What's good to eat during the Rain Water solar term?
Famous Chinese medicine health expert and Professor Yang Li from the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences believes that the best foods for this season are pea shoots and shepherd's purse.
Pea shoots, commonly known as pea vines. As a food, pea shoots were recorded as early as in Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica": "Peas are grown in West Lake, now there are many in the north. They are sown in September, the seedlings are soft and weak like vines, with tendrils, the leaves look like tribulus leaves, opposite each other, and can be eaten when young." Pea shoots are the seedlings when the pea sprouts 2 to 4 cotyledons. They are fresh, tender, and fragrant, making them most suitable for soups.
The nutritional value of pea shoots is roughly the same as that of peas. The tender pods and leaves of pea shoots are rich in vitamin C and enzymes that can decompose nitrosamines in the body, having anti-cancer effects. Substances such as abscisic acid, gibberellin, and lectin in pea shoots have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and metabolism-enhancing functions. Pea shoots contain relatively rich dietary fiber, which can prevent constipation and have a bowel-cleansing effect. Pea shoots also contain a lot of calcium, vitamins B and C, and carotene.
In traditional Chinese medicine, pea shoots are considered cool and slightly cold, with a heat-clearing effect. Eating them in spring can clear heat and reduce fire, and also helps to make the skin smooth and soft. In addition, pea shoots are also beneficial for reducing edema.
There are many ways to eat pea shoots. Here, I recommend a pea shoot and mushroom soup to everyone. The basic ingredients are pea shoots, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, etc. In a pre-simmered chicken broth or stock (plain water is also fine), add two slices of ginger and add the shiitake mushrooms. After the water boils, add the enoki mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the pea shoots, a little salt, and do not cover the lid. Turn off the heat after the water boils again, and add sesame oil before serving.
Shepherd's purse -- A "life-protecting grass" for both medicine and food
The history of shepherd's purse being consumed in China spans several thousand years. There is a line in the "Book of Songs": "Who says the bitter vegetable is bitter, its sweetness is like shepherd's purse," indicating that people were already eating shepherd's purse during the Western Zhou Dynasty. Since ancient times, shepherd's purse has been a very popular wild vegetable. In many parts of China, there is a custom of eating shepherd's purse boiled with eggs on the third day of the third lunar month. Some people also collect a large amount of shepherd's purse on this day to dry and save for regular decoction. Some start picking it as a vegetable when the tender leaves of shepherd's purse first emerge around the spring equinox in March, saying that this vegetable can cure all kinds of diseases, is very beneficial to the body, and call it the "life-protecting grass." Therefore, the proverb says: "On the third day of the third month, shepherd's purse is a magic pill."
Shepherd's purse is such a common, easily available, delicious, and very beneficial vegetable, so it has forged an indissoluble bond with the poor people and impoverished scholars of past dynasties, leaving behind immortal famous verses. Du Fu wrote: "Old shepherd's purse in the shadow of the wall." Fan Zhongyan of the Northern Song Dynasty was poor in his early years and often ate shepherd's purse. He wrote in his "Ode to Shepherd's purse": "In the old man's house, it is pickled into emerald green and yellow, when put into the mouth, it chews out the five notes (of the ancient Chinese scale)." Su Dongshi used shepherd's purse, radish, and rice to make the famous "Dongpo Soup". Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty was especially fond of shepherd's purse in his later years, as evidenced by his poem: "The shepherd's purse is a gift from heaven, green on the hills, its delicacy surpasses salt and cheese, its integrity surpasses snow and frost."
Shepherd's purse is very nutritious, containing protein, fat, carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, iron, carotene, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin C, as well as flavonoids, choline, acetylcholine, etc. Shepherd's purse is rich in vitamin C and carotene, which helps to enhance the body's immune function. It can also lower blood pressure, strengthen the stomach and aid digestion, and treat stomach cramps, stomach ulcers, dysentery, enteritis, etc.
In traditional Chinese medicine, shepherd's purse is considered sweet and flat in taste and has high medicinal value. It has the effects of improving eyesight, cooling, clearing heat, promoting urination, and treating dysentery. It is used to treat dysentery, edema, strangury, chyluria, hematemesis, hematochezia, metrorrhagia, menorrhagia, red and swollen eyes, etc. "The Famous Doctor's Separate Record" states: "It mainly benefits the liver qi and harmonizes the middle." "Daily Use of Materia Medica" states: "It cools the liver and improves eyesight." "Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "It improves eyesight and benefits the stomach."
Shepherd's purse can be eaten cold. The method is: bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat, add salt and a little oil. Blanch the vegetables until cooked through, then rinse them in cold water until soft, but do not overcook. If there is a lot of vegetable, blanch it in batches. You can mix the whole plant or whole leaves, or cut them before mixing. When mixing, add a little salad oil, minced garlic, white vinegar, white pepper, salt, sugar, etc., and it is ready to eat.