It is recommended to buy green leafy vegetables five days before the Spring Festival to prevent the "annual price increase"
It is less than a month before the Spring Festival, and many ladies are already ready to buy New Year's goods, including buying "New Year's vegetables". However, one of the most thorny problems encountered by Mrs. Ma when buying "New Year's vegetables" is the "annual price increase". Vegetable merchants and rice cookers often increase prices before the New Year due to the Chinese New Year. This kind of "annual price increase" has already existed and occurs every year. How to buy "New Year's vegetables" to keep their quality and freshness while trying to avoid "year-on-year price increases"? The reporter recently visited some wholesale markets and vegetable markets and asked vegetable merchants, industry veterans and experienced Mrs. Ma to summarize their experience in selling and buying vegetables for the public's reference.
Industry veterans' advice:
You need to choose the right time to buy New Year vegetables
Spring Festival The cooking ingredients brought to the table mainly fall into three categories according to the preservation method, namely dry goods, frozen goods and fresh goods. Dry goods mainly refer to fungus, dried bamboo shoots, etc.; frozen goods include frozen meat, poultry, seafood, etc.; fresh goods include fresh vegetables, cold fish, cold shrimp, cold poultry (chicken, duck, pigeon, etc.), eggs, and live fish, shrimp, crab, etc.
“Dry goods and frozen goods are easy to store, so prices generally don’t increase before the year ends, and even if they do, the magnitude won’t be large. "An old master with more than 30 years of sales experience, Mr. Ding, who currently works at the Aquatic Products Trading Branch of the China Fisheries Association, and Mr. Gu, who has worked in the Shanghai Agricultural Products Wholesale Market for a long time, pointed out that fresh products have many names. The key is that fresh products have a shelf life. Vegetable merchants and vendors know that their shelf life is short, so they will choose the right time to raise prices before the end of the year. If the price rises too early, they will not be sold, and if it rises late, they will make less money. Therefore, citizens need to choose the right choice when buying "New Year vegetables".
Wave 1:
Buy cold fresh seafood and poultry
cold fresh (only put ice cubes to keep fresh) seafood including hairtail , yellow croaker , pomfret . , shrimps, etc., fresh poultry refers to chickens, ducks, pigeons, etc., and egg products refer to eggs, duck eggs, salted eggs, preserved eggs, etc.
Reasons: 1. Short-term freezing of unwashed Eastern Yellow Sea hairtail, yellow croaker, pomfret, and cold fresh poultry will not affect their freshness and taste. The poultry currently sold in the market is not live poultry, and is itself a cold product; 2. Most of the dishes made with the above raw materials are fried, braised, soup, etc., and are not steamed , short-term freezing will not affect the taste; 3. The refrigerated shelf life of eggs is about one month; 4. It is expected that the "annual increase" will begin after two weeks before the Spring Festival, and the price will increase by 30-50% in the week before the Spring Festival.
recommendation: Buy about three weeks before the Spring Festival, freeze East Yellow Sea seafood, fresh poultry, and refrigerate eggs.
Wave 2:
Buy fresh bamboo shoots and fresh mushrooms
two weeks in advance. Fresh bamboo shoots include winter bamboo shoots and bamboo shoots. Fresh mushrooms refer to shiitake mushrooms, mushrooms, Coprinus , etc. Some non-green leafy vegetables include carrots, white radish, Chinese cabbage, beef cabbage, etc.
Reasons: 1. The above-mentioned vegetables have a relatively long shelf life. , if stored properly and cooked two days before the New Year, its deliciousness will not be affected; 2. Vegetable merchants and vendors generally increase prices one week to 10 days in advance.
suggestions: 1. Buy two weeks in advance; 2. Buy uncut fresh bamboo shoots, wrap them in paper and put them in a rice vat. They can be kept fresh for about two weeks, but try to consume them on the 30th and first day of the Lunar New Year, otherwise they are easy to spoil; 3. Put fresh mushrooms in fresh-keeping bags and refrigerate them, especially if they are close to the Spring Festival. Semi-finished products; 4. Put radish, Chinese cabbage, beef cabbage, etc. in fresh-keeping bags and refrigerate.
Wave 3:
Green leafy vegetables should be purchased five days in advance
Green leafy vegetables refer to vegetables such as grass, chrysanthemum, spinach, greens, celery, water spinach, and amaranth.
Reason: Considering factors such as daily consumption and short shelf life, stall owners usually start to increase prices three to five days before the Spring Festival. Green leafy vegetables are daily consumption dishes for citizens. They are consumed in large quantities and are mainly eaten by stir-frying. They are not suitable for long-term storage or premature purchase.
recommendation: Buy five days before the Spring Festival, refrigerate after purchase, the increase will be about 10% at this time, consume it within a week (preferably on the 30th day of the Lunar New Year or the first day of the Lunar New Year), and replenish appropriately after the second or third day of the Lunar New Year.
Wave 4:
Try to consume less live fish, live shrimps, etc.
Reason: Live fish, live shrimps, and live crabs are mainly eaten fresh, and most of them are steamed, boiled, etc. Vegetable merchants and vendors often take advantage of their consumption characteristics and citizens’ consumption psychology to significantly increase prices starting from New Year’s Eve. The increase will reach 100% on New Year’s Eve, the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the second day of the Lunar New Year.
recommends: During the Spring Festival, the consumption quantity should be appropriately controlled. Instead of steaming or boiling, such as making fish soup, fish fillets, frying in oil, etc., you can buy it three to five days in advance. In this way, although there will be a slight "year-on-year increase", the increase will not be too sharp.
Author: Xie Kewei
Source: Thoughtful
