Later, konjac spread from China to Japan, and was deeply loved by the Japanese people. Almost every household must eat every meal. It is the most popular and elegant food among Japanese. At the same time, Japan has become the largest consumer of konjac food in the world. Konjac has been planted and eaten in Japan for more than 1500 years, and processed with refined konjac powder for more than 1000 years. Although China has a history of more than 2,000 years of folk cultivation, the real processing of refined konjac flour only started in the mid-1980s.
However, the konjac we eat is not a single variety, and "konjac" is actually the name of a big family. 20 16 Belgian corn botanical garden exhibited one of the most smelly flowers in the world-Titan konjac, also known as "corpse flower" and "corpse-smelling konjac". This flower is native to the tropical rain forest area of Sumatra, Indonesia. The flower diameter is1.5m, and the height is nearly 3m. Because it smells like rotting corpses, it is called "the most smelly flower in the world".
In the well-known novel Ghost Blowing the Lamp, the author invented a legend for it: its distant ancestor "konjac corpse" has been extinct for thousands of years. This devil flower, with its enchanting color and strange fragrance, has created one trap after another composed of illusions, tempting people to die. The legendary "Amorphophallus konjac corpse flower" is the evil ghost who guards King Solomon's treasure.
It can be seen that the magic of konjac is indeed not small.
There are 163 species of Amorphophallus in Araceae, of which 2 1 species are distributed in China, and the rest are mainly distributed in other Asian countries and regions, Africa and Oceania. Although there are many konjac families, not all konjac can be eaten. Because the chemical components contained in the tubers of these plants are not very friendly, the main edible varieties in China are only Amorphophallus (Amorphophallus) and Amorphophallus albus, and the main Indian variety is Amorphophallus verrucosa. Other kinds of Amorphophallus konjac are regarded as wild weeds because of their strong toxicity.
Alkaloids and ceramides in Amorphophallus konjac have enough deterrent effect on animals that eat this plant. Even eating raw konjac tubers by mistake can cause a strong poisoning reaction, and it will be life-threatening if the rescue is not timely. Fortunately, our ancestors found a solution, which is to make them into konjac tofu.
Compendium of Materia Medica records that our ancestors used konjac to treat diseases more than 2000 years ago. The polysaccharide in konjac tofu has a special effect on our health, especially on the intestinal health. Polysaccharide is difficult to be digested and absorbed by human body, but it can provide necessary nutrition for microorganisms living in intestinal tract and play a certain role in maintaining the harmony of intestinal flora (such as Bifidobacterium). In addition, polysaccharide can also promote gastrointestinal peristalsis and gastrointestinal metabolism.
Konjac polysaccharide is not only a huge pit for human digestive system, but also for most microorganisms. After konjac glucomannan is dissolved in water, it forms a gelatinous solution. After the fruits and vegetables are coated with konjac glucomannan, a colorless and transparent semi-permeable membrane is formed on the surface, which can effectively prevent O2 from entering the fruits and slow down the outward diffusion of CO2 generated by the respiration of fruits and vegetables. This can not only reduce the water loss rate of vegetables, but also inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms and prolong the fresh-keeping time of fruits and vegetables.
1. Three kinds of home-made konjac vermicelli
The packaged konjac vermicelli (also known as konjac noodles) is soaked in water. After unpacking, it is best to rinse the vermicelli under running water for a while to remove the smell of limewater. When the water is dry, cut it short with a knife or scissors. Heating the frying pan for a few minutes without oil can remove excess water and make it look and taste more like noodles.
Composition:
Half a teaspoon ... oil.
2 teaspoons ... minced garlic
2 tablespoons ... Jiang Mo.
5 ... onion, chopped green onion.
2 teaspoons ... red curry sauce
Half a teaspoon ... curry powder.
1 listen to coconut milk
1 tablespoon ... fish sauce
2 sweet peppers ... cut into thin strips.
3/4 cup ... mushrooms, sliced.
200 grams ... konjac vermicelli
1 lb ... shelled shrimp
A little ... Chili sauce.
Half a cup ... coriander powder.
Exercise:
Rinse konjac vermicelli with hot water and shorten it with a knife. After boiling a pot of water, add noodles and cook for 1 min to remove the flavor of the packaging liquid. Empty the noodles for later use.
Heat the oil to high temperature in a large frying pan or wok, add garlic, ginger, onion, curry paste and curry powder and stir-fry until fragrant. It will take about 1 2 minutes. Add sweet pepper and mushrooms and stir-fry for 5 minutes, then add coconut milk and fish sauce and stew for a while. Turn to medium heat, add konjac vermicelli and shrimps and cook for about 5 minutes. Finally, add Chili sauce and coriander powder.
2. Sesame konjac vermicelli
Composition:
1 Bao ... Konjac vermicelli
1 teaspoon ... sesame
1 tablespoon ... sesame paste (peanut butter is also acceptable)
1 tablespoon ... light soy sauce
1 teaspoon ... rice vinegar
1/8 teaspoons ... Chili powder
1 cup ... broken cabbage (or cabbage, carrots, shredded mushrooms, etc. )
1 teaspoon ... sesame oil
1 Chop the big onion
Exercise:
1. Put a small frying pan on a medium-low fire and bake sesame seeds for 2 minutes until golden brown.
2. Boil the water in the pot, add the washed and chopped konjac vermicelli and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Heat the non-stick pan over medium-high fire, pour in the drained cooked vermicelli and fry for 1 to 2 minutes until it creaks.
4. While baking vermicelli, mix sesame sauce (peanut butter), soy sauce, rice vinegar and minced red pepper evenly with a fork, add them into a wok with minced Chinese cabbage, and stir until 1 to 2 minutes.
5. Turn off the fire, put the konjac vermicelli into a bowl, sprinkle with a little sesame oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds, and enjoy.
3. Fried chicken and vegetables with konjac vermicelli
Composition:
1 ... colored pepper, shredded.
2 carrots, sliced or shredded.
1 zucchini ...
1 ... small bamboo shoots and melons
1 cauliflower, chopped.
1 cup ... sweet peas
2 cloves ... minced garlic.
1 spoon ... Jiang Mo
1/2 to 3/4 pounds ... ground chicken
3 packets of konjac vermicelli (8 ounces each)
Sauce (can be adjusted according to taste):
2 tablespoons ... rice vinegar (or sake)
3 tablespoons ... soy sauce
1 tablespoon ... seafood sauce
Half a teaspoon ... sesame oil.
Exercise:
1. Add all the sauces into the bowl and stir well.
2. In a large wok, heat a little olive oil over medium heat, stir-fry the chicken until it is cooked, and put it in a bowl. You can also use pork, beef or tofu. Be sure to cook the vegetables before cooking. )
3. Dry the pan, sit on the fire again, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and add carrots, broccoli, Jiang Mo and minced garlic. Fry for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the colored pepper and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Add zucchini, zucchini and sugar peas and continue frying for 5 minutes, or until you think the vegetables are ripe enough.
4. Pour the chicken and sauce into the pot and simmer for a while.
5. Put the cooked konjac vermicelli into a bowl or plate and cover it with fried chicken and vegetables.