Have you ever eaten undercooked peanuts? Besides being disgusting, eating beans that are not cooked properly can also lead to food poisoning and indigestion! The reason is the pectin content in peanuts known as phytohaemagglutinin or hemagglutinin. Therefore, make sure you always cook beans properly and understand the various symptoms of food poisoning to watch out for, yes.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Properly Processing Beans
Step 1. Soak the beans overnight
The process of soaking the beans must be done to remove the lectin that is harmful to your body, namely hemagglutinin. First, put the nuts in a bowl. Then, pour water over it until all the nuts are completely submerged. Leave the beans overnight.
Discard the soaking water before the beans are cooked
Step 2. Boil the beans quickly before processing
After soaking, boil the beans for 10 minutes to remove any lingering hemagglutinin before processing them to your liking.
Step 3. Cook the beans until they are fully cooked
The best way to avoid the risk of food poisoning is to cook the beans thoroughly. Because each type of nut requires a different cooking time, don't forget to check the instructions on the package or look for that information in the recipe you're referring to. In general, beans can be boiled in a regular saucepan, cooked in a pressure cooker, or cooked in a slow cooker. Peanuts are fully cooked when they are soft in texture.
- There are several types of beans that can be boiled in a short amount of time, such as red lentils (20-30 minutes in a normal saucepan or 5-7 minutes in a pressure cooker), black beans (45-60 minutes in a regular saucepan or 15-20 minutes in a saucepan). high pressure), fava or broad beans (45-60 minutes in a normal saucepan and should not be cooked in a pressure cooker), and great northern beans (45-60 minutes in a regular saucepan or 4-5 minutes in a high pressure saucepan).
- Meanwhile, some types of beans need to be boiled for a longer time. For example, chickpeas or chickpeas should be cooked for 1.5-2.5 hours in a regular saucepan or 15-20 minutes in a pressure cooker. Kidney beans should be cooked for 1-1.5 hours in a normal saucepan or 10 minutes in a pressure cooker, while lima beans should be cooked for 60-90 minutes in a regular saucepan and should not be cooked in a high pressure cooker. The other type, pinto beans, should be cooked for 1.5 hours in a regular saucepan or 10 minutes in a pressure cooker.
Step 4. Remove any foam that floats on the surface of the water, if desired
When boiled, the beans will produce a foam which, while harmless and will be reabsorbed by the broth, can be removed if you wish.
Part 2 of 2: Understanding Proper Prevention and Handling Steps
Step 1. Choose nuts that are packaged in cans
If you're really afraid of food poisoning, it's better to eat canned beans instead of dried beans, especially because canned food has actually gone through a processing process until it's fully cooked. That is, nuts are even safe for direct consumption without being reprocessed.
Step 2. Choose nuts with lower risk
In general, the highest levels of hemagglutinin are found in red beans, which means red beans have the highest risk level. If you're concerned about the risk of food poisoning, look for nuts with lower hemagglutinin levels, such as cannellini or broad beans.
Chickpeas contain much lower levels of hemagglutinin than kidney beans. Meanwhile, hemagglutinin levels in lentils are even lower than chickpeas
Step 3. Recognize the symptoms
Understand the symptoms of food poisoning so you can stay alert if you accidentally eat undercooked nuts. In general, some of the symptoms to watch out for are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. In some cases, cramping or abdominal pain may also occur and usually, these symptoms will appear within 3 hours after the nuts are consumed. If you experience similar symptoms with a fairly severe intensity, immediately contact the nearest Emergency Unit (ER).
