China's territory is vast, and the span of north and south is large, so there are also great differences in climate and environment, and naturally there are differences in diet and culture.
As we all know, the southern region of China is relatively rich in water resources, and there are many rivers and lakes here. Even in many villages, there are many small ponds.
In ponds and reservoirs, not only are there a variety of different fish, but also many aquatic plants. Some of them can be eaten as vegetables and have been very popular since ancient times, including the famous "Eight Immortals of Water".
These are eight kinds of precious vegetables that are only available in the southern region, and they are different from ordinary vegetables, all of which are grown in water.
Do you know which eight precious vegetables the "Eight Immortals of Water" are? How many have you eaten? If you have eaten more than half of it, you are counted as a cow, and the total amount of food you have eaten is estimated to be pitiful.
(1) Russet white
Zibai is a very old vegetable, in fact, in the beginning, it was not planted as a vegetable, but a food crop. It was still one of the traditional "six grains" at that time, and the fruit it produced had to be carved with humi, which is also the longest rice in the world, and now it is often called "local luxury rice" by netizens.
Because in foreign countries, there are still people who grow carved rice, but because of its low yield and troublesome planting, the price is also relatively expensive, and at present, it is also affordable to eat by "local tycoons", hence the name.
In fact, China's cultivation of russet white has a longer history, and it is planted as a vegetable, which is also a specialty of our country. Because during the growth process, the white is very susceptible to infection with a pathogen, resulting in the root swelling like a spindle.
And the infected chloret is not yet able to flower and bear fruit. Some people found that the infected parts of Zibai were delicious and refreshing to eat, especially when cooking vegetables, so when it came to the Tang Dynasty, it began to be planted as a vegetable in large quantities.
(2) Cress
Cress, also known as wild celery, water celery, etc., is a perennial herb of the genus Umbellifera, a genus of cress. Because it often grows near the water's edge and looks like celery, it got its name.
Like home-cooked celery, water celery is a very good vegetable, especially water celery grown in the wild, and it is a pure natural green vegetable, which is neither fertilized nor sprayed with pesticides. However, it is very delicious to eat when you use it as a dish.
It is particularly worth mentioning that water celery is generally listed around the Spring Festival, and at this time there are very few types of vegetables, there are not many fresh vegetables that can be eaten, and the water celery in the wild river and algae land in Fujian grows in large quantities, providing farmers with more choices.
Now some people grow water celery, the price is much more expensive than home-cooked celery, especially before and after the Spring Festival to more than a dozen yuan a catty.
(3) Lotus root
The ancients said that the lotus root is a vegetable that comes out of the mud and is not stained, and it is not a rare vegetable for the lotus root, because it is planted in the north and south of China.
And now the planting technology is more advanced, and lotus roots can be bought all year round.
In fact, the lotus root is a crop full of treasures, and the flowers it blooms can be appreciated, and the lotus seeds that are produced can be eaten fresh as fruits, or dried to be used for medicine. Of course, the most delicious part of the lotus root is its lotus belt.
In folklore, it is also called lotus root, lotus root, lotus seedling, which is the young rhizome of the lotus, composed of an internode and top bud at the top of the rhizome, and the taste is more delicious than the lotus root.
(4) Chicken head rice
For chicken head rice, it is estimated that many northerners do not know what it is, because although it is a specialty of the south, many southerners have not seen it, let alone eaten it. Only because the distribution range of chicken head rice is very limited, generally in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is the main production area.
Chicken head rice is the seed of a mustard, because its fruit is very similar to a chicken head, and there are pearl-like seeds in the cut.
Fresh chicken head rice is not low in price, its peak production period is in the summer, but the fruit period is very short. And because the harvest is more troublesome, and the recovery also takes rice, thin shells, etc., to invest a lot of labor costs, often a pound will be sold to more than a hundred yuan.
However, the nutritional value of chicken head rice is very high, it has long been recorded in the "Shennong Materia Medica", and it is also listed as a superior product, and it is also recorded in the previous editions of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
(5) Ci mushrooms
This is also a relatively rare vegetable on the market, and like the previous vegetables, the mushroom is mainly grown in some ponds, lakes, or rice fields.
Because the roots of this plant will grow more than ten fleshy bulbs, just like the sons of Cigu Milk, it is named after it. Ci mushroom is a vegetable unique to China, and the main component of its fleshy bulb is starch.
In the past famine years, it was still the food for farmers to save the famine, and it could be eaten when it was cooked, and it was very full. And it can also be used to make dishes to eat, stir-frying, soup are OK, eat a lot of ways, and nutrition is very rich, but also has a good medicinal value.
(6) Water chestnut
This crop, it is estimated that many people have seen, in the water eight immortals it should be a vegetable with a second appearance rate second only to lotus root.
Water chestnut is also called horseshoe, water chestnut, black potato, ground chestnut, earth chestnut, thorn turtle, etc. in the folk, which is the underground rhizome of sedge family and water chestnut plants.
It looks a lot like a chestnut and has a dark red skin on the outside. After peeling, it can be eaten as a fruit, the taste is sweet, similar to the texture of pears, watery and very crunchy.
In the past, rural babies were eaten directly raw, eating it as a fruit and snack, but now most of them use it to make dishes, and now it is time for water chestnut to be listed in large quantities.
(7) Diamond angle
This is a vegetable that is not only unpopular, but also looks very strange. Because its shape looks like an antelope horn, some people also say that it resembles a bull's head horn, so it is called "diamond horn".
Now many people in the north do not know the diamond horn, not long ago there was a news report, a professor bought the diamond horn actually did not know how to eat.
In fact, the history of eating diamond horn in China is very long, and there are many works related to it in ancient times, such as "Picking Red Diamond", "Picking Diamond Horn", "Picking Diamond Song" and so on.
When it is tender, its shell is red, hence the name red diamond, this time the shell is thin and soft, can be easily peeled, and the flesh can be eaten raw, tender and delicious. After the elders, the shell becomes black and very hard, and it is usually eaten as a dish.
(8) Lettuce
This is one of the few vegetables that is very famous but rarely eaten. In our country, there is a very well-known allusion: the thought of the perch, in which "lettuce" refers to lettuce.
It is a young leaf of an aquatic plant, the surface is wrapped in a layer of transparent gum, and it is eaten as a dish, and the entrance is smooth and tender, very delicious. The lettuce soup in Hangzhou's West Lake is a famous dish, and many people will taste it when they travel to Hangzhou.
In the past, lettuce was mainly wild, but decades ago, because of the large amount of digging, this wild vegetable almost became extinct. Later, it was protected in time and artificial cultivation began.
However, even if it is planted with lettuce, the price is not cheap, generally sold to more than twenty yuan a catty, but it is more expensive than most vegetables, and it is a veritable precious vegetable.
The above eight kinds of precious vegetables are the "eight immortals of water" that have left a strong color in China's food culture, also known as "eight immortals of water", and only when they are listed, they are the most delicious.
But although it is the Water Immortals, not many people have eaten them in the southern region, and even fewer in the north. It can be said that not many people have eaten more than 4 kinds, and even fewer have eaten all of them.
Dear netizens and friends, how many have you eaten? What is your favorite food? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.