Why is the bitter melon we usually eat called gentleman’s dish?

What is the best way to eat bitter melon?

1. Why is the bitter melon we usually eat called a gentleman’s dish?

We should all be familiar with bitter melon. We know that it is an annual climbing herb. The bitter melon we usually eat can be regarded as a popular daily vegetable.

"Ben Jing Fengyuan" says, "take the green skin and boil the meat to fill with vegetables, which is a product that can remove heat and relieve troubles, clear the heart and improve eyesight."

Bitter melon is named after its taste. The word "bitter" is not pleasant to hear, so Cantonese people also call it "liang melon".

The appearance of bitter melon is very unique. The skin is shaped like tumor-like protrusions and is densely packed like leprosy. It is also called leprous melon.

Some people think that the surface of the melon is wrinkled, like a lychee, so it is also called brocade lychee.

In folklore, people value bitter melon very highly.

"Guangdong Xinyu" written by Qu Dajun in the Qing Dynasty said: "It tastes very bitter, but it is mixed with other things to cook it. The other things are not bitter. It is self-suffering and not suffering others. This is the virtue of a gentleman."

People believe that bitter melon has a noble quality of "not imparting bitterness to itself", which means that if it is cooked with any dish, such as fried and boiled with fish or meat, it will never transfer its own bitterness to others.

The bitter taste is passed on to the other party.

Moreover, "its nature belongs to fire, with cold as its body and heat as its function. Its skin and seeds are all beneficial to people."

Therefore, bitter melon is said to have the image of "a gentleman's virtues and a gentleman's merits", so it is praised as a "gentleman's dish".

2. Eating more bitter melon can remove heat toxins. What is the best way to eat bitter melon?

It is reported that bitter melon tastes bitter and cold, non-toxic, can remove evil heat, relieve fatigue, clear the heart and improve eyesight.

Eating more bitter melon can relieve the heat in the heart and eliminate toxins from the body.

Eating bitter melon regularly can enhance the vitality of the cortex and make the skin tender and toned.

Many folk people often use fresh bitter melon to make juice or decoct it into soup. It is a good auxiliary dietary therapy for liver fire, red eyes, epigastric pain, and damp-heat dysentery.

Take fresh bitter melon, smash it and apply it externally to treat carbuncles and boils.

Children are prone to prickly heat in summer. Try slicing bitter melon and rubbing the prickly heat on your body to get an early recovery.

"Whose vegetable patch is full of bitter melons, and the food on the plate in the kitchen is fresh?"

People say that bitter melon boiled in water or eaten as a delicacy can dissipate heat and relieve heat.

What is the best way to eat bitter melon?

The fragmentary volume of "Yongle Dadian" in the Ming Dynasty said, "It is best to use meat clams and boil them"; the "Hengchun (Hengchun, Taiwan) County Chronicles" in the Qing Dynasty said, "it is very good to steam them with black bean sauce"; the "Miaoli (Taiwan) Food" in the Qing Dynasty

According to Miaoli County Chronicle, "it can be eaten pickled or cooked" and so on.

At present, as far as I know, the best way to eat bitter melon is cold salad.

Cold cooking can well retain the vitamins contained in bitter melon.

If stir-frying is used, a large amount of these vitamins will be lost during the stir-frying process, and the oil content after stir-frying is relatively high. People will consume more oil after eating, and it will not have the effect of cooling and reducing fire.

3. I saw the soft vines of bitter melon climbing all over the shelf, and the blossoming yellow flowers were quite lovely.

It is not difficult to understand that many vegetable farmers today plant bitter melons mainly for the purpose of picking them and eating them as vegetables.

However, I found that many people in urban areas like to cultivate it in the courtyard. In addition to being able to collect food, I think those soft vine climbing frames and yellow flowers hanging down are quite charming.

For example, in our community, I discovered that not far from the exit of the pedestrian street, someone skillfully planted several nests of bitter melon seedlings in the green flower bed of the park. Occasionally, I passed by and saw their soft branches and yellow flowers.

They complement each other and create harmony, adding a lot of unique scenery to the monotonous flower bed.

"The soft vines of bitter melon are crawling all over the shelf, and green jade and gold flowers hang high."

Especially today I went out for a walk again and saw the stems and vines of these bitter gourds climbing around. On their seemingly very delicate branches, a few small yellow flowers had grown out and fluttered in the wind. There were also three or two small bitter gourds.

Reluctantly hanging down from the vine branch.

The most beautiful ones are the small bitter melons that are young and about the size of a caterpillar. Since they have just grown up, they still have cute little yellow flowers hanging on their tips. I think they look like those ornamental flowers.

Still very likable.