How to store Chinese toon sprouts? These methods are simple and practical
Chinese toon is also known as xiangchun ya, xiangzhuang tou, dahong chunshu, chuntian, and so on. It is a nutritious ingredient, and eating more of it is good for your health. Li Yu said: "The vegetable that can perfume one's teeth and cheeks is the Chinese toon shoot." However, Chinese toon sprouts are highly seasonal, and once the season passes you can no longer eat them, so how do you preserve Chinese toon sprouts? Let's take a look together below!
Storage methods for Chinese toon sprouts
1. Wash the Chinese toon clean, place it in a cool, ventilated spot, and air-dry the surface moisture. This step must be done thoroughly - no raw water can remain.
2. Put the air-dried Chinese toon sprouts in a clean basin, sprinkle in an appropriate amount of table salt, gently rub them evenly, and pickle for 3 to 4 hours, until the Chinese toon sprouts turn dark green. This step is the most crucial, because once pickled, the Chinese toon will not turn mushy even if kept in the freezer, but do not use too much salt - too much and it becomes a pickled vegetable.
3. Put the pickled Chinese toon sprouts in a food bag or freshness bag, tie the opening tightly, and place it in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. Remember, the bag opening must be tied tightly, otherwise it will absorb odors from other foods in the refrigerator.
Tips for selecting Chinese toon sprouts
1. Pick the season: Chinese toon sprouts generally start to appear in early April, and by mid-to-late April they are no longer very good, so the best time to buy Chinese toon sprouts is in early to mid-April.
2. Choose the length: When selecting Chinese toon sprouts, choose short ones, because long Chinese toon sprouts have already been growing for a relatively long time, and the stems are rather hard and no longer tasty. Never choose ones that are too long.
3. Choose the thickness: When selecting Chinese toon sprouts, look carefully at their thickness, especially the stems. Thick stems mean they are newly grown tender shoots and very fresh. Do not choose thin ones - thin ones are old Chinese toon.
4. Choose freshness and tenderness: If you want to buy fresh and tender Chinese toon sprouts, do not look at the leaves of the Chinese toon sprouts - fresh Chinese toon sprouts also have fresh leaves, and the leaves are not easy to pull off. If the leaves of the Chinese toon sprouts fall off at the slightest touch, that proves the Chinese toon sprouts have been sitting for a very long time. Never buy Chinese toon sprouts with fallen leaves, as they contain nitrite, which is not good for your health.
5. Smell the aroma: Also, when buying, smell the Chinese toon sprouts to see whether they have a light fragrance. If they do, then the Chinese toon sprouts are relatively fresh.
Ways to eat Chinese toon sprouts
1. Chinese toon mixed with tofu
[Ingredients] Chinese toon sprouts, brine tofu, salt, MSG, sesame oil.
[Method] (1) Break the Chinese toon sprouts apart and wash them clean. (2) Blanch briefly in boiling water. (3) When the leaves turn green and the fragrance comes out, scoop them out and rinse in cold water. (4) Squeeze out the water and cut into small pieces. (5) Cut the brine tofu into small cubes, then blanch briefly in boiling water with added salt. (6) Drain the water and scoop out onto a plate. (7) Use an appropriate amount of salt, MSG, sesame oil, and cool boiled water to mix into a bowl sauce. (8) Sprinkle the chopped Chinese toon over the blanched tofu, then drizzle in the bowl sauce and it is ready.
2. Chinese toon with bamboo shoots
[Ingredients] 250 grams bamboo shoots, 50 grams Chinese toon, 8 grams salt, 2 grams MSG, 5 grams starch, 60 grams peanut oil, 25 grams sesame oil.
[Method] (1) Cut the bamboo shoots into firewood-like chunks. (2) Wash the tender Chinese toon shoots clean and cut into fine pieces, then lightly pickle with refined salt for a moment and remove the water. (3) Heat the wok and add the cooked peanut oil. (4) First add the bamboo shoots and stir-fry briefly, then add the Chinese toon pieces, refined salt, fresh broth, and MSG, reduce the liquid over high heat, thicken with wet starch, drizzle with sesame oil, and then take it off the heat and plate it.
3. Chinese toon scrambled with eggs
[Ingredients] 150 grams tender Chinese toon sprouts, 6 eggs, appropriate amounts of salt, cooking wine, and vegetable oil.
[Method] (1) Wash the Chinese toon shoots clean, blanch briefly in boiling water, then scoop out and put into cold water to cool, scoop out, cool, and cut into pieces. (2) Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the Chinese toon, salt, and cooking wine, and stir into an egg batter. (3) Heat oil in a wok until it is 70 percent hot, pour the egg batter into the wok, stir-fry until the eggs are tender and cooked, drizzle with a little cooked oil, and plate it.
4. Baked Chinese toon eggs
[Ingredients] 500 grams eggs, 25 grams Chinese toon, 80 grams lard, 25 grams wet starch, 5 grams each salt and MSG.
[Method] (1) Chop the Chinese toon into pieces, and dilute the wet starch with water again. Beat the eggs, add the diluted starch, Chinese toon, MSG, and salt, and stir evenly. (2) Heat the wok and add 50 grams oil; when the oil is hot, switch to low heat, pour in the evenly stirred eggs, cover with a lid, then pour in the remaining 30 grams oil along the wok in several additions, bake for about 10 minutes, lift the lid and take it out, drain off the oil, then flip the eggs onto a plate and it is done.