I have always loved wild vegetables, like shepherd's purse, mint and ferns. The original and refreshing fragrance of these vegetables contains the taste of earth and sunshine. Every spring, I start to miss our wild vegetables. Shepherd's purse is used to make dumplings, mint is used for pickling, and ferns sometimes require a personal visit to see their shy appearance. They emerge from the soil after the rain, standing alone with their heads down, seemingly carrying the inferiority of mountain children.
Later, I saw news that ferns are poisonous. The high incidence of esophageal cancer in the Japanese was greatly increased after eating ferns exported from China. Some people even conducted experiments with rats to prove its toxicity. This shocked me. I worried that so many people in my hometown who have been eating ferns for generations will develop this cancer in the future.
I asked the elders at home, and they laughed: ferns are known as longevity vegetables here. Look at us, we have been eating ferns for generations and are very healthy. Moreover, we have expanded the overseas market by processing dried ferns, pickled ferns, and fern root powder, increasing their added value and exporting them to South Korea and Japan. You say it's poisonous, but it has also been used to treat diseases.
There are records of harvesting ferns in the Book of Songs. The poet Bai Juyi wrote the phrase "ferns have become children's fists" and Huang Tingjian of the Song Dynasty also wrote a poem that says "tender shoots grow like children's fists." They all speak of the long history of ferns. How can we easily abandon this treasure!
First: Ferns
Ferns are deciduous herbaceous plants of the family Dryopteridaceae (Pteridium aquilinum var.latiusculum) with medicinal rhizomes. They can grow up to one meter tall, and their rhizomes are long and horizontal. They mostly grow on sunny slopes in mountainous areas with moist and fertile soil and deep soil layers.
【Properties】Taste: sweet, slightly bitter; nature: cold; slightly toxic.
【Functions】Clears heat, lubricates the intestines, reduces qi, and transforms phlegm.
【Applications】Used for damp-heat diarrhea or dysentery; frequent urination; damp-heat in the lower body; constipation.
【Dosage and Administration】Decoction, powdered.
【Precautions】Vegetarian diet and long-term consumption may damage yang energy.
Second: Recipes
1. For constipation: Shepherd's purse tender stems, mushrooms, chicken breast strips, carrots, white radishes, each appropriate amount; shredded onion, ginger, garlic, seasonings, wet starch, each appropriate amount. Wash and cut the shepherd's purse into small pieces; wash and slice the mushrooms; stir-fry the chicken breast strips with hot oil in a wok, heat the oil in a pan, stir-fry the onion, ginger, and garlic, add the shepherd's purse and stir-fry, add the chicken breast strips, broth, and seasonings, bring to a boil, thicken with wet starch, drizzle with sesame oil, and serve. Heat oil in the same pan, add the mushroom slices, stir-fry until cooked, and serve.
2. For lowering blood pressure: 300g chicken, 100g ferns, 50g bamboo shoots, 15g red chili peppers, 2 egg whites. 15g shredded onion, 15g shredded ginger, 5g salt, 5g sugar, 5g cooking wine, 5g sesame oil, 7g starch, 30g vegetable oil. First, blanch the ferns in boiling water, then cool them with cold water and drain. Stir the chicken with salt, egg whites, cooking wine, shredded onion, shredded ginger, and starch, and coat the chicken. Heat oil in a pan, stir-fry the chicken until cooked, then add the seasonings, followed by the bamboo shoots and ferns, stir-fry until cooked, and finally drizzle with sesame oil.
3. For stabilizing blood sugar, preventing and treating diabetes-related obesity and hypertension: 100g ferns, 2 eggs (about 120g), 10g oil, 5g shredded onion, 2g salt. Blanch the ferns in boiling water, cut them into sections, and blanch them again. Then, stir-fry the eggs, remove them from the pan, leave some oil in the pan, add the shredded onion, and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the ferns and stir-fry for a moment. Add the eggs and salt, and stir-fry until evenly mixed.
