How to Grow and Prepare Houttuynia cordata, with Recipes Included

Houttuynia cordata(herbahouttuyniae), also known as zhe'ergen, cencao, jicai [jí], zijicai, wild buckwheat, etc. It is the dried aerial part of the Saururaceae perennial herb Houttuynia cordata. It is produced in the provinces south of the Yangtze River basin in China. It is harvested in summer when the stems and leaves are lush and there are many flower spikes; wash clean, and use after drying in the shade or use fresh. The name is seen in the “Supplement to the Classic of Materia Medica”. Su Song of the Tang dynasty said: “It grows in wet places, and can also spread in shady spots in valleys; its leaves are like buckwheat but fatter, and its stems are purple-red; the people of Jiangzuo like to eat it raw, and in Guanzhong it is called zucai; the leaves have a fishy odor, hence the common name houttuynia”. Its taste is pungent, its nature slightly cold; it enters the lung, bladder, and large intestine meridians. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, transforming phlegm and expelling pus to reduce carbuncles, and promoting urination to reduce swelling and treat strangury. Main indications: lung heat with wheezing and cough, lung abscess with vomiting of pus, throat moth, heat dysentery, malaria, edema, carbuncle swelling and sore toxin, heat strangury, eczema, rectal prolapse and other conditions.

How to Prepare Houttuynia cordata

If you are not used to eating houttuynia raw, you can first stir-fry it or stew it in soup. The following are several common ways to prepare houttuynia and its dietary therapeutic health benefits:

1. To treat various bacterial and viral infections, such as wind-heat common cold, herpes, urinary system infections, etc., it must be eaten raw; a cold dressed salad will do.

2. To prevent wind-heat common cold, simply stir-fry it and eat it. This method of eating is relatively mild and is also suitable for weak people to eat regularly. For healthy people, eating houttuynia as a vegetable for health care is also very good. The most common way to eat it is as a cold dressed salad, which suits most people. Houttuynia is cold and cool in nature; elderly people and those with weak constitutions can use the method of stewing it with chicken. Add a little sesame oil, and it also has a heart-soothing effect. It is very helpful for relieving summer restlessness of the mind.

3. When a postpartum woman eats chicken for the first time during confinement, she must add some houttuynia, which can prevent postpartum wind.

How to Grow Houttuynia cordata

1. Propagation

Houttuynia can be propagated by division, cuttings, or rhizome propagation. For division propagation, from late March to April, dig up the mother plant, divide it, and transplant the divisions into a sandy soil seedling bed to raise seedlings, or transplant directly. For cutting propagation, in spring and summer, cut disease-free and pest-free vigorous branches as cuttings, cut them into 12--15 cm lengths, and insert them into flower pots at a row spacing of 16 cm×10 cm or 14 cm×10 cm. After inserting, water them, provide shade, and after rooting, transplant the seedlings to set them in place. For rhizome propagation, it can be done from February to March; select white, thick rhizomes without disease spots, cut them into small sections with more than 2 axillary buds, and open shallow furrows in flower pots to raise seedlings or set them in place. In winter and early spring, attention should be paid to preventing freezing and keeping warm; in summer and early autumn, attention should be paid to shading and maintaining moisture.

2. Planting Method

When planting houttuynia, choose conditions with natural shade (half shade and half sun) and loose, fertile potting soil. It can be planted all year round, but when planted in winter, spring, and early summer it can be harvested the same year; generally the best sowing period is around the Beginning of Spring. In the flower pot, open furrows in the same direction for row planting, with furrow depth 8--10 cm, width 13--15 cm, and row spacing 20--25 cm. Place houttuynia seed roots in the furrows, two rows placed parallel in each furrow, with seed stem section spacing of 5--8 cm, placed continuously, head to tail connected. The seed stems should be placed evenly, then covered with soil; after planting, keep warm and maintain moisture. If planting in the high-temperature summer season, there must be 3 nodes to ensure that the middle nodes can sprout and root. If planting before winter, you should also cover with plastic film or newspaper to facilitate normal growth and development in winter and early spring and obtain high yield.

3. Daily Management

After setting in place, if the seedlings encounter drought, water them in the morning and evening to moisten the bed soil. From seedling survival until before the rows close, cultivate and weed and apply topdressing 2--3 times, mainly with nitrogen fertilizer. Each weeding should be combined with topdressing; 20~30 grams of urea can be applied per square meter, applied first diluted and then concentrated. After each harvest, apply topdressing mainly with nitrogen fertilizer to promote plant sprouting; after entering autumn harvest, mainly apply phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, and earth up to facilitate overwintering, laying a good foundation for sprouting the next year. In dry seasons, irrigate in a timely manner; in rainy seasons, drain promptly, and avoid long-term water accumulation in the flower pot. Weeds should be removed promptly, and shallow cultivation and loosening of the soil should be carried out in a timely manner; combined with loosening the soil, spread an appropriate amount of decomposed organic fertilizer between the plants and rows. For plants whose aboveground stems and leaves grow too vigorously, pinch the tips to inhibit height growth and promote the growth of side branches.

4. Harvesting

After houttuynia is set in place, when the seedlings are 8—10 cm tall, you can begin picking the tender stems and leaves, and thereafter harvest once every 10—20 days. The picked tender stems and leaves can be brought to market fresh, or dried and then brought to market. The underground stems can be dug at the appropriate time according to market demand after half a year of setting in place; after washing clean and removing impurities, they can be brought to market fresh or used for pickling and processing. The underground stems kept for seed use can be harvested as needed. The whole plant of houttuynia can be used medicinally, and it can be harvested at any time; after washing clean, dry it in the sun for storage or bring it to market for sale.

Recipes

1. Cold Dressed Houttuynia (1)

[Seasonings]: salt, soy sauce, vinegar, white sugar, chicken essence, red oil, dried chili, Sichuan pepper powder

[Method]:

1. Pinch off the old roots and fibrous roots of the houttuynia, leaving the tender white roots

Cold Dressed Houttuynia

Cold Dressed Houttuynia

and leaves, wash several times with clean water, wash clean and remove sand and mud, soak in cold water for 10 minutes, remove and drain the water for later use; you can also blanch it briefly in boiling water.

2. Cut the dried chili into sections, fry in warm oil until crisp and fragrant, then pour together with the oil into a bowl for later use;

3. Put the houttuynia into a basin, add salt, soy sauce, white sugar, vinegar, chicken essence, red oil, Sichuan pepper powder, and the fried chili oil, mix well, and it is ready to eat; the taste can be adjusted accordingly according to your own preferences and regional differences.

[Characteristics]: numbing, spicy, sour, and sweet, light and refreshing, it is an excellent dish on the summer table.

[Tips]:

1. When eating houttuynia, you can only eat the white roots and leaves; when eating, it must be soaked in cold water to remove the off-flavor.

2. At the turn of winter and spring, when it has just put out tender buds, the taste is best.

2. Cold Dressed Houttuynia (2)

[Ingredients]:

1. Main ingredient: 250 grams of houttuynia.

2. Seasonings: refined salt, monosodium glutamate, Sichuan pepper powder, chili oil, white sugar.

[Preparation]:

Remove impurities from the houttuynia and wash clean, cut into sections, then soak in salt water for a few minutes, add monosodium glutamate, refined salt, Sichuan pepper powder, chili oil, and white sugar, mix well, and it can be served.

Note: Houttuynia has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying and promoting urination to reduce swelling. Made into a cold dish, it has a certain therapeutic effect on upper respiratory tract infections, pulmonary abscess, urinary tract inflammation, mastitis, cellulitis, otitis media, enteritis, etc.

[Tip]: Houttuynia is cold in nature and should not be eaten in large amounts.

3. Steamed Chicken with Houttuynia

[Ingredients]:

1. Main ingredients: 1 young hen (about 1500 grams), 200 grams of houttuynia.

2. Seasonings: refined salt, monosodium glutamate, pepper powder, scallion sections, ginger slices.

[Preparation]:

1. Slaughter the chicken, remove the feathers, internal organs, and feet and claws, wash clean, blanch briefly in a pot of boiling water, remove and wash off the blood stains. Remove impurities from the houttuynia, wash clean, and cut into sections.

2. Take 1 soup basin, put in the whole chicken, refined salt, ginger, scallion, pepper powder, and an appropriate amount of clean water, steam in a steamer until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, then add the houttuynia and monosodium glutamate, steam briefly, and it can be taken out of the steamer.

[Note]: This dish is made by combining houttuynia, which clears heat and detoxifies and promotes urination to reduce swelling, with chicken, which warms the middle and boosts qi and replenishes marrow and essence. It can provide the human body with rich protein, fat, carbohydrates, and various other nutrients, and has the effects of reducing inflammation and detoxifying and warming the middle and boosting qi.