Can yacon be eaten raw? Things to know before eating it raw
Yacon is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Asteraceae family, native to the Andes Mountains of South America. It is a traditional root food of the local Indigenous peoples, and the residents of the Andes Mountains cultivate this plant as a root vegetable. The tuberous roots contain abundant water and fructooligosaccharides, taste both sweet and crisp, and can also be eaten as a fruit. Now let us take a look at whether yacon can be eaten raw!
Can yacon be eaten raw?
Yacon can be eaten raw. Yacon can be washed, peeled and eaten raw, or stewed with chicken or pork ribs to make soup. The simplest way is to eat it raw. After harvesting yacon from the soil, just wash off the surface soil and peel off the outer skin, and it can be eaten directly like a fruit, bite by bite. If it can be left for two or three days after harvesting, the sweetness will be even greater, highlighting its juicy, crisp, sweet, and fragrant flesh.
Dietary contraindications for yacon
1. Yacon is very cold in nature, so people with poor digestion should eat it with caution. After eating a large amount, symptoms such as stomach cold and loose stools may occur.
2. People with a cold stomach may feel bloated after eating cold yacon, but it can be eaten after soaking it in boiling water. Most people experience diarrhea in the first three days of eating it, but it returns to normal after four days, and the stool looks like that of a small child, which is normal.
3. In a very small number of allergic individuals, eating too much yacon can cause diarrhea, metabolic acidosis, increased heart rate but decreased blood pressure, and in severe cases dehydration, hypoproteinemia, impaired consciousness and even shock. The incidence rate is about one in a million.
How is yacon best eaten?
1. Chrysanthemum lean pork yacon
[Ingredients] Yacon, lean pork, dried chrysanthemum.
[Method] ① Wash and peel the yacon, and slice it into pieces. ② Cut the lean pork into slices, add wine and salt and marinate for a while. ③ Soak the dried chrysanthemum in boiling water until it opens. ④ After the water in the pot boils, add the pork slices, yacon slices and chrysanthemum soaking water together. ⑤ After bringing to a boil and simmering, add salt and it is ready.
[Benefits] Benefits such as clearing the liver, detoxifying and reducing internal heat, and moistening the intestines to relieve constipation. It effectively helps prevent facial acne and hidden pimples, and is also a natural health product for beauty and skincare.
2. Yacon stewed with grass carp
[Ingredients] 4 to 5 pieces of grass carp fish bones, ginger, carrot, yacon, salt, cooking wine, 1 to 2 candied dates.
[Method] ① Wash the fish bones and drain the water for later use. Peel the ginger and slice it (about 2 to 3 slices). Wash and peel the yacon and carrot and cut into pieces. After the yacon is cut into pieces, its surface will quickly oxidize and turn black, so before making the soup it is recommended to blanch it briefly in hot water. ② Put the fish bones and ginger slices into an oiled pan, add 1 teaspoon of cooking wine and fry until half-cooked for later use. ③ Put the yacon, carrot, fish bones, candied dates and ginger into a pot, add water and simmer over low heat for about 2 hours, then add salt to season and it is ready.
3. Yacon and pork shank soup
[Ingredients] Yacon, pork shank, snow fungus.
[Method] ① Wash the yacon, peel and cut into pieces. ② Soak the snow fungus in clean water until softened, remove the stem, and tear into pieces. ③ Wash the figs, wash the pork shank, cut into pieces, blanch in water and scoop out. ④ Pour 8 bowls of water into a clay pot and bring to a boil, add all the ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat, then turn to medium-low heat and simmer for one and a half hours, add a little salt to season and drink.
[Benefits] Regulates the stomach and intestines, lowers lipids and helps with weight loss.
4. Water chestnut, yacon and white fungus soup
[Ingredients] Water chestnut, yacon, white fungus, red dates, goji berries, hawthorn.
[Method] ① Soak the white fungus until expanded, peel the yacon and water chestnuts and cut into pieces, and drop them into the water. ② Wash the red dates and drop them into the water. I happened to have hawthorn, so I casually washed a few slices and dropped them in too. ③ Turn on the heat and boil. Wash the goji berries and add them at the end so their nutrients are better preserved. ④ Boil until the white fungus is cooked and the red dates are soft, add rock sugar, and simmer until the rock sugar dissolves and it is ready.
[Benefits] Moistens the intestines to relieve constipation, promotes intestinal peristalsis, clears intestinal waste, improves constipation, prevents diarrhea, and improves gastrointestinal function.