DimSum Restaurant's Secret Ingredient: Caustic Soda?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers around the use of caustic soda in DimSum restaurants, specifically highlighting its applications in food preparation and cleaning. Caustic soda, also known as sodium hydroxide, is utilized for washing and chemically peeling fruits and vegetables, as well as in the production of yellow Chinese noodles through lye-water. The presence of large quantities of caustic soda raises questions about its necessity, but its effectiveness in grease removal for oven cleaning is also noted.

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  • Familiarity with traditional Chinese cooking techniques, particularly noodle production
  • Basic concepts of industrial cleaning agents and their applications in food service
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DaveC426913
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'tother day I chanced to look in the back room of a local DimSum restaurant and saw bags and bags and bags of caustic soda - like a skid of it.

What use would a restaurant have for hundreds of pounds of caustic soda? I looked it up on Wiki and found only two uses that make sense:
- washing or chemical peeling of fruits and vegetables
- most yellow coloured Chinese noodles are made with lye-water

Still, hundreds of pounds?
 
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Well, I know caustic soda is often used to clean ovens. It removes grease well.