The traditional cuisine in the Jiangnan area is often tainted with a bit of "royal" color.

Among the many legends about Bazhen Cake, one is related to Cixi.

One day in September of the sixth year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi fell ill in the palace.

Imperial physician Li Desheng led a group of people to consult "Lafayette" and believed that his illness was caused by a weak spleen and stomach.

After research, all the imperial doctors gave "Lao Foye" a prescription of eight ingredients that are both food and medicine: Poria cocos, Gorgon fruit, lotus seeds, Yiren, yam, lentils, malt, and lotus root starch, two liang each. Grind into fine powder and add 7 liang of white sugar.

Two, mixed with water to make a cake, and named "Jianpi Cake".

After eating this cake for a few days, "Lafayette's" symptoms completely disappeared, his appetite increased greatly, and his whole body became stronger.

When "Lafayette" was happy, he changed the name of "Spleen Strengthening Cake" to "Bazhen Cake".

"Bazhen cake" is not "Bazhen paste". Although "Bazhen cake" and "Bazhen paste" are both good medicines for treating diseases in traditional Chinese medicine, and there is only one word difference, there is an essential difference between the two. Xiaomo refers to the two as "Bazhen cake".

The differences are briefly summarized as follows: different prescriptions, different functions, different shapes, and different tastes. First of all, the formulas are different. The formula of the former roughly includes 8 herbs such as hawthorn, poria, coix seed, white lentils, malt, yam, and lotus seeds.

The latter is a combination of Chinese medicinal materials from the same source as Angelica sinensis, Chuanxiong rhizome, white peony root, Rehmannia glutinosa, ginseng, Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos and Zhigancao.

It has the effect of diluting spleen and dampness, while the latter focuses on replenishing qi and blood. In terms of appearance, the former is similar to cakes, while the latter is in the form of thick paste. In terms of eating method, the former is soft, glutinous and sweet, just like ordinary cakes, and can be used as a snack.

Eat. The latter should be taken according to the doctor's advice, use a small spoon to scoop up a spoonful, dissolve it with hot water and then take it.

It has the effect of strengthening the spleen and nourishing the stomach. The reason is that most pastries are equipped with Chinese medicinal materials that have the same origin as medicine and food, and each medicinal material is processed with special care. Take hawthorn as an example. Raw hawthorn has a sour taste and has a smooth intestinal effect.

The hawthorn used to make Bazhen cake must be burnt hawthorn, so that the smooth intestines of raw hawthorn can be transformed into a spleen-strengthening and appetizing method. The frying method of burnt hawthorn may seem simple, but it is not something that ordinary pharmacists can do. If it is fried too much, it will be harmful to the stomach.

To make charcoal, the smoothness and acidity of raw hawthorn cannot be removed without frying, so it must be prepared by master craftsmen with many years of experience; coix must be made from small barley, which has high medicinal value and has whitening and antibacterial properties.

It has the medicinal effect of removing swelling, removing dampness and detoxifying; the yam we use is fried yam instead of raw yam. Each batch must be fried with wheat bran. It is good for phlegm, asthma and cough, strengthens the spleen and relieves diarrhea, weak spleen, stomach and kidney qi, and obesity.

The effect is very good. Today, Bazhen cake is something worthy of inheritance and persistence for Mo Shang Shi.