Flowers can not only be seen, smelled and recited, but also be used as food and medicine, which can cook delicious food with good fragrance, taste, shape and nutrition, and has high therapeutic and health care functions.
Flowers have a long history in China and are recorded sporadically. There are some records in The Book of Songs, such as Confessions of a Mountain Residence by Lin Hong in the Song Dynasty, Eight Records of Respecting Sound by Gao Lian in the Ming Dynasty and Keeping Notes by Gu Zhong in the Qing Dynasty. "Han Ling Ao Shuang" chrysanthemum was eaten by people in the pre-Qin period. Chrysanthemum is listed as the top grade in Shennong Herbal Classic. In the Qing Dynasty, Yang Xiaolu also set up a chapter on "Taste Spectrum", which described the production methods of more than 20 kinds of flower foods. In addition, there are countless ancient temples and monasteries in China that pick flowers for vegetarian dishes.
Flowers and plants
The charm of flowers in vegetables is that flowers are the essence of plants, and they contain many times more nutrients than stems and leaves. After being absorbed by human body, these nutrients can promote human metabolism, supplement human energy and regulate human physiological functions.
The flowers in Qing Xiang are not only colorful and delicious, but also rich in nutrition, which plays a great role in health care and disease prevention. In addition, the flower itself has some special substances, which can calm the heart and benefit the color, maintain beauty and keep fit.
Flowers have the function of relaxing nerves. At the same time, the fragrance of flowers is introduced into the brain through olfactory nerve, which can strengthen the transmission signal of visual nerve, thus stimulating the secretion of gastric acid and bile, improving people's appetite and increasing the feeling of enjoyment and joy of beauty.
There are many ways to eat flowers. "Qunfangpu" said: "All kinds of Qiju can be used as vegetables, porridge, preserved fruits and powder." Cixi also loves to eat "chrysanthemum pot", making it the first dish of the Qing court. Abroad, there is a famous dish in Japanese flower beds called "Fried Chrysanthemum". The petals of chrysanthemum and hibiscus flowers are carefully selected, wrapped in a thin egg coat on the back, and then fried in an oil pan to make the food crisp and delicious. Old people in the Caucasus of the former Soviet Union also like to add marigold when cooking mutton soup or fish. In addition to chrysanthemum, Xuan Hua (that is, day lily) can be stewed not only with pork and chicken, but also with fungus, eggs and dried seaweed. It is yellow and delicious, fragrant and delicious. Pumpkin flowers, cooked a little, is also a refreshing and pure delicious. Lotus and cardamom are cooked together, one red and one white, like the brilliance of snow, so it has the reputation of "Xia Xue soup". Peony flower is known as "the king of flowers". If it is used for stewing soup, it can give people a unique flavor and is also known as "Peony in Gravy". Lotus and meat fried into "lotus meat" is even more famous. Braised squid slices with plum blossoms become "plum squid soup", which is also an excellent seasonal dish. Besides, sweet-scented osmanthus fried scallops, orchid fried pork tripe, chrysanthemum cake with bacon and jasmine chicken breast are all great. American nasturtium can also be eaten raw, which is very sweet and delicious.
According to the determination, the cells of edible petals are rich in protein, starch, fat and minerals, which shows that the nutritional value of flower buds is very high. According to scientific research, flowers have many medicinal effects. If you eat Chinese rose, it can reduce swelling; Eating Chrysanthemum morifolium can dissipate heat; Eating roses can clear away heat and quench thirst, regulate qi and promote blood circulation, benefit people's popularity and make people's popularity good; Eating hibiscus flowers can cure sores and carbuncles. Flowers are edible for everyone, especially middle-aged and elderly people. However, some flowers, such as poinsettia, Datura stramonium, five-color plum, iris, Jinbaohua and Lily of the Valley, are "beautiful" in appearance, but they all have sinister intentions and toxicity. Don't eat indiscriminately to avoid accidents.
Flowers can also be used to make wine, smoke tea and preserve fruit. Osmanthus fragrans, Prunus mume and Chrysanthemum can also be used to make wine and become people's favorite osmanthus wine, Mei Huajiu wine and chrysanthemum wine. Jasmine, sweet-scented osmanthus and white orchid can all smoke tea, which enjoys a high reputation not only at home, but also overseas. The newly developed rose eggplant tea is also a good drink in summer. In addition, sweet-scented osmanthus and roses can also be made into preserves, which are called sweet-scented osmanthus preserves and rose preserves. As for the honey that people use to describe the sweetness of life, it can't be made without flowers.