What to eat in Suzhou in late summer and early autumn? These 10 foods are recommended
In late summer and early autumn, our eating habits change considerably, and we can appropriately eat more foods that moisten the lungs. During this season of transition between summer and autumn, we should not over-nourish, and above all avoid big fish and big meat at every meal. We should nourish gently; because the weather is dry, we can eat some refreshing, lung-moistening foods, such as lily bulb, honey, and pear water with rock sugar. Pay attention to a balanced diet, to a reasonable combination of vegetables and meat, and eat fewer raw and cold melons and fruits and greasy foods. Because older people's spleen and stomach function declines, they should eat some easily digestible foods and eat small meals more often, so that the burden on the stomach and intestines is not too heavy. Below we introduce foods suitable for late summer and early autumn and their recipes.
What to eat in late summer and early autumn?
1. Snow fungus
Snow fungus is rich in nutrients and is an excellent health food. Snow fungus contains a variety of vitamins, amino acids, glucose, and glucuronic acid, and also contains fat, protein, sulfur, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium, and so on. It can moisten the lungs and resolve phlegm, nourish yin and promote body fluids; cooked as a dish or stewed, it can treat yin deficiency with dry lungs, dry cough without phlegm or with sticky phlegm, and throat dryness and thirst.
Bird's nest and snow fungus soup
Ingredients: 10 g bird's nest, 20 g snow fungus, an appropriate amount of rock sugar.
Method: First brush the bird's nest with clean water, then soak it in hot water for 3-4 hours, then pick out the down, and soak it in hot water for another 1 hour before use; soak the snow fungus in clean water for 1 hour. Put the bird's nest, snow fungus, and rock sugar into a porcelain jar or covered bowl, stew over water until cooked, and eat.
2. Lotus seeds
Refined, elegant, and detached is how many people picture the lotus, and dishes related to the lotus, whether lotus leaves, lotus root, or lotus seeds, all have the nourishing effects of calming the mind and soothing the nerves, tonifying the middle and boosting qi, clearing the lungs and moistening the organs, and improving hearing and eyesight. Now is exactly the lotus harvest season. In late summer and early autumn, eating some lotus-related dishes can not only increase appetite but also nourish vitality.
Lotus seed, lily bulb, and glutinous rice porridge
Ingredients: lotus seeds, lily bulb, glutinous rice, white sugar.
Method: Take a small amount of lotus seeds and lily bulb, wash them, and soak them in water for 20 minutes; wash the glutinous rice and bring it to a boil in a pot, then after about 10 minutes over low heat, add the soaked lotus seeds and lily bulb; cook the lotus seeds, lily bulb, and glutinous rice until thick, add an appropriate amount of white sugar, and it is ready to eat.
What to eat in late summer and early autumn
3. Old duck soup
The summer heat has still not gone, and the body is still prone to dry heat and internal heat, with summer dampness burdening the spleen, while duck meat nourishes the liver and boosts qi, tonifies without being drying, and has relatively high medicinal value; drinking old duck soup now, in late summer and early autumn, can have a warming and tonifying effect. The whole duck is a treasure. Duck meat is sweet and salty in flavor and cool in nature, and has the effects of nourishing yin and nourishing the stomach and promoting diuresis and reducing swelling, and is suitable for steaming bone and consumptive heat and difficult urination. Black-boned duck has even greater medicinal value; patients with tuberculosis can reduce symptoms such as tidal fever and cough. Old hen duck can tonify deficiency and nourish yin, and has a tonifying effect on those who are weak from long illness or who have consumptive vomiting of blood. "If a person has dry lips and a dry mouth, it can relieve it; if a person has yin deficiency with fever, it can resolve it." Duck blood has the power to enrich blood and clear heat and detoxify. Duck eggs have the function of nourishing yin and tonifying deficiency and clearing heat and moistening dryness.
Old duck soup with pickled radish
Ingredients: 0.5 duck, 100 g white radish. Additional ingredients: 50 g pickled radish, 3 scallion sections, 6 slices ginger, 15 ml cooking wine, 15 g white sugar, 10 g white pepper, a small amount of salt.
Method: Wash the duck and cut it into pieces, and cut the white radish into sections the length of a ring finger. If the pickled radish is rather salty, rinse it with warm water and set aside; add clean water to a soup pot, put in the duck, scallion sections, and 2 slices of ginger, pour in the cooking wine, with the water just covering the duck meat. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, and after foam appears on the surface, take out the duck meat and rinse it repeatedly under clean water; put the blanched duck meat into a clay pot, add clean water again, with the water covering the duck meat to about 4 cm, and bring the broth to a boil over high heat; then add the remaining ginger slices and the pickled radish, turn to low heat, cover, and simmer slowly for about 40 minutes, until the duck meat is tender and falling apart.
4. Radish
If you want to get through the season of transition smoothly, you can eat more of the "edible panacea" - radish. Radish can clear heat and resolve phlegm, promote body fluids, and benefit the stomach and aid digestion. Eaten raw, it can treat thirst from febrile disease, cough from lung heat, and thick phlegm. If it is juiced and drunk together with sugarcane juice and lotus root juice, the effect is even better. Eaten fresh, radish has good dietary therapy and health-preserving effects, and even when dried it is still a panacea. Dried radish still contains a large amount of vitamin B1, calcium, and iron, and can supplement the body with dietary fiber and minerals.
Pork rib and white radish soup
Ingredients: 250 g pork small ribs (pork spare ribs). Additional ingredients: 100 g white radish. Seasonings: 5 g salt, 2 g monosodium glutamate, 5 g vinegar, 10 g scallion, 5 g ginger.
Method: Wash the pork small ribs and chop them into sections; peel the radish and cut it into chunks; cut the scallion into sections and slice the ginger, and set aside; place a pot over high heat, pour in clean water and bring to a boil, then add the pork rib pieces and vinegar and bring to a boil; skim off the foam, add the scallion sections and ginger slices, and after bringing to a boil, add the white radish chunks, pour everything into a clay pot, cover with the lid, and switch to low heat to cook for 2 hours; when the pork small ribs are cooked and tender and the meat separates from the bone, pick out and discard the scallion sections and ginger slices, add refined salt and monosodium glutamate to adjust the flavor, and it is ready.
5. Mung bean sprouts
In addition to containing components that lower blood lipids and blood pressure, mung bean sprouts can also supplement vitamins A and C; moreover, they can neutralize a hundred toxins, clear toxins from the human body, clear heat and detoxify, and improve eyesight.
Cold-dressed mung bean sprouts
Ingredients: 150 g mung bean sprouts, 80 g lettuce stem, 1 g salt, 5 ml vinegar, 2 ml sesame oil, 1 g white sugar, 5 ml light soy sauce.
Method: Remove the fibrous roots from the bean sprouts and wash them clean; peel the lettuce stem, wash it, and cut it into shreds; blanch the bean sprouts in water, take them out, and drain the water; mix the bean sprouts and shredded lettuce stem, add the seasonings, and toss well.
What to eat in late summer and early autumn
6. Lotus root
The lotus and lotus plant are treasures all over, and autumn lotus root is the most nourishing. After the Start of Autumn, the air is dry and people easily become restless and agitated, so lotus root is the first choice in the diet. Lotus root stimulates the appetite and clears heat, moistens dryness and quenches thirst, and clears the heart and calms the spirit. It is rich in trace elements such as iron and calcium, plant protein, vitamins, and starch, has the obvious effect of benefiting blood and boosting qi, and can also enhance the human body's immunity. The ways to eat lotus root "suit both raw and cooked." Eaten raw as a fruit, it tastes sweet and cooling as it enters the lungs; steamed with glutinous rice and honey, it is pink and translucent, soft, glutinous, and refreshing, and is a delicious autumn side dish; stewed in soup with pork ribs, it strengthens the spleen and stimulates the appetite and is nutritious, suitable for people with weak spleen and stomach to nourish and maintain health.
Lotus root and pork rib soup
Ingredients: 500 g pork ribs (large ribs), 750 g lotus root; 10 g salt, 3 g pepper powder, 10 g scallion, 7 g ginger.
Method: Wash the pork ribs and chop them into pieces 4 cm long; wash the lotus root clean, scrape off the skin, place it on a cutting board and smash it forcefully, and cut it into pieces the same size as the ribs; pour an appropriate amount of boiling water into a pressure cooker, add the pork ribs and lotus root, add the scallion sections, ginger slices, refined salt, and pepper powder, and cover with the lid; place over high heat and after bringing to a boil, turn to low heat and stew for 20 minutes, then it can be served.
7. Pear
Traditional Chinese medicine theory holds that the pear can be used as medicine, with the effects of resolving phlegm and moistening the lungs, suppressing cough and stopping wheezing, and clearing the heart and reducing fire. Modern medicine holds that the pear has a good adjunctive therapeutic effect on conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, constipation, dizziness, and insomnia with many dreams. At the same time, for patients with hepatitis and cirrhosis, it is an even better health food. Eating more pears in late summer and early autumn is suitable for patients with bronchitis and also for people suffering from "sicca syndrome."
Rock sugar snow pear
Ingredients: 1 snow pear, about 600 g; 10 g snow fungus (dried); 50 g rock sugar; 5 g goji berries.
Method: Soak the dried snow fungus in water in advance, remove the stem and tear it into small pieces, and set aside; wash the snow pear, remove the core and cut it into large chunks, without peeling, as the skin is very nutritious; put the snow pear chunks, rock sugar, goji berries, and the soaked snow fungus into a pot; add about 2 L of water and bring to a boil; turn to low heat and stew for about 40 minutes, and mainly drink the liquid.
8. Almond
Radish, almond, dried ginger, and pear - effective for treating cough without seeking a doctor. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, the seasons and organs correspond, and autumn belongs to the lungs. After the Start of Autumn is the best time to nourish the lungs, tonify the lungs, or treat lung diseases. Lung-tonifying foods include snow fungus, lily bulb, pig lungs, dried persimmon, loquat, and water chestnut. Among them, the best in season is none other than the almond. Almonds are best cooked into porridge with coix seed at a ratio of 1:5 and drunk warm; stewed into soup with pig lungs, they also have a nourishing and soothing effect.
Red date and almond soy milk
Ingredients: 100 g almonds, 100 g red dates, 300 g soybeans, an appropriate amount of white sugar.
Method: Soak the soybeans in advance for more than four hours; soak the almonds for one hour; for the seedless dates grown at home, there is no need to remove the pits, just wash them and set aside; mix the three together and put them in a soy milk maker to make soy milk. Put a little water in a pot and bring it to a boil. Put the made soy milk in the pot and cook it thoroughly; adding water first and then the soy milk can prevent sticking to the pot and make the pot easier to wash. Add an appropriate amount of white sugar and mix well; after cooking, pour it into a cup and enjoy.