If you socialize a lot, you will often meet okra at the table.

In the past two or three years, okra has become almost a must-have dish for dinner guests.

In Japanese cuisine, okra has also become a heavyweight, with okra sashimi and cold okra appetizers.

I don't really have a feeling for okra.

But a few good friends, often "encourage" me to eat okra,

"Zheng Xiao otter, don't look at the okra is not conspicuous, but the nutritional value of the super high, eat more on the body is good for the male that is also good for the kidney and aphrodisiacs.

I can only "heh heh" to cope with.

Speaking of okra, it reminds me of the first time I ate the picture.

A few years ago, I left Zhejiang and went to Yunnan.

Doing financial work related to the mechanical and mineral industries, often have to deal with the local small and medium-sized bosses.

The first time I saw okra, it was on the cold plate of the banquet.

A long, thin "bamboo shoots", lying in the dish, a little like green pepper, but look closely and not like, I can not say what the thing.

A local colleague beside me pointed and told me, "This is okra, Kunming is very popular this time, dip it in the sauce and eat it, it's very complementary.

I was curious to clip a stick, dipped in the sauce, took a bite, and saw half of the okra, flowing out of some sticky liquid, just like snot, see people a little stomach.

But still ate in, the taste in addition to crisp, really can not find, other adjectives to describe, more nothing flavor.

And the small and medium-sized bosses of that meal, eat quite fast, each one or two chopsticks down, a pot of okra immediately to the bottom.

Colleagues continue to say to me, "okra, now is a very expensive vegetable, Zheng Xiao otter you do not eat a few more pieces."

I looked at him, and then looked at the only few left on the plate, can not think of okra it good.

I just thought it was a mysterious Yunnan dish.

After returning to Hangzhou, not much time has passed, go out to eat, I began to find okra often appear on the table.

At that time, I was very surprised, how the "Yunnan cuisine" to "Zhejiang cuisine" to come.

But at the time, I did not understand.

Once, I had dinner with a friend from the food media.

I remembered this question and asked her why okra is so popular now.

She answered bluntly,

"Nutritional ah, but also can control diabetes, weight loss, not popular strange!

It's true.

Okra is rich in minerals and vitamins, such as vitamin C, E, carotene, also contains some trace elements, such as selenium, zinc.

In particular, okra has a controlling effect on blood sugar.

The blob of mucus in the middle of okra is, in fact, very beneficial to the human body.

This viscous material contains a high level of "dietary fiber", such as cellulose, lignin, polysaccharides, pectin and so on.

Dietary fiber into the human body, can make people produce a strong sense of satiety, stimulate the digestive tract peristalsis, "cleaning" the stomach, not easy constipation and obesity.

Moreover, it can slow down the rate of increase in blood sugar after meals, which is why rumor has it that okra is a "diabetic nemesis" reason.

But this is only a certain degree of relief, the rumor of the nemesis is exaggerated.

For the girls who love beauty and want to slim down, okra stimulates gastrointestinal peristalsis, accelerates the elimination of body wastes, okra mucus (fiber), the human body can not be digested and absorbed.

Eat will be full, but eat not fat, this is not the best diet food?

I also interjected a question, "There are rumors that okra can be aphrodisiac?"

My friend laughed and replied, "There is such a saying that okra is a plant Viagra, but there is no scientific basis for this."

After that, she gently added, "Anyway, my husband ate it, I did not feel the difference."

Okra, Okra in English, is also known as okra and okra.

The okra we eat is actually the fruit.

It is a long, thin strip, the tip of the tip, like a woman's ten fingers of the tip of the delicate jade finger, so the British also like to call the okra beauty finger.

When okra is cut, it is polygonal in shape, similar to a hexagonal, seven-pointed star, with its seeds densely packed in the center.

Ethiopia, in Africa, is its country of origin.

Later, it came to the United States with the slave trade, and then to Japan during the Meiji Restoration.

It was introduced to Taiwan in 1901, and again became one of the popular summer fruits and vegetables for the Taiwanese.

Okra like to plant in the tropics, planted in the south of China, many, including Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, Hunan Liuyang production of the most, the price of 30 yuan per kilogram.

Domestic table, okra is mostly used to make cold dishes, dipping sauce raw food, or cold okra.

There are also, okra scrambled eggs, tofu mixed with okra dish color practice.

When eating Japanese food, it is common to see okra chilled, okra tempura (below), and miso soup (with okra) on the menu.

In the United States, okra is famous as a dish thickener.

There is a classic dish from the southern United States, Seafood Gumbo with Okra, which you can try when eating at an American restaurant.

Okra is also a standard ingredient in Indian curry cuisine.

Over the years, Zheng Xiao Otter I've read a lot of books on wine and food, I've gotten a lot of certificates, and I'm a sommelier for Japanese sake and whisky.

I also often with some Hangzhou Hangzhou restaurant chef, exchange of food insights.

One day, I finally realized the mystery of the rise of okra among many fruits and vegetables.

The 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games made okra a hit, as reported below.

Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, okra as the first choice of athletes from many countries, and known as the "Olympic vegetables", "special vegetables", was exposed by the media, quickly became popular, the price of speculation over the sky.

As early as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the audience has seen on TV, foreign athletes eat okra images, but at that time, we have any big idea about okra.

But after the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, okra was quickly pushed by businesses and the media on the "fairy throne".

With the efficacy of the "cure for all diseases", also labeled health, from then on, okra has been popular in China, until now.

Then I carefully counted, I stayed in Yunnan this time, it is the second half of 2014, when the okra just fire popular.

So, I was wondering how I had not heard of okra in Zhejiang.

It turned out to be in Yunnan to catch the wind of its red hot.