carcinogen. Although people can be poisoned by directly eating 0.3 g of sodium nitrite, it is estimated that it will consume 180 kg because of eating spicy cabbage. Under certain conditions, sodium nitrite can be transformed into nitrosamines, which are carcinogens, but the transformation condition is the extreme lack of vitamin C.
There is another saying:
0~3 days after curing, the content of nitrite is the highest, which is 1. Generally, from the third day, due to the continuous reproduction of microorganisms, the oxygen in the pickle jar is exhausted, and the nitrite content in vegetables begins to decrease due to oxidation, and tends to a relatively stable value. But it will take about 15 days. Therefore, after kimchi has been fermented for at least 15 days, there is basically no need to worry about nitrite. Since then, a large number of lactic acid bacteria have been produced, which have a health care effect on the human body.
Some people worry that nitrite harmful to human body will be produced in the process of kimchi fermentation, but it is actually unfounded. The kimchi made by myself is absolutely original. As long as the curing time is sufficient, little nitrite is produced.
Why does kimchi taste sour? The reason is that there is less salt and the fermentation time is a little long, so the sugar in various vegetables slowly loses and turns sour. The processing time is generally 2 ~ 3 days in summer and 5 ~ 6 days in winter. If you don't know the degree of fermentation for the first time, you can taste some kimchi with clean chopsticks at about the same time. When the taste is right, you can take it out to eat. The truly successful kimchi should be sour, sweet, hemp, spicy and crisp. If the taste is not enough, soak for 1 ~ 2 days. If you feel too sour, there is a remedy, that is, rinse with boiling water before eating, and sprinkle some sugar to eat, which is sour and sweet.