Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals in China, it is not only a day for Chinese reunion, but also a cultural feast that has been passed down for thousands of years. If "New Year" is a ritual, then New Year's goods are the carrier of this ritual, which is the first to awaken people's perception of the New Year. With the advent of the Year of the Dragon, every household began to buy New Year's goods early to prepare for the arrival of the Spring Festival. Do you buy New Year's goods with a high amount of "dragon"? Let's take a look at what are the healthy New Year's goods related to the word "dragon" in the Year of the Dragon!
Dried fruits: longan meat
Interpretation of efficacy: Longan is also called longan, which is named because it resembles a dragon's eye. As a common food homologous for medicine and food, longan meat has high medicinal value, and there is a saying that "southern longan and northern ginseng" have been said since ancient times.
Longan meat returns to the heart and spleen, and has the effect of nourishing the heart and spleen, nourishing blood and soothing the nerves, and is often used for ** lack of qi and blood, palpitations, forgetfulness, insomnia, blood deficiency and chlorosis. "New Edition of Materia Medica" records that longan meat "detoxifies and removes insects, calms the mind, nourishes muscles, beautifies colors, and is forgetful, but apprehensive." Take more clothes to strengthen the soul and be smart, and you will not be old for a long time. The fruit of this thing is especially beneficial to others". Modern pharmacological studies have shown that longan meat is rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, etc., and has the effects of lowering blood lipids, protecting blood vessels, preventing arteriosclerosis, increasing coronary blood flow, antibacterial, anti-stress, and anti-aging.
How to eat: Longan meat has a sweet taste, nourishing but not greasy, and can be eaten directly or with other ingredients. Longan meat with lotus seeds and lily can be combined with porridge to relieve insomnia and dreams caused by heart and spleen deficiency; Stewed chicken with longan meat and wolfberry can nourish qi and blood, especially suitable for women with postpartum fatigue; Longan meat and ginger can be combined with tea to drink, which can relieve deficiency, cold, diarrhea, etc. It should be noted that longan meat is more warm and nourishing, and it is easy to get angry if you eat more, so people with hot constitution should not eat more. And longan has a sweet taste and high sugar content, which is easy to help phlegm and dampness, so cough and asthma caused by phlegm and dampness should not be eaten, and diabetics should not eat more.
Fruits: dragon fruit
Efficacy interpretation: Dragon fruit belongs to the cactus family, because the peel looks like dragon scales, so it gets this name. During the Chinese New Year, dragon fruit is popular for its "red-hot" appearance and sweet taste.
Dragon fruit is rich in nutritional value, not only rich in dietary fiber, but also contains vitamin C, vitamin B and other vitamins and calcium, zinc, iron and other trace elements. The dietary fiber in dragon fruit can promote digestion, help clear the intestines, and prevent constipation; Rich in vitamin C can enhance the body's immunity, help antioxidants, and reduce the impact of free radicals on the body; B vitamins are beneficial for the nervous system and cardiovascular system; Dragon fruit is rich in iron, which can prevent anemia and relieve fatigue.
How to eat: Dragon fruit can be eaten as is, or it can be cooked with other ingredients. Dragon fruit and white fungus, lily, pork bones together to make soup, sweet and moisturizing, delicious taste, has a good effect of nourishing yin and nourishing the lungs and stomach. Dragon fruit can also be made into desserts with milk, sago and wolfberry, which not only tastes luscious, but also strengthens the spleen and stomach.
It should be noted that although dragon fruit is good, its nature is cold, and it also contains a lot of dietary fiber, so patients with spleen and stomach deficiency should not eat a large amount, otherwise it may cause abdominal pain, diarrhea and other uncomfortable symptoms.
Staple food: dragon beard noodles
Efficacy interpretation: As one of the traditional pastries in northern China, dragon whisker noodles have a history of more than 300 years. The dragon beard noodles are evolved from Shandong rolling noodles, the posture of the rolling noodles is magnificent, and the stretched noodles are as thin as hair, like the intertwined dragon whiskers, so the name is dragon beard noodles.
Dragon's beard noodles are mainly made up of wheat flour. Wheat flour can be said to be a good product to replenish deficiency, in the "Materia Medica" there is a record of wheat flour "in all deficiencies, and in the middle of the qi is helpful, the stomach and intestines are thick, muscle injuries are beneficial, and the carbuncle poison pain depends on also". Yiyun wheat flour in the "Materia Medica" can "replenish deficiency and nourish qi, and help the five organs to thicken the stomach". Modern research believes that as a high-starch food, dragon beard noodles can provide more calories to supplement the body's needs. Dragon beard noodles also contain a variety of vitamins such as vitamin B1 and vitamin B2, as well as a variety of trace elements such as calcium, iron, and phosphorus.
How to eat: The most common way to make it is noodle soup. After boiling noodles in clear water, with a small amount of soy sauce and a spoonful of lard, you can make simple and delicious Yangchun noodles, and you can also pair them with various toppings of meat or vegetarian to make noodles with different flavors. It can also be made into cold noodles, fried noodles, etc., which are good choices.
Fish: Dragonfish
Efficacy interpretation: Longli fish meat is delicate, almost no fishy smell, and only the middle backbone, less spines and more meat, belongs to the high meat rate, delicious high-quality marine fish. Longli fish is not only delicious, but also rich in nutrients, containing 16 kinds of amino acids, of which 7 are essential amino acids, which can effectively meet the nutritional needs of the human body. The total fat content in dragon fish is low, and most of them are unsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated fatty acids can promote the metabolism and decomposition of fatty acids in the human body, reduce the absorption of cholesterol by the human body, and have a positive effect on the prevention of obesity and the occurrence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In addition, the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the dragon fish can not only promote brain development, but also improve the activity of brain cells and enhance memory. Longli fish also contains omega-3 fatty acids, which can not only inhibit free radicals in human eyes, reduce crystal inflammation, improve vision, but also have anti-atherosclerotic effects.
Eating method: The most common way to eat dragon fish is steaming, add the dragon fish to the green onion and ginger and steam it in the pot, add the steamed fish soy sauce, and then splash it with hot oil, it becomes a steamed dragon fish suitable for all ages. Not only is it healthy and delicious, it is simple to make, but it also contains the auspicious blessing of "more than every year", making this dish a frequent guest on the New Year's table. If you like the flavor of thick red sauce, you can also fry the dragon fish until it is browned on both sides, then add green onions, ginger, garlic, millet spicy, soy sauce, oyster sauce, etc. to stew.
Tea drinks: oolong tea, Longjing tea
Efficacy interpretation: As one of the six major tea categories in China, oolong tea has a unique production process, featuring its transparent amber tea juice, and is a semi-fermented tea between green tea and black tea. It not only retains the fragrance of green tea, but also has the mellowness of black tea, which is loved by tea lovers. Oolong tea not only has a unique taste, but also has health benefits. "Compendium of Materia Medica" believes that it "most dissipates appetite and qi, awakens the spleen and relieves hangover", and in "Materia Medica", it also "dissipates appetite, removes phlegm and heat, removes polydipsia, clears the head, facilitates urination, relieves the poison of burning and oiliness, and eliminates hemorrhoids and leakage and other sores". It can be seen that since ancient times, oolong tea has been a good product integrating digestion and purification.
Longjing tea is fragrant and fragrant, with a long-lasting aroma and a mellow and refreshing taste, which is deeply loved by the public and is undoubtedly the most reputable Chinese green tea. In particular, the Longjing tea harvested before the Qingming Festival has the reputation of "daughter red". Longjing tea not only tastes sweet, but also has many benefits for the human body. In the "Compendium of Materia Medica", there is a record that Longjing can "clear the throat, brighten the eyes, replenish the vitality, benefit the heart, pass the seven holes, be cold but not strong, benefit the soil with its sweet taste, eliminate but not be harsh, and get the breath of spring first, eliminate food and lodging, go to the gas of the lower breath, and clear the six meridians and fire".
Modern studies have found that tea is rich in tea polyphenols, vitamins, organic acids, lipopolysaccharides and other nutrients. The tea polyphenols in it can effectively remove free radicals in the body, reduce oxidative damage to cells, and delay aging. Catechins are a very important kind of tea polyphenols, which can reduce the accumulation of fat, help control weight, reduce the level of cholesterol in the human body, and prevent the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. Not only that, drinking tea can help maintain the level of vitamin C in the blood and reduce the excretion of vitamin C in the urine, thereby enhancing the body's anti-aging ability.
How to eat: In addition to brewing and drinking oolong tea alone, it can also be combined with tangerine peel to widen the middle of the qi, which has a good effect on relieving the discomfort of stomach fullness after a holiday meal; It can also be brewed with hawthorn and black plum to help eliminate food and relieve greasyness, and serve a cup after eating greasy and fried things, which can be described as enjoyment.
Longjing tea can be brewed with chrysanthemums to soothe the liver and reduce fire; Or stir-fry with shrimp to make the famous Longjing shrimp; Or stuff it into the belly of the chicken and simmer it with spices such as star anise and cinnamon to make a pot of nourishing chicken soup full of aroma. In recent years, it has also become popular to wrap Longjing tea with sesame seeds and peanuts as fillings, and then rush into Longjing tea soup after cooking, making a combination of tradition and innovation. In this year's Lantern Festival, you might as well try this new type of glutinous rice ball.
It should be noted that although drinking tea is good, tea contains caffeine, which has the effect of refreshing the mind, and it is not advisable to drink more before going to bed, otherwise it may affect sleep.
*"China Traditional Chinese Medicine News" February 8, 2024 7th edition Author: Zhou Wenqing Beijing Yanqing District Maternal and Child Health Hospital).