Edible Flowers on the Table: Eat Spring Right Up
Rose
Rose flowers taste sweet with a slight bitterness, nature slightly warm, entering the liver, spleen and stomach meridians; aromatic and dispersing, they soothe the liver and relieve depression, harmonize the blood and regulate menstruation. Mainly used for fullness and oppression in the chest and diaphragm, stomach duct and hypochondriac pain, traumatic injuries, wind impediment, and carbuncles.
Honey-Glazed Rose Yam
Roses can help enrich the blood, nourish the qi and nurture the complexion. The flowers can be used to extract rose oil, and the dried flower buds and roots can be used as medicine. They have the remarkable effects of clearing heat, reducing internal fire, and beautifying the face.
Rose Tea
Rose tea is a premium tea made by blending fresh rose flowers with the tender tips of tea leaves in proportion and scenting them with modern high-tech processes. Its aroma is rich yet delicate, harmonious and not overpowering. The rose is a precious medicinal material: it beautifies the face, unblocks the meridians and invigorates the collaterals, and softens blood vessels, with notable effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular conditions, high blood pressure, heart disease and gynecological disorders. It harmonizes the liver and spleen, and regulates qi and the stomach.
Rose Scones
1. Steep 2g of rose flowers in 50g of boiling water, discard the steeped rose flowers, strain and set the water aside!
2. Take the remaining 4g of rose flowers, remove the receptacles and sepals, keeping only the rose petals
Tear the petals into small pieces to make rose petal fragments
After mixing and sifting the cake flour and baking powder, add the salt, sugar and softened butter, and rub together with your hands until even
3. Keep rubbing until the butter and flour are completely combined, resembling coarse cornmeal
4. Pour in the whole egg liquid and the rose water
5. Mix with a rubber spatula into a moist batter! Just mix until combined; do not overmix
6. Turn the mixed dough out onto the counter; at this point the dough is very wet, soft and sticky
7. Dust the surface of the dough with a layer of flour, press the dough flat, and roll it with a rolling pin into a round disc 1.2cm thick!
8. Use a knife to cut the round disc of dough into 8 portions
Arrange the cut small triangular pieces of dough on a baking tray and brush the surface with a layer of egg liquid! Place in a preheated 200 degree oven, top and bottom heat, middle rack, for 15 minutes, until the surface is golden brown, then take them out!
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum Cake
Chrysanthemum cake is one of the traditional famous pastries of Meizhou, Guangdong. Chrysanthemum cake has a history of more than one hundred years in Chaoshan. There is a saying, "Rice and porridge fill you up, but chrysanthemum cake is no simple thing."
The Chaoshan specialty chrysanthemum cake is famous for being fresh, sweetly fragrant, soft yet crisp with no off-flavors. Compared with ordinary pastries, chrysanthemum cake has the extra cool fragrance and calmness of chrysanthemum, and it is also beautiful in appearance. This cake is sweet, soft and crumbly, melting in the mouth
the moment it enters, leaving fragrance on the teeth and cheeks, and it has the function of cooling and reducing internal fire, which makes it especially well liked.
It is green in color, refreshingly sweet and pleasant to eat, delicate and smooth, with a rich chrysanthemum fragrance that refreshes the heart, making it unique among pastries. According to experimental determination, it contains various vitamins, fructose, riboflavin, protein, tannins and other components; it is not only a nutritious food, but also has effects such as clearing the heart and brightening the eyes, calming and nourishing the spirit, lowering blood pressure and improving blood circulation.
Chrysanthemum Sea Bass
Chrysanthemum sea bass is a traditional famous dish of the Fuzhou region in Fujian, shaped like a chrysanthemum with each piece standing elegantly. The sea bass has an elongated, laterally compressed body, a large mouth, a protruding lower jaw, and is silver-gray with small dark spots on the back and dorsal fin. It inhabits coastal waters and also enters freshwater; in early spring it spawns in estuaries where salt and fresh water meet, and it is distributed along the coasts of our country, with large catches in summer and autumn.
Sea bass has been used in cooking since ancient times, recorded in historical texts of successive dynasties. The Yanhua Ji records Emperor Yang of Sui's evaluation of sea bass: the so-called golden minced fish and jade sliced fish, the finest delicacy of the Southeast; sweet-and-sour flavor, slightly yellow in color, quite elegant, crisp-fragrant and tender-fresh, pleasantly sweet and sour, and it strengthens the spleen and opens the appetite.
Chrysanthemum and Lily Congee
Chrysanthemum and lily congee is made by cooking Hangzhou white chrysanthemum, goji berries, fresh lily, rock sugar and rice until done; it is golden in color with a delicate fragrance. Finally, a few goji berries are added as a garnish, so the congee not only has a faint sweetness but also the light fragrance of chrysanthemum; it both fills the stomach and brightens the eyes and reduces internal fire.
Osmanthus
Osmanthus Ice Jelly
1. Mix the white jelly powder with part of the clear water into a smooth, lump-free thin paste
2. Pour the remaining clear water into a pot and bring to a boil; after boiling, pour in the prepared paste while stirring, and cook until transparent, then turn off the heat
3. Pour in an appropriate amount of sweet osmanthus sauce and stir well; let it cool until set, then put it in the refrigerator to chill for an even better taste.
4. The chilled jelly is icy and cool, smooth and slippery, and carries the fragrance of osmanthus; every spoonful is a surprise!
Osmanthus Glutinous Rice Lotus Root
Osmanthus glutinous rice lotus root, also known as honey-glazed glutinous rice lotus root, is one of the traditional famous specialties of the Jiangnan region. Glutinous rice is stuffed into lotus root and carefully prepared together with osmanthus sauce and large red dates. It is a uniquely distinctive Chinese dessert among the traditional dishes of the Jiangnan region, renowned for being sweet and fragrant, crisp and tender, with a rich osmanthus aroma.
Hangzhou's osmanthus glutinous rice lotus root is soft, sweet and fragrant, and the lotus root of West Lake is the finest among lotus roots. The equally famous Nanjing osmanthus honey-glazed lotus root, along with osmanthus sugar taro sprouts, plum blossom cake and red bean fermented rice small round dumplings, is praised as one of the four most heartwarming street snacks of Jinling, Nanjing.
Osmanthus Sour Plum Drink
Osmanthus sour plum drink has been an excellent summer beverage since ancient times. In the Qing Dynasty it was improved by the imperial kitchen to become an imperial beverage, the so-called "tribute plum decoction." Because of its effects of dispelling heat and bringing coolness, soothing heart pain, resolving phlegm and stopping cough, warding off epidemics, and promoting fluid production and quenching thirst, it was praised as the "Qing Palace Rare Treasure Imperially Made Dark Plum Drink." Later it spread among the common people, so that on the streets and in the alleys, at the entrances of dried and fresh fruit shops, vendors selling osmanthus sour plum drink could be seen everywhere.
Sophora Flower
Sophora Flower Pancake
Sophora flower pancake is a common traditional snack in northern China. Sophora flowers taste delicately fragrant and sweet, rich in vitamins and various minerals, and also have the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling the blood and moistening the lungs, lowering blood pressure and preventing stroke. The sophora flower pancakes made from them are sweet at the first bite and leave fragrance throughout the mouth.
Sophora Flower with Tofu
Sophora flower: Sophora flowers taste delicately fragrant and sweet, rich in vitamins and various minerals, and also have the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling the blood and moistening the lungs, lowering blood pressure and preventing stroke.
1. Prepare the ingredients.
2. Wash the sophora flowers and add a small amount of salt to season them briefly.
3. Evenly rub half a teaspoon of salt onto the surface of the tofu to season it.
Just arrange the sophora flowers around the tofu.
Lily
Lily, White Tremella and Lotus Seed Soup
Lily, white tremella and lotus seed soup is a traditional famous Han Chinese specialty. It is made by simmering white tremella, lotus seeds, lily and so on. White tremella is rich in nutrients and beautifies the face. Lily and lotus seeds have the effects of nourishing the heart and calming the spirit, and moistening the lungs and stopping cough; it is a famous health food and a food suitable for all ages.
Celery with Lily
Western celery and Chinese celery have the same nutritional and therapeutic value. Western celery is cool in nature and sweet in taste. It contains aromatic oils, vitamin P and various vitamins, multiple free amino acids and other substances, and has effects such as promoting appetite, lowering blood pressure, benefiting the brain, clearing the intestines and relieving constipation, detoxifying and reducing swelling, and promoting blood circulation. Experiments show that celery has a clear blood-pressure-lowering effect, and its duration extends as the amount consumed increases. It also has calming and anticonvulsant effects.
Celery with lily is made by tossing celery and lily together as a cold dish, with a color that shows red through the green. This dish is quite simple to make, yet the taste is especially pleasant; only one seasoning, salt, is used, yet the flavors are endless and the fragrance fills the air. Looking at this fresh green and plain elegant white, the mood becomes especially bright.
Peach Blossom
Peach Blossom and Angelica Dahurica Wine
Flowers have a beautifying effect. The ancients once used "peach blossoms and a fair face reflecting each other's red" to praise a young girl's delicate and charming looks. Peach blossoms taste sweet and pungent, nature slightly warm, and have effects such as invigorating the blood and delighting the skin, drastic purgation and promoting urination, and transforming blood stasis and stopping pain.
Peach blossoms contain kaempferol, carotene, vitamins and other components, among which kaempferol has a relatively good beautifying and skin-care effect. According to the Guojing Bencao: "Gather fresh peach blossoms, steep them in wine, and drink some each day; it can make the complexion rosy and beautiful as peach blossoms." The Puji Fang, when introducing the preparation method and functions of peach blossom wine, states: "On the third day of the third month, gather fresh peach blossoms, steep them in top-grade baijiu, and take after 49 days. Taken over a long time, it can eliminate illness and benefit the complexion."
Angelica dahurica tastes pungent, nature warm, entering the lung and stomach meridians; it has effects such as releasing the exterior and dispersing wind, unblocking the orifices, stopping pain, drying dampness and stopping vaginal discharge, and reducing swelling and expelling pus.
Peach blossom and angelica dahurica, combined with medicinal wine, together achieve the effects of invigorating the blood and unblocking the collaterals, and moistening the skin and removing spots.
— END —