What Plant Is Rockweed? A Detailed Guide to Its Medicinal Benefits, Culinary Uses and Contraindications
Rockweed, as the name suggests, gets its name because it looks like deer antlers. So what plant is rockweed? What are the medicinal values of rockweed? What are the benefits, effects and dietary dos and don'ts of rockweed? What are the culinary uses of rockweed? Let me answer these one by one for you.
I. What plant is rockweed?
Rockweed belongs to the algae. It is one of the most primitive plants still in existence, having already been present when the Earth was first taking shape, so it can be found not only in crevices of coastal cliffs but also growing on moss in forest areas of Qinghai at an altitude of more than 3000 m.
Fresh rockweed is yellow-olive in color, with a body height of 6-7 cm, reaching up to 14 cm. Dried rockweed becomes fresh and emerald green after soaking in water, crystal clear and translucent, with a strong ion exchange function and adsorption effect, which can effectively improve human digestive function and has a positive dietary therapeutic effect on gastrointestinal diseases.
In addition, rockweed also has the effects of softening hardness and dissipating nodules, relieving cough and resolving phlegm, clearing heat and detoxifying, harmonizing the stomach and promoting bowel movements, and supporting healthy qi while dispelling pathogenic factors. It can be used for sore and swollen throat, blood stasis and swelling, traumatic injuries, torn tendons and fractures, sprains and contusions, and can also be used to treat stomach duct pain, pain occurring at fixed times, belching and acid regurgitation, poor appetite, and dry intestine with constipation.
Rockweed is an important economic seaweed in China. It is an alga of the genus Chondrus in the family Gigartinaceae, naturally distributed along the Atlantic coast and the southeastern coast of China as well as in sea areas such as Qingdao and Dalian. Although this seaweed can be seen in most sea areas of the world, not all rockweed from every sea area can be used in cooking. Now let us take a look together at the benefits and effects of rockweed!
II. The medicinal values of rockweed
[Nature and flavor] Sweet and salty in flavor, cold in nature.
[Meridian entry] Heart and stomach meridians.
[Effects] Clearing heat and resolving phlegm, moistening dryness and removing dampness. Mainly treats consumptive disease or yin deficiency with fever, cough with hot phlegm or dry phlegm, thick and sticky phlegm, goiter, scrofula, dry and bound stool, hemorrhoids, impediment syndrome, and aching joints.
III. The benefits and effects of rockweed
1. Rockweed has the effects of softening hardness and dissipating nodules, relieving cough and resolving phlegm, clearing heat and detoxifying, harmonizing the stomach and promoting bowel movements, and supporting healthy qi while dispelling pathogenic factors.
2. Rockweed can be used for sore and swollen throat, blood stasis and swelling, traumatic injuries, torn tendons and fractures, sprains and contusions, and other conditions.
3. Rockweed can be used to treat stomach duct pain, pain occurring at fixed times, belching and acid regurgitation, poor appetite, dry intestine with constipation, and other conditions.
IV. Dietary dos and don'ts of rockweed
1. Rockweed is especially suitable for people with sore and swollen throat, blood stasis and swelling, traumatic injuries, rectal cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, or constipation.
2. Rockweed can generally be eaten by most people, but men should not eat it frequently; otherwise it may trigger old illnesses, damage the meridians, qi and blood of the waist and kidneys, cause cold painful impediment in the feet, and lead to a poor complexion.
V. Culinary uses of rockweed
1. Cold-dressed rockweed
[Ingredients] 150 g dried rockweed, 1 cucumber, half a rock sugar radish, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 handful of Sichuan peppercorns, 4 g salt, 15 ml white vinegar, 20 g sugar, 10 ml sesame oil, 5 ml chili oil.
[Method] 1. Soak the dried rockweed in cold water until rehydrated, wash it clean, and divide it into small pieces. 2. Cut the cucumber and rock sugar radish into shreds and place them on top of the rockweed. 3. Chop the garlic and sprinkle it on top, then add salt, white vinegar, sugar, sesame oil and chili oil. 4. Fry the Sichuan peppercorns in hot oil until fragrant, pour the oil over the top and mix well.
2. Acorus rockweed
[Ingredients] 100 g rockweed, 10 g Acorus tatarinowii, 2 g salt, 1 g monosodium glutamate, 3 g vinegar, 1 g sesame oil.
[Method] 1. Put the rockweed and Acorus tatarinowii together in a pot, add water and simmer briefly, then turn off the heat. 2. After soaking for half an hour, take out the rockweed and Acorus tatarinowii, cut them into sections and put them on a plate. 3. Add refined salt, monosodium glutamate, vinegar and sesame oil, then drizzle with a little of the original soaking liquid and mix well.
3. Braised pork with rockweed
[Ingredients] 300 g rockweed, 250 g pork, appropriate amounts of cooking wine, shredded ginger, monosodium glutamate, refined salt and chopped scallions.
[Method] 1. Remove impurities from the rockweed, wash it clean and cut it into sections; wash the pork clean and cut it into chunks. 2. Heat the wok, add the pork and stir-fry, then add cooking wine and soy sauce. 3. Add the prepared chopped scallions and shredded ginger, and after stir-frying until cooked and flavorful, add the rockweed and braise until the flavor is absorbed. Add monosodium glutamate according to your own preference, then remove from the wok.