Can cooking wine be replaced by white wine? Correct understanding of cooking wine and white wine

We often come across cooking wine and white wine in our daily lives. Many people will encounter the situation where there is no cooking wine when cooking. At this time, many people will choose to use white wine instead of cooking wine. So will there be any difference if white wine is used instead of cooking wine? Is there any correct way to use white wine and cooking wine instead of each other?

Wine used for cooking is collectively called "cooking wine", which mainly includes rice wine, Fenjiu, etc. It contains amino acids, sugars, organic acids and multiple vitamins. It is rich in nutrients, can remove the fishy smell of fish and meat, increase the aroma of dishes, and help various flavors such as salty and sweet to fully penetrate into the dishes. It is one of the indispensable condiments in cooking. Some families use white wine instead when cooking wine is out of the house. From a nutritional point of view, this is not advisable.

Cooking wine can remove fishy smell and enhance flavor because it contains a certain amount of ethanol (about 15%), which is highly volatile and has high permeability. When used, cooking wine can quickly penetrate into the raw materials. The fishy substances in the meat are dissolved by ethanol and evaporate together. It also guides the penetration of other condiments, playing a role in removing fishy smell and odor. When cooking meat, add a proper amount of cooking wine. After heating, it can produce esterification with the dissolved fat to produce esters and other aromatic substances, which can make the dishes exude a rich aroma and enhance the freshness and flavor. At the same time, the sugars, amino acids and esters contained in cooking wine itself can also enhance the aroma and flavor. In addition, adding a little cooking wine when cooking green leafy vegetables can protect the chlorophyll and make the finished dish green, pleasing to the eye, and bright and beautiful.

Some friends like to use beer instead of cooking wine, which is also wrong. Why? Because the alcohol concentration of beer is generally only 3% to 5%, and a large part of it is carbon dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide gas is very volatile, especially when heated. If beer is added to the dish during cooking, the alcohol will evaporate before dissolving the fishy smell and of course it will not achieve the effect of removing the fishy smell and greasiness.