Lohan beans, scientific name broad beans, also known as Hu beans, Japanese beans, Buddha beans. According to the test is the 2nd century A.D. Zhang Qian mission to the Western Regions after the introduction of China. Belonging to the legume family, it is a 1 or 2 year old herbaceous plant, the fruit is pods, and the food part is seeds. Rich in starch, protein, a variety of vitamins and minerals. Fresh green color when tender, fresh and fragrant, can make dishes. Such as: "golden legs Luo Hanzu" "snow vegetable beans" "stinky tofu fried Luo Hanzu" "green bean plate soup" "Bean flower seasonal cake" and so on. The beans are dried and can be fried, boiled or stir-fried to make food. "Fennel beans" is a kind of dry bean products.
Zhejiang Shaoxing people called Luo Han beans. In Shaoxing, there is also the name "fava beans", but that refers to peas with pods much smaller than those of luohan beans. Once in Lu Xun's "social theater" appeared (the text has been Su Jiao version of the seventh grade language materials included) Luo Hanzu, in the Shaoxing rural winter crops accounted for a great proportion, in addition to wheat, rape, the most is Luo Hanzu, the whole acre of the whole mu of the species, but also with other crops planted. Because of the popularity of planting, so harvesting and eating luohan beans, in shaoxing farming life has become an important content. Before and after the summer of the lunar calendar, the winter Luo Han beans ripe and fruitful, this time with dew picked, peeled off the pods, take out the emerald beans, and water down pot, cooked slightly sprinkled with salt flower, eat the sweet and beautiful, which is called eating fresh Luo Han beans. Because of the sweetness of fresh luohan beans, so farmers often used to gift to relatives living in the city. The old Luohan beans are called "old Luohan beans" when they are aged on the branches and then picked off. Old Luohan beans to pods dry, can be stored in jars, ready to use. Have been eating until the next year fresh Luo Han beans listed. Old Luohan beans in the countryside often fried into "fried Luohan beans" to eat. In the city, especially in small hotels such as Xianheng Hotel, it is commonly used to make "vegetable beans", "fennel beans", "orchid beans" and so on, as a year-round preparations for the "over wine blanks" (under the wine).