Artemisia annua was known as the "emperor dish" in ancient times

This vegetable is common in wet markets, but few people eat it every day. However, in ancient times, this vegetable can be regarded as a court dish, also known as "emperor's dish". That's right, it's Artemisia annua.

As a vegetable native to our country, Artemisia annua was born in the ninth month of the lunar calendar when the autumn wind was cold and everything withered, and it worked hard to grow in the wind sword and frost sword. Li Shizhen said in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" that it "has a fat and tender stem and leaves, slightly artemisia, so it is called Artemisia annua, the flowers are dark yellow, and they are shaped like small chrysanthemums". However, in fact, the name of Artemisia annua and the earliest records date back to the Tang Dynasty. In his book "Qianjin Fang", the medicine king Sun Simiao classified Artemisia annua as a vegetable, which was described as: "Spicy, flat and non-toxic." Rest assured, nourish the spleen and stomach, eliminate phlegm and drink. "This shows that the ancients have recognized the therapeutic effect of Artemisia annua." Modern scientific research tells us more directly that Artemisia annua is also rich in vitamins, carotene and a variety of amino acids, which can nourish the mind, reduce blood pressure and supplement the brain, clear blood and phlegm, moisturize the lungs and liver, stabilize emotions, and prevent memory loss.

The unique personality and character of Artemisia annua, as well as its rich connotations, have won it the love of literati of all generations. In the Song Dynasty, lu you "five acres of small gardens cut basil, you feel that the traces of the world can escape" in the "basil", and the great poet Su Shi "gradually felt that the east wind is steep and cold, artemisia annua yellow leek test spring plate" in the "artemisia annua" refers to artemisia. The former is used to pin his own reclusive thoughts condensed by his own sorrow, while the latter borrows things to pin his thoughts on homesickness. Different from the sadness of the ancients, people today often regard Artemisia annua as a symbol of love. This is not only because the pronunciation of Artemisia annua is similar to "tonghao", but also because of its daughter posture during cooking and eating, which makes people think.

In ancient times, Artemisia annua was favored by emperors and generals, so "cooking artemisia soup", "scorching artemisia fish", "mixing artemisia annua" and "roasting artemisia" were all popular dishes at that time. However, with the change of the times, it is difficult to find its traces in today's recipes, and today's artemisia annua is mostly used as a simple and simple cooking method to make guests at the table of ordinary people's homes, the main way is to stir-fry or cold mix. In the cold winter, the best way to eat Artemisia annua is to use it in shabu-shabu - it not only warms the stomach, but also increases the freshness of the soup base, and has a different flavor. In the fish ball soup that the Chaoshan people often drink, it also contains some artemisia annua, in order to make the soup more fragrant. In Taiwan, there is also a popular way to eat tangyuan - in the tangyuan added to the artemisia annua boiled together, after a mixture of water and milk, the tangyuan emits the aroma of artemisia annua, and the sweet and greasy taste is matched, becoming an excellent delicacy.

Text/Figure Wang Min (Excerpt from Yangcheng Evening News)

Source: Tonight's newspaper