Text/Yangcheng Evening News all-media reporter Wang Man Intern Wang Wenjie
Thirsty, making a cup of chrysanthemum tea seems to be a good choice; hungry, come to a piece of flower cake to enjoy a comfortable time; hungry, go home to eat a bowl of overlord flower old fire soup... After getting used to the diet of eating plant leaves and fruits, it seems that it is a bit "off the beaten path" to eat flowers. In fact, although the frequency of flowers appearing on the table is not high, it has never been absent at the table in various parts of the country.
If the winter melon cup does not have the standard of night flowers, it will appear unauthentic; using frangipani to make various desserts is the most seasonal summer sugar water for Guangzhou people, pick up the falling flowers in the courtyard, cut off the flower handle, wash and throw it into the sugar water pot, after boiling, fragrant and slippery, delicious... Flowers, this combination of beauty and freshness, from the blossom to the wither seems to be a little hurried, but they use a short beauty to make the whole table different, not only to create wonderful, but also to let you taste romantic and poetic.
Flowers have been eaten since ancient times
In addition to appreciation, flowers are also endowed with health care functions by the Chinese people, such as beauty and beauty, eye-catching and pharynx, clear nose, relieve heat and vitality, activate blood and dissolve stasis, cough and asthma... Flower health can be traced back to the 6th century BC "Book of Poetry", and Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" includes more than 100 kinds of anthers. Of the plant flowers known, 77% can be used directly for medicinal purposes.
The in-depth understanding of flowers also allowed the ancients to try to eat flowers. Qu Yuan once wrote in "Leaving sorrows" that "the fall of drinking mulan is dewy, and the autumn chrysanthemums of the evening meal are falling", that is, flowers are eaten as ingredients; Lin Hong recorded various cooking methods for making cakes, porridge and noodles with flowers in the Song Dynasty; Wang Xiangjin of the Ming Dynasty also recorded magnolia flowers in the "Qunfang Spectrum".
In China, there are many varieties of flowers that can be eaten, and there are more than 50 kinds that people often use in their daily lives, such as night flowers, osmanthus flowers, lotuses, roses, honeysuckle, etc.
Luoyang people put fresh peony petals and red beans, red dates, etc. into the filling, to make sweet peony flower cakes; Suzhou people dry fresh osmanthus flowers to make osmanthus cakes, osmanthus drinks, osmanthus brewing, etc.; Hangzhou people put white chrysanthemums into hot pots, cover them for 5 minutes, and cook them into a umami "chrysanthemum hot pot"; Honghu people use lotus flowers as cooking raw materials to cook lotus fish belly, fried lotus flowers, fragrant lotus flowers, lotus porridge, lotus cakes, etc.; The Bai ethnic groups in Heqing, Yunnan Province, eat mountain orchids, cane cauliflower, stone flowers, leek flowers, white peonies, etc. to make cauliflower In Guangdong, which is recognized as the "most edible" province, the heavy umami Cantonese cuisine and flowers can be said to be a seamless match.
The well-known gourmet Johnson told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter that in Guangdong, there are many kinds of flowers that can be added to the dish, such as kapok and bawang flowers for traditional soups; various seasonal melon flowers for stir-frying; osmanthus flowers, chrysanthemums, jasmine flowers for tea brewing, etc. "Different flower species have their own role in different cooking methods."
Nowadays, with the gradual popularization of scientific cooking, edible flowers as a condiment, its unique fragrance is sought after by all kinds of restaurants. In the view of Jeffrey Zeng, chef of BaiXian Hui Restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou, edible flowers as condiments are a very good complement to dishes, and he often innovates the design of dishes by introducing flowers, "Edible flowers are a supplement full of dramatic conflicts for today's dishes, and also help to create a new overall flavor." Jeffrey said.
Aromatic and refreshing on hot days
The weather is hot and the heat is heavy. Because some flowers have the effect of clearing heat and dispelling fire, they have naturally become an important ingredient on the table of Cantonese people. Eating flowers is not only a delicious dish, but also a table of flower feasts, such as Shunde mud carp jasmine, frangipani fish noodles, jasmine flowers, brine osmanthus chicken... The Chen Cun Flower Food and Culture Festival with the theme of flower banquet has been held for eight consecutive years so far, becoming one of the food culture brands in Shunde and polishing the golden signboard of "Chinese Flower Food Town" in Chen Cun.
Zhongshan Xiaolan is rich in chrysanthemums, and eating chrysanthemums is naturally the best choice for foodies. They select and cultivate the "yellow ball" chrysanthemum for the purpose of eating, one flower can weigh up to half a kilogram, the taste is fresh, refreshing, crisp, with the effect of clearing the liver and eyes and throat. Chrysanthemum large pot vegetables, chrysanthemum leaf fried pork liver, chrysanthemum double skin milk, chrysanthemum fried rice... Full of color, aroma, unique flavor and full of creativity, diners can taste them one by one at Xiaolan's 1000-person chrysanthemum feast.
The Food Street of China Hotel has a strong Guangzhou Xiguan style, where classic traditional dishes and innovative fusion dishes go hand in hand, allowing taste buds to wander in the north and south of the river. Cucumber blossom Zihuai Mountain stir-fried pork neck is one of the restaurant's floral dishes, cucumber flowers with crisp and tender tender melon, fresh taste, refreshing taste, is a very good heat and nutrition dish. The tender cucumber flowers do not need too many seasonings when cooking, add Zihuai Mountain and stir-fry rich taste, fiercely flare up the fragrant and refreshing pork neck meat, the taste is appetizing.
Yuehai Lou (Yuexiu Park Store) integrates flowers into Guangzhou's special Cantonese cuisine: cherry blossom fish soup, which seeps the unique taste of cherry blossoms into the fish soup; jasmine tea shrimp, jasmine tea has a strong aroma, unique and crispy taste...
The use of edible flowers in Western food is indispensable, not only for decoration, but also for direct food. In addition to eight floral cocktails at Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou' floral cocktail list, Jeffrey has also carefully designed a variety of accompanying wine-flavored snacks with flowers, and French duck sauce with rose butter is one of the wine pairings. Jeffrey creatively cooks with fresh roses and French cooking techniques, and the duck sauce is smooth and has a rich rosette, and the fresh floral aroma neutralizes the greasy feeling of duck meat and butter to a certain extent.
Eat delicious and safely correctly
In fact, flowers are not only used in dishes, but also in a variety of homemade ice cream and popsicles. All in all: the more vivid the petals, the more additives they often have. So how to deal with the delicacy of flowers in order to properly meet them?
SC Johnson recommends that it's best not to use exotic or wild-picked flowers when cooking at home. "In Guangdong, similar chrysanthemums, kapok, overlord flowers, and plumeria are edible flowers with a long history of cooking, and many of them are commercialized, of course, the problem is not big." However, some of the more bizarre flower treatments require professional knowledge and matching skills, and I recommend that it is more appropriate to go to a regular restaurant to enjoy it. ”
Edible flowers as condiments must first ensure safety. "We must first clearly understand the source and origin of this type of edible flower." Jeffrey told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter that the edible flowers of Western food usually use fresh flowers, but some have special effects, such as medicinal flowers (honeysuckle) must pay special attention to the dosage.
It is worth mentioning that eating flowers can enhance the original taste of the dish, but it cannot overwhelm the protagonist, so the taste balance is the key. "Care must be taken with the use of fragrant edible flowers, which are usually not suitable for cooking meat dishes, but are more suitable for decoration and garnishing dishes at will, which can greatly increase the beauty of the dishes on the plate." Jeffrey said.
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Source | Yangcheng Evening News • Yangcheng Pie
Image | Respondents provided
Editor-in-charge | Wu Anqi