Now monascus is widely used, mainly because it can promote cardiovascular health. Monascus can produce pigment and make food appear beautiful red. Therefore, it is often added to many folk foods, which makes it feel more pleasant and pleasant. Text/Ding Yanling Gluten is made of red koji, and cookies are red koji biscuits, red koji sausages, red koji meat, red koji bread, red koji egg rolls and red koji cakes. Why does everything have monascus? Careful people may find that many foods advertised as "health-oriented" have the shadow of monascus. Why is Monascus considered healthy? In fact, in addition to traditional Chinese medicine, monascus also has the effect of lowering cholesterol. 10 years ago, foreign scientific research confirmed that monascus has the effect of reducing blood lipid. Because monascus is widely used in China's diet, it was later widely used in food, so it was named "keeping healthy". But is monascus really helpful to health? Wu Mingzhu, a Chinese doctor, said that in the Tang Dynasty, monascus was often used as a medicinal diet, and its functions were recorded in later Chinese medical classics, such as Diet in Yuan Dynasty, Compendium of Materia Medica in Ming Dynasty and Shennong Materia Medica in Ming Dynasty. For example, it is recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica that "Monascus is mainly used for promoting digestion and blood circulation, invigorating spleen and regulating stomach, treating red and white dysentery and entering Shui Gu", which was widely used to make red distiller's grains, yellow wine and bean curd in the Song Dynasty, and was also the main raw material for making red dew wine. However, Wu Mingzhu said that monascus is widely used now, mainly because it can promote cardiovascular health. Liu Chunjun, head of the Nutrition Department of Pingtung Christian Hospital, said that monascus can produce pigments and make food look beautiful. Therefore, it is often added to many folk foods, which makes people feel happy and cheerful. It is scientifically found that monascus is a kind of "fungal fermented product", which is made by adding monascus and distiller's yeast to cooked glutinous rice, and filtering the remaining distiller's grains after fermentation. Liu Chunjun said that the commercially available monascus health care products are made by inoculating monascus strains on cooked rice, fermenting into monascus rice, drying, crushing and packaging. According to research, Monacolin K will be produced during monascus fermentation, which can inhibit the reduction of HMG-CoA? Decreased HMG-CoA activity? It is the key enzyme for human body to synthesize cholesterol. Liu Chunjun said that according to the research, Monascus K will decrease with HMG-CoA? Objective To produce competitive inhibition and maintain the balance of serum cholesterol and triglyceride. Clinical experiments show that if we combine low-fat, low-sugar, high-fiber diet and moderate exercise, the effect of reducing blood lipid can be more significant, and insulin resistance can be slowed down and blood sugar can be improved. Wu Mingzhu said that in addition to Monascus K, there are other excellent strains in Monascus, which can increase cholesterol (HDL, high density cholesterol), even regulate blood pressure and resist fatigue. Some studies believe that it can improve the learning and memory ability of patients with Alzheimer's disease, and even reduce weight. Liu Chunjun said that in addition, monascus can produce γ -aminobutyric acid, which is also considered as an important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and can lower blood pressure. Not everyone can eat it, Liu Chunjun reminded. Please don't think that monascus products can lower cholesterol, but you should know that this product can't be eaten indefinitely. If you use purified monascus products, you should carefully choose qualified manufacturers, especially pregnant women or women who plan to get pregnant. When choosing healthy food containing monascus ingredients, we should pay attention to the teratogenic effect if toxic citrinin is produced during monascus fermentation. It is not recommended for people with abnormal liver function and alcoholism. If people take lipid-lowering drugs, or take antifungal drugs and anti-rejection drugs, it is best not to eat monascus, a healthy food. If you eat monascus products, remind you not to drink grapefruit juice for two hours, otherwise it will prolong the concentration of monascus K in your blood. In addition, people who are prone to flatulence and have a bad stomach are not recommended to eat more. Is it safe for long-term consumption? Many people are fans of fermented meat, fermented eel, red yeast sausage or red yeast biscuits, and they can't get tired of eating them every morning. Liu Chunjun said that the concentration of monascus in food is not so high, and it should be no problem to eat a small amount every day, but attention should be paid to hygiene problems. It should be noted that the monascus provided by the industry is really monascus, or orange koji or even a dye, because the Department of Health sampled the commercially available monascus rice a few years ago, and five of the eight pieces were found to contain citrinin. If the fermentation environment of monascus is not good, citrinin may be produced, and long-term consumption in large quantities may affect the liver and kidney function. Although many people want the benefits of monascus, some people don't like the taste of monascus. Liu Chunjun said that monascus generally tastes slightly sweet and sour and has a special fermentation smell. If you want to get the effect of monascus from food, but you are afraid of the taste of monascus, she suggests that you can extend the cooking time to volatilize the fermented taste. Liu Chunjun suggested that monascus can also be used in desserts. In addition, some people will add monascus to the production of noodles or bread, and the meat with heavy taste is more suitable for pickling cooking. Wu Mingzhu suggested that although generally fresh ingredients can be matched with dishes, it is generally recommended to match pork, chicken, fish and other meat foods. "Monascus dish recipe" Monascus sesame oil chicken soup Ingredients: 3 chicken legs, 20g ginger, 600g onion 1 root, 600g broth, 45g sesame oil, 60g monascus, rice wine 10g, crystal sugar 10g, and a little salt. Practice: 1. Slice ginger and mince onion for later use. 2. Wash the chicken legs and cut them into pieces. First scald the blood with hot water and remove them for later use. 3. Pour the sesame oil into the wok and heat it. Turn to low heat and stir-fry ginger slices, then add chicken legs and shallots and stir-fry. 4. Pour the broth into the fire to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, add red grain and rock sugar to cook for 5 minutes, remove the floating foam on the surface, add salt and rice wine to taste and serve. TIPS 1。 Afraid of the hot sesame oil, you can use white sesame oil. 2. You can choose ginger according to your personal physique. For people with hot constitution, you can choose cool tender ginger, which has the function of "nourishing the stomach and waking the lungs", or you can choose warm ginger, which has the function of strengthening the stomach and strengthening the spleen; The weak can choose hot ginger, which can warm the stomach and moisten the lungs, dispel wind and dispel cold. Ingredients: fish fillet 300g, red koji sauce 100g, onion, celery, ginger, garlic, rice wine, water, sugar, sesame oil and salt. Practice: 1. Cut onion and celery, garlic and ginger. Wash the fish fillets and set aside. 2. Heat oil in an oil pan, saute with ginger slices, garlic slices and red koji, and add fish fillets to stir fry slowly. 3. Add rice wine, water, sugar, sesame oil and salt to taste, and stir-fry over high heat until uniform. TIPS 1。 Fish has the functions of invigorating spleen, promoting diuresis, nourishing liver and kidney, eliminating dampness and reducing swelling, and has low calorie. 2. I'm afraid the taste of red yeast is too strong. After the red koji is fragrant, it can be boiled in water for a long time, and then the fish fillets are added after the fragrance evaporates. Ingredients: two chicken legs, shredded onion, shredded pepper and a little coriander leaves. Seasoning: monascus sauce 1500g, ginger 120g, onion 180g, rice wine 500c.c, sugar 200g, rock sugar 20g and boiled water 600c.c.. Practice: 1. Wash the chicken legs, boneless and cut into 3 large pieces, and scald the blood with hot water for later use. 2. Slice the ginger and cut the onion. Heat oil in an oil pan, add seasoning and all ingredients, and heat slowly with low fire until the ingredients are evenly mixed, which is the red yeast sauce. 3. Marinate chicken legs with red yeast sauce for 3 hours, then steam them in a steamer for about 6 to 7 minutes. 4. cut the steamed chicken leg into large pieces, and pour the soup in the steamer on the chicken to eat. TIPS 1。 When marinating, the red yeast sauce must completely cover the chicken before it can be marinated completely. 2. When there is no steamer, you can put the plate in the wok and heat it for about 15 minutes. Ingredients: ice skin powder120g, white oil 30g, cold boiled water120g, red yeast sauce 20g, and low-sugar red bean paste 300g. Practice: 1. Put the icing powder into a large glass bowl, pour in cold water and white oil, and stir into balls. 2. Mix the dough with monascus sauce, knead thoroughly, knead into long strips, and cut into 12 small dough. 3. Divide the bean paste into 12 pieces, 25g each, and knead into balls. 4. flatten the skin of the ice dough and wrap the bean paste in the middle. 5. put it in a cake model and flatten it, then buckle it out to eat. TIPS 1。 Ice skin powder is low in calories and is very suitable for people who want to control their weight. 2. The calorie of low-sugar bean paste is 24 1 calorie per100g, and the average calorie per serving is above 70 calories. The calories of two frozen cakes are only about half a bowl of rice. Ingredients: Sliced pork 1 50g, lettuce 3, barbecue sauce1bottle, cold boiled water150g, industrial vinegar 30g, red yeast sauce 50g, minced garlic 30g, chopped green onion10g, Jiang Mo 20g, fructose/kloc. Practice: 1. Barbecue sauce, vinegar, red yeast sauce, cold boiled water, minced garlic, chopped green onion, Jiang Mo and fructose are mixed to make sauce. 2. Wash and peel the lettuce for later use. 3. Put the barbecue grill on the thin slices of meat and bake it slightly, and brush it with a little sauce until the slices are completely cooked. American lettuce can be eaten with sliced meat. TIPS 1。 Slice the meat slices to reduce cooking time and avoid burning. 2. Worried that charcoal fire is carcinogenic, it can be roasted by barbecue iron plate. Cook the sauce a little and let it dip in the sauce. Bake thin slices of meat and dip them in sauce. Ingredients: Monascus sauce 10g, white wine 30g, egg 1g, rock sugar 10g, and 2 slices of tender ginger. Practice: 1. Beat the eggs into egg juice for use. 2. Add 80c.c cold boiled water to the pot, add rock sugar and tender ginger, and heat over high fire until the rock sugar melts. 3. Add the red yeast and liqueur, slowly pour in the egg juice and stir into egg blossoms. TIPS 1。 Monascus is sweet and flat, suitable for all kinds of physique, warm and sweet, and has the effect of nourishing and weakening. 2. Rock sugar is sweet and flat, and has the functions of tonifying the middle warmer, harmonizing the stomach and moistening the lungs, and relieving cough. This article is taken from issue 357.