According to Guang Qun Fang Pu, perilla is the best, followed by Aquilaria sinensis and Ophiopogon japonicus.
This means that Song Renzong ordered imperial academy to evaluate the quality of soup and drinks. Imperial academy organized physicians and chefs to evaluate and rank boiled water with various natural materials, tastes and functions. After identification, the boiled water made of perilla ranked first.
You know, perilla has the effect of relieving summer heat and is one of the best drinks in summer. Fang Hui, a poet in the Yuan Dynasty, has such a poem, "No summer medicine, boiled perilla."
Yang Wuxia, a poet in the Song Dynasty, once wrote "Little crimson lips? Perilla boiled water ","Bao Le HSS return, did not teach guests to speak lightly. My brother-in-law often beats mice. Smile and listen to different dialects. Clear into the ileum, help poetry. "
Not only in books, but also in paintings, perilla can be seen boiling water. There are several beverage stalls in Zhang Zeduan's The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, and the store signs of "Beverage" and "Sweet Drink" are hung under the circular umbrella:
In fact, it is not difficult to say how to do it. In the Ming Dynasty's Eight Notes on Respect for Life, Gao Lian introduced the method of cooking perilla in this way: "Take leaves, bake them on the fire with paper, don't turn them over, repair the incense and put them away." Every time it is used, it is soaked in boiling water once, and then it is poured out. The soaked perilla is put into a pot and poured into boiling water. Taking it will widen the chest and lead to stagnation. "
It can be seen that the perilla leaves used in the preparation of perilla boiling water in the Ming Dynasty must be roasted with fire to force out its fragrance. Its brewing and drinking are basically similar to tea, and both emphasize hot drinking.