Five-fingered Peach

Hearing the name of Five-fingered Peach, people who are not familiar with it may think it is some new variety of peach. In fact, it is a plant that grows in the deep mountains of Shaoguan and Heyuan in Guangdong. It is named because its leaves are like five fingers and its fruit looks like a peach when ripe. The roots of the five-fingered peach are used as medicine, which can strengthen the spleen and lungs, promote qi and remove dampness, relax the muscles and activate the collaterals. In traditional Chinese medicine, the five-fingered peach is also called Nanqi, which is the southern "astragalus". This shows that it has the effect of astragalus on replenishing qi and strengthening the spleen, but it does not have the warming properties of astragalus and is very suitable for use in southern climates. Cantonese people like to use it to make soup with pork bones, chicken, etc. for its effect of dispelling heat and reducing dampness.

In Hakka restaurants, Five-Finger Peach Soup is a must-have soup, with the fragrance of coconut and the color of evaporated milk. Therefore, Five-Finger Peach Soup is also known as "Five-Finger Milk". But the strange thing is that the soup I make at home is always not as fragrant as the one in the restaurant. I thought it was because the amount of medicinal ingredients was not enough. But after I tried it a lot, the strong smell of medicinal ingredients came out. I wonder what the secret is in it!

After investigation, we learned that the five-fingered peaches sold in the market are not artificially grown, have a short growth cycle, and are sprayed with chemical fertilizers and pesticides to eliminate insects. It cannot be compared with the five-fingered peach growing in the mountains. There are also three-fingered peach and five-fingered peach. The three-fingered peach has a richer aroma.

When cooking Wuzhi peach soup, it can often be combined with barley, smilax, yam, eyebrow beans, beef bones and other medicinal materials, as well as chicken, chicken feet, pork bones and other meats, which is good for dispelling dampness and strengthening muscles and bones. Excellent conditioning product. When we buy five-finger peaches, firstly, we should look at the color, generally brown is better; secondly, we should choose the texture, thick and black ones have fewer active ingredients, and thinner roots are better; thirdly, we should smell it, there is no sulfur smell, Good five-finger peach has a faint coconut fragrance.