"Red Sorghum" once gave a generation a unique affection for the highlands, but you might never have imagined that such a rugged food is actually best eaten as a dessert.
The new edition of the "Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents" emphasizes the importance of consuming grains for human health. As the base of the food pyramid, whole grains are the best foundational food and the cheapest source of energy. Adults who consume 250-400 grams of grains daily can help prevent the occurrence of related chronic diseases. For all kinds of whole grains, each has its own best way of being eaten to maximize their nutritional benefits.
Brown rice porridge "scrapes" fat
When we eat at a restaurant, we might occasionally encounter a rice porridge that tastes different from the white congee we make at home. Although also made from rice, its texture and aroma are superior, and this is brown rice porridge. The biggest characteristic of brown rice is that it contains the germ, which is rich in vitamins and fiber. Regular consumption can help reduce fat and cholesterol. Brown rice is also high in zinc, which can improve rough skin.
Brown rice is literally coarse rice, with most grains still wrapped in the rice husk. Brown rice can be bought in most supermarkets. The best quality is intact, fragrant, and yellowish-brown or light brown in color. Before cooking brown rice porridge, you should first soak the brown rice for about 30 minutes, then cook it like regular rice porridge. Brown rice porridge can stimulate gastric juice secretion, aiding digestion and nutrient absorption. However, diabetics should avoid drinking this brown rice porridge directly, as it may cause a sudden spike in blood sugar. Sorghum is suitable for making desserts.
"Red Sorghum" once gave a generation a unique affection for the highlands, but you might never have imagined that such a rugged food is actually best eaten as a dessert.
Sorghum rice seems a bit coarse when used for porridge or rice, but when ground into flour to make desserts, it becomes much more delicate and nutritious. Sorghum rice is best for making a dessert called sorghum cakes, which involves grinding sorghum rice into a powder, adding baking powder, sugar, eggs, and a moderate amount of water to form a thick batter, kneading it into a dough, flattening the sorghum dough, steaming it, lightly frying it in oil, and then sprinkling with sesame.
Sorghum cakes can be difficult to digest for people with slightly weaker gastrointestinal function. You can try making sorghum soup, such as adding a little sorghum when making tremella soup or corn soup, which can add a richer texture to an already nutritious soup.
Coix seed soup is the most nourishing
Coix seed looks more like a kernel than a grain, so it is also called Job's tears in many places. More people now like to eat coix seed because its unique growing environment makes it less contaminated; it prefers to grow in damp, shady places, often in the mountains or along small rivers.
Fully plump coix seeds are fresh and glutinous, and many people like to eat them, but few know that coix seeds have many health benefits. Traditional Chinese medicine says that coix seed can strengthen bones and muscles, invigorate the spleen and stomach, reduce edema, expel wind-dampness, and clear lung heat. For women, coix seed is a very good tonic. The large amount of Vitamin B1 can make the skin smooth and fair, and it can also play a role in preventing uterine cancer.
Coix seed is slightly cold in nature, so it is not suitable for congee or to be eaten alone. It is very suitable to be stewed with foods that have a warming and nourishing effect. You can stew it with chicken legs and tomatoes. This is not only easy to digest but also has a very good nourishing effect. Coix seed is not easy to digest, so do not eat too much, especially for the elderly, children, and those with a cold stomach or gastritis. When eating coix seed, be sure to eat it in moderation. Buckwheat noodles are best for growing bodies
Buckwheat flour is a grayish-black color, but don't be fooled by its unassuming appearance; its nutritional value is very high. Buckwheat has various ways of being eaten, but the most common is to make noodles from it. The protein in buckwheat is higher than in rice and flour. Especially for children in their growth period, it is more suitable to eat some buckwheat noodles. The lysine and arginine in it will surprise parents with their children's growth rate and intelligence. However, when parents make buckwheat noodles for their children, there are some points to note.
The best pairing for buckwheat noodles is to mix them with minced meat and cucumber in a cold salad. Buckwheat is cool in nature and can easily harm the stomach, so when cooking, it must be soaked for a long time until soft. This improves the texture and makes it easier to digest. Cucumber can make the buckwheat noodles more refreshing and less greasy, and it is best to use minced mutton, as mutton is warming and nourishing to the stomach, making it a good match for buckwheat.
The most suitable people to eat buckwheat are the elderly and children. Occasionally eating buckwheat noodles can help the elderly reduce blood lipids and lower blood pressure. Children in their growth period especially need buckwheat. Although buckwheat noodles are delicious, they are not suitable for breakfast or dinner, as they can easily damage the stomach or be difficult to digest. Each serving should not be too much; the principle of moderation is best. Glutinous rice is best for making fermented rice wine
Glutinous rice can be used to make congee or tangyuan (sweet rice balls), but the healthiest and most magical way to eat it is to make it into fermented rice wine (laozao). Glutinous rice can help digestion and also has a calming effect, relieving fatigue and dizziness. These effects of glutinous rice are more prominent when made into fermented rice wine, and it is more convenient to eat, with less restriction on the amount consumed.
We can mix glutinous rice, coix seed, lotus seed coarse powder, Chinese yam coarse powder, fox nut, Poria coarse powder, and a moderate amount of fermented rice wine starter. Place the mixed ingredients in an enamel basin, add a moderate amount of water, steam for 1 hour in a steamer, then take it out and let it cool. Mix in the fermented rice wine starter, place the basin in an environment of about 25°C, and after 36-48 hours, the ingredients will ferment into fermented rice wine. If you like it sweet, you can add some rock sugar. Fermented rice wine can be taken at noon and at night; it not only aids digestion but also calms the mind and makes the stomach feel very comfortable.
In addition, coix seed strengthens the spleen and promotes urination, lotus seeds and Chinese yam nourish the spleen and kidneys, and Poria tonifies Qi. The various ingredients complement each other to tonify deficiency and strengthen the body. The resulting fermented rice wine is truly the most nutritious and healthy combination. Eight-treasure rice with oats is good for weight loss
Oats are usually eaten soaked in milk, but occasionally making eight-treasure rice with oats can have a better effect on beautifying the skin and delaying aging. Oats contain various enzymes that not only inhibit the formation of age spots but also delay the aging of human cells, making them the best health food for middle-aged and elderly patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
More importantly, the rich soluble fiber in oats can promote the excretion of bile acids, reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, and reduce the intake of high-fat foods. Because soluble fiber absorbs a lot of water, it creates a strong feeling of fullness, and regular consumption has a particularly good effect on weight loss.
Eight-treasure rice with oats is made by mixing oats, black glutinous rice, long glutinous rice, brown rice, white rice, soybeans, black soybeans, lotus seeds, coix seed, and red beans, soaking them in water for an hour, and then cooking them until done. Eight-treasure rice has more abundant dietary fiber and carbohydrates and is suitable to be eaten as a staple food.