With the arrival of spring, I remembered the sprouts I ate as a child. ...
Classification of sprouts
Sprouts are divided into seed sprouts and body sprouts. The former refers to the sprouts formed by the germination of seeds, such as bean sprouts and radish buds; The latter refers to the direct growth on plants, such as Toona sinensis buds and Sophora japonica buds.
History of bean sprouts
Bean sprouts have a long history of cultivation and consumption in China. Traditional bean sprouts usually refer to mung bean sprouts, soybean sprouts, wide bean sprouts and other bean sprouts. Now we can mention more than that. Toona sinensis, Lycium barbarum, peanut bud, Radish, Buckwheat, Alfalfa and Zanthoxylum bungeanum are all sprouts.
In the long-term production practice, the working people in our country have long recognized that the tender organs of some plants are edible, and named this food as "bud, brain, tip and tip" to express its characteristics of youth, freshness, cleanliness and rich nutrition. This shows that the ancients have defined a general range for somatic bud vegetables.
In A Dream of Red Mansions, bean sprouts are mentioned many times. For example, Chapter 61 has a description of "Fried Lycium barbarum buds with oil and salt"; There is a way to eat "Wonton with bean sprouts" in the 45th session of Jin Ping Mei. Other ways of eating, such as willow buds and Sophora japonica, are numerous among the people.
Toona sinensis has been cultivated in China for more than 2500 years. Toona sinensis bud is the "tender bud" of Toona sinensis tree, and it is a familiar body bud. There is a folk poem "The cuckoo cries blood, and the Toona sinensis buds are red", which indicates that the best time to pick Toona sinensis buds is around Tomb-Sweeping Day every year.
The tender leaves of Zanthoxylum bungeanum branches are also popular somatic buds in spring. Jia Sixie said in "Planting Peppers" in Qi Shu Yao Min: "Its buds, leaves and green leaves can be picked and made into fermented grains. The pepper core in the seasonal dish "yellow croaker with pepper core" in Beijing is the pepper bud picked in spring.
People eat ginger buds, which are picked from the germination of ginger to the first piece of Jiang Ye, and are also a kind of somatic buds. Wuhan's "Chicken with Ginger Buds" and Shanghai's "Thousands of Silk with Ginger Buds" are all famous local dishes. Su Dongpo, a poet, wrote a poem "Ginger buds in Spring Club are fatter than meat", which shows people's love for ginger buds.
People in China like tea, which is mostly made of tender buds and the first and second tender leaves under tender buds. Tea is not uncommon as a dish. Hangzhou's famous dish "Longjing Shrimp" is made from Meiwu Longjing and fresh river shrimp, so this kind of tea is also a special "sprout".
Bamboo shoots look very big and seem to have nothing to do with sprouts, but they are actually the product of bamboo germination and belong to sprouts, with a history of 3000 years. It is recorded in the Book of Songs that "there are only bamboo shoots and pu in the river." Therefore, bamboo shoots are also sprouts. The bamboo shoots we eat every day are tender, fat, short and thick whip buds. Ouyang Xiu, a poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, famously said, "There are still oranges in the blood, and the frozen thunder scares the bamboo shoots."
Characteristics of sprouts
Compared with ordinary vegetables, sprouts have their own uniqueness.
First, sprouts have a short growth period and can be eaten in one to two weeks. Because the growth period is short, the chances of insects getting sick are small, and pesticides are generally not used, so sprouts are safer than ordinary vegetables.
Secondly, sprouts usually don't need fertilization, as long as they are watered with appropriate amount of water. The nutrition of sprouts basically depends on seeds and plants themselves.
Third, sprouts taste tender, and many sprouts can only be eaten at this stage, once the elders can't eat them;
Fourthly, sprouts usually contain a certain amount of vitamins, minerals and rich dietary fiber, which has a good nutritional effect on our body.
Cooking method of sprouts
There are many ways to eat sprouts. Here are some recommendations:
First, the sprouts are fried and eaten. This is the most common way to eat in life, such as garlic bean sprouts, fried sprouts with meat, fried sprouts with vegetables, shrimp seedlings with tomato sauce and so on.
Second, eat raw bean sprouts. Many sprouts are suitable for raw food and have a refreshing taste. Such as radish seedlings and Chinese toon buds. When eaten raw, you can also use seasoning methods such as dipping sauce to make the sprouts more tasty.
Third, the cold salad after blanching. Robinia pseudoacacia bud, Lycium barbarum bud and other sprouts will be bitter if eaten directly raw. The best way is to fry it in hot water first, and then add seasonings such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar, which will play a good role in removing bitterness and increasing fragrance.
Fourth, the sprouts are steamed and eaten. Many places in our country have the habit of eating steamed vegetables, and sprouts can also do the same. Stir the sprouts and proper amount of flour evenly, then steam them in a pot for about 7-8 minutes (depending on the kind of sprouts, the firepower and time are slightly different). After going abroad, add garlic juice, salt, vinegar and other seasonings and stir well, or mix the seasonings into soup and dip them in steamed vegetables. It's delicious. You might as well try it.
Fifth, make soup with sprouts. When we make soup and soup, adding proper amount of sprouts before cooking can not only decorate the color, but also improve its nutritional value and make the soup more delicious.