"The first fruit of winter", sweet and sour taste

This is the 4718th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

"The first fruit of winter", sweet and sour taste

As winter approaches, of course, we can’t miss the sweet and sour candied haws. Fresh hawthorn is used to make candied haws. It is not a traditional Chinese medicine, but it contains vitamin C, organic acids and other ingredients, which can increase appetite, promote gastric juice secretion, and promote fat digestion. In addition, the hawthorn flavonoids contained in hawthorn are an important material basis for the pharmacological effects. It has the effects of lowering blood lipids, resisting atherosclerosis, increasing the nutritional blood flow of ischemic myocardium, lowering blood pressure, and anti-oxidation.

After processing, fresh hawthorn becomes four varieties of Chinese medicine: raw hawthorn, fried hawthorn, burnt hawthorn and hawthorn charcoal.

Raw Hawthorn

[Processing method] Remove impurities and fallen cores.

【Effects】It helps in digestion, strengthens the stomach, promotes the flow of qi and dissipates blood stasis, clears turbidity and reduces fat.

[Indications] It is used for meat stagnation, stomach distension, diarrhea and abdominal pain, blood stasis and amenorrhea, postpartum blood stasis, stabbing pain in the heart and abdomen, chest pain, hernia pain, and hyperlipidemia.

Fried Hawthorn

[Preparation method] Take the cleaned hawthorn, put it in a pot and stir-fry it over low heat until the outside turns light brown, take it out and let it cool.

[Effects] After frying, hawthorn can alleviate the medicinal properties, reduce the sour taste, reduce irritation to the stomach, and have a better effect on digestion and elimination of food accumulation.

[Indications] Used for food stagnation, spleen deficiency and food stagnation, and postpartum blood stasis.

Burnt Hawthorn

[Preparation method] Take the cleaned hawthorn, put it in a pot and stir-fry it over high heat until the surface is brown and the inside is yellowish brown, spray it with clean water, take it out and dry it in the sun.

[Effects] The sour taste is reduced, the bitter taste is increased, and the effects of digestion, relieving constipation and stopping diarrhea are enhanced.

[Indications] It is used for meat stagnation, diarrhea, fullness in the chest and abdomen, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Hawthorn charcoal

[Preparation method] Pick and clean hawthorn, put it in a pot and stir-fry it over high heat until the outside is charred black, but it must be retained. Spray it with clean water, take it out and dry it in the sun.

[Effects] It enhances the astringent effect, has a strong antidiarrheal effect, and can also stop bleeding.

[Main indications] Used for gastrointestinal bleeding, spleen deficiency diarrhea.

Usage Notes

1. Children in the teeth replacement period, pregnant women, people with weak spleen and stomach, and people with excessive gastric acid secretion should not eat too much.

2. Hawthorn will not affect the efficacy when used with most western medicines, but it should not be used with specific medicines: it should not be used with vitamin K, which is a hemostatic drug, and the vitamin C contained in hawthorn will decompose and destroy vitamin K. It should not be used with sulfonamide drugs and sodium bicarbonate, as hawthorn is an acidic food, which can cause sulfonamide drugs to form crystals in the urinary system and damage the kidneys, reducing the efficacy of sodium bicarbonate.

3. Hawthorn should not be eaten together with fruits and vegetables containing vitamin C-degrading enzymes, such as cucumbers, pumpkins, carrots, etc., as they will destroy and decompose the vitamin C in hawthorn and reduce its nutritional value.

4. Hawthorn and seafood should not be eaten together. Seafood is rich in calcium, iron, carbon, iodine and other minerals and protein, while hawthorn contains tannic acid. If eaten with seafood, tannic acid protein will be synthesized, which can cause constipation and trigger symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

5. Hawthorn contains a large amount of organic acid, fruit acid, citric acid, etc. Eating it on an empty stomach will cause a sharp increase in stomach acid, causing adverse stimulation to the gastric mucosa, causing stomach bloating and heartburn. If eaten on an empty stomach, it will increase hunger and aggravate the original stomach pain.

How to make candied haws

1. Prepare the hawthorn and wash it clean.

2. Split the hawthorn in half with a knife and remove the seeds.

3. Mix 500 grams of sugar and 250 grams of water in a pot, heat over medium heat, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

4. Boil the rock sugar syrup (use cold pot and cold water), turn on medium-low heat and stir with a spatula to melt all the rock sugar. Then turn to low heat until it becomes syrup. Do not stir the sugar water at this time to avoid turning over (the sugar will crystallize a lot and cannot be wrapped in sugar liquid)

5. Observe that the bubbles in the syrup become finer and denser and the color of the syrup turns amber. You can use a simple method to test whether the syrup is cooked properly: you can use a spatula to dip some syrup and put it into cold water to cool.

6. Gently rotate the skewered fruits in the syrup to coat them with a thin layer of syrup. Do not put the fruits into the syrup, as it will be cooked and water will come out.

7. Place the wrapped candied haws on an oiled iron plate to cool for at least ten minutes to allow the sugar shell on the surface to harden.

·END·

Editor: Zhao Wenqi

Editor: Wang Xueting and Zhao Wenqi

Review: Xie Donghao

Unit: Guanghua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

This article is original and the pictures are from the Internet

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