Is asparagus seaweed and chayote shoots the same vegetable?
China's vegetables can be said to be endlessly varied, and in the south there is a vegetable called asparagus seaweed. So what exactly is asparagus seaweed? Are asparagus seaweed and chayote shoots the same thing?
Are asparagus seaweed and chayote shoots the same thing?
The true asparagus seaweed is actually a marine vegetable; it is the algal body of Gracilaria, a plant of the Gracilariaceae family, also called willow silk, dragon whisker grass and Eucheuma, etc., but among the people, chayote shoots and asparagus are also called asparagus seaweed. Because the tender stems of this vegetable resemble dragon whiskers, people call it asparagus seaweed, and in some places it is also called thread vegetable or fa cai.
The uses of asparagus seaweed
Asparagus seaweed was originally the main raw material for the production and processing of agar. Agar, also known as vegetable gelatin, frozen powder, bird's nest essence and foreign powder, is listed by the U.S. food and drug regulations as a recognized safe food additive, is an important raw material in the beverage and food industries, and is widely used in making tremella and bird's nest soup, eight-treasure porridge, granule orange, various beverages, jelly, ice cream, pastries, cold dressed foods and so on.
Asparagus seaweed especially in medicine has the functions of warming the stomach, soothing the chest, promoting urination and benefiting the kidneys. Regular consumption of asparagus seaweed has the effect of treating heart disease, high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis, as well as an anti-cancer effect.
Every 100 grams of fresh asparagus seaweed contains 1.4 g of protein, 220 mg of carotene, 0.01 mg of vitamin B1, 0.9 mg of niacin and 2 mg of vitamin C, and is very suitable for the elderly and young children to eat.
Distribution range
It is cultivated in China's coastal areas and in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, western Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi (central and southern parts) and Gansu (southeastern part). It is also distributed in Japan, Korea and Soviet Siberia.