Want to eat lotus root in Mid-Autumn Festival?
The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming, and it is time for fresh lotus roots to meet the market. Different from the lotus's "straight through the outside and straight without branches", the lotus root is disconnected and connected with silk, and it is like a girl's longing for love. In addition, the word lotus root is homophonic with "even", and it has also become a necessary offering for bribing Chang 'e in the Mid-Autumn Festival when girls pray for love to blossom and bear fruit.
Eating lotus root in Mid-Autumn Festival is also a sign of reunion, especially eating "lotus root box". Most people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang slice the lotus root, and the lower ends of each two slices are connected, and the stuffing made of meat and clam is sandwiched in the middle, and the noodles are fried until golden. This is also called lotus root cake, which has the same effect as moon cakes.
In addition to eating moon cakes, Hefei people also eat "selfless lotus roots" in Baohe during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Legend has it that in Bao Zheng's later years, Renzong awarded the hero half of Hefei City to Bao Gong. Bao Gong asked his descendants to stand on their own feet and refused the emperor's village reward. However, Renzong must give it, and finally give him a moat. If the emperor doesn't get the seal, he will be guilty of resisting the purport.
Bao Gong was so helpless that he had to be sealed, but he was very uneasy. Seeing the lotus root in the moat, after careful consideration, the lotus root was stipulated; Lotus root can be eaten but not sold. Bao Zheng is iron and lotus root has no silk (private). Strange to say, the lotus roots in other places are broken, but the lotus roots in Baohe have no silk. Since then, Hefei has left a two-part allegorical saying, "Baohe Lotus Root-No Silk (Private)". Bao Zheng's descendants abided by Bao Gong's legacy, and tasted Bao He's lotus root and added rock sugar on the Mid-Autumn Festival to show "Bing Xin's selflessness". The lotus root in the river is only given to the neighbors, and it is never sold for money. This virtue is imitated by people, and it has become a custom.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, lotus roots are on the market in large quantities. Li Shizhen called lotus root "Linggen" in "",which is sweet and non-toxic. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that cold lotus root can clear away heat, relieve annoyance, cool blood, stop bleeding and disperse silt; Cooked lotus root is warm, which can nourish the heart and produce blood, nourish the strong and strengthen the spleen and stomach. The beginning of August in the lunar calendar is the best season to eat lotus root.
At present, there are two main varieties of lotus root in the market, namely, seven-hole lotus root and nine-hole lotus root. Seven-hole lotus root is widely cultivated in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. This variety has excellent texture, tender meat, crisp, sweet and white. Chinese medicine believes that after being cooked, lotus root changes from cool to warm, which is beneficial to the spleen and stomach, and has the effects of nourishing stomach, nourishing yin and benefiting blood.
When selecting lotus roots, it is better to trim them cleanly, without trauma, and without decay or rot. Some unscrupulous traders use chemicals to bleach and sell lotus roots in order to make them crisp and beautiful. Therefore, it is best for the public to smell the cut surface of lotus root when buying. Fresh lotus root has a clear fragrance, and it smells sour when mixed with chemicals.
Mid-Autumn Festival must eat lotus root gourmet
1, osmanthus glutinous rice lotus root
Sweet-scented osmanthus glutinous rice lotus root is a classic Mid-Autumn Festival food. Both lotus root and glutinous rice are the ingredients of Mid-Autumn Festival blessing. Eight laurel flowers are fragrant and decorated with sweet-scented osmanthus, which means the coming of Mid-Autumn Festival. And this "osmanthus glutinous rice lotus root" is sour and sweet in taste. Half is orange and the other half is osmanthus. Lotus root and glutinous rice blend, fragrant and glutinous, and it also reveals the faint fragrance of osmanthus.
Ingredients: lotus root, glutinous rice, sweet-scented osmanthus.
Practice: wash and dry the lotus root, and cut a section about 2 cm long from one end as a cap; After washing glutinous rice, put it into the lotus root hole, cover the lotus root cap, tie it firmly with a toothpick and steam it thoroughly in a steamer (about 2 hours); Take out the lotus root, soak it in water, scrape the skin, remove the cap, cut it into pieces with a thickness of cm, put it in a big bowl, add osmanthus flowers, seal the bowl with cellophane, steam it in a steamer for one and a half hours, then take it out and pour it into a plate.
2, lotus root box
Fried lotus root box is a dish that many people like to eat. The crispy skin is covered with crispy lotus root with glutinous rice, and the lotus root is filled with fragrant meat. Bite down, you can experience a variety of flavors and mouthfeel, which is definitely a great enjoyment.
Ingredients: pork, half lotus root, 2 eggs, edible oil, flour, soy sauce, salt, onion and ginger.
Practice: peel the lotus root, wash it, slice it from the front without cutting it, and then cut it into a clip with a knife. Chop onion and ginger into powder, chop pork into powder, add soy sauce, salt, onion, ginger and a small amount of egg white into the pork, mix well, and put the stirred meat in the cut lotus root clip for later use. Add an egg and a little salt to the flour, add a proper amount of water and stir it into a thin batter. Roll the lotus root clip evenly in it and hang the batter. Heat the pan and put in oil. Add lotus root and fry until golden brown.
Why do you want to eat lotus root in Mid-Autumn Festival? Eating lotus root in the Mid-Autumn Festival has the meaning of reunion, and lotus root is also the most seasonal food, so in the Mid-Autumn Festival, you might as well come to the lotus root!