Weixian radish, also known as "green radish" or "high-footed radish", is not only a famous local product of Weixian county, but also an excellent variety of famous radish in Shandong province.
It can be used as a vegetable or raw food. Cooking can be fried, mixed, stewed and pickled, and it is one of the main vegetables in autumn, winter and spring. Locals like to eat raw food, and visitors at home often entertain with cigarettes, tea and radishes. Regular consumption has the functions of removing phlegm, clearing away heat and toxic materials, invigorating spleen and regulating qi, and helping digestion. There is a local saying that "you don't need to find a doctor to take the medicine when you eat radish and drink tea". Weixian radish contains a lot of vitamins and does have a health care effect.
Weixian radish has been cultivated for more than 300 years. After long-term cultivation by vegetable farmers and scientific and technological personnel, three strains of Daying, Xiaoying and Erying have been formed. The characteristics of the three strains are basically similar, the leaves are all mosaic, each leaf has 8- 10 pairs, and the leaves are dark green. The fleshy roots are all cylindrical, with the aboveground part accounting for three quarters of the total length, which is turquoise, and the underground part accounting for one quarter, which is white. The radish with big tassel has strong growth potential, white and green meat, loose taste and light spicy taste, so it is suitable for cooked food and pickling. The radish with small tassels is weak in growth, dark green in skin color, thin and crisp in skin, sweet and fragrant in taste, good in quality and suitable for raw food. Two-tassel radish is between big tassel and small tassel, and its meat quality is compact, green, crisp, sweet, juicy and eaten raw like fruit, so it is also called fruit radish. Weixian radish was originally produced in the suburbs of Weixian county, but it was best produced in Beigongdi, so it is also called Bei Gong radish, and Beigongdi belongs to Beiguan, also known as Beiguan radish. It is exported to Hong Kong, Southeast Asian countries and major domestic cities, and enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad.