As the saying goes: "Eat radishes in winter and ginger in summer." Radish, also known as "small ginseng" in winter, can be eaten raw or cooked in dishes and soups. It is an essential food on every family's table. Below, we will introduce several delicious ways to eat radishes in winter.
Herbal Recipe 1: White Cabbage and Radish Soup
Method: Wash and cut the Chinese cabbage, white radish, carrot, and tofu into similar-sized strips. Blanch them in boiling water for a moment and set aside. Heat oil in a pot until it is 50% hot, stir-fry the chili paste until fragrant, then pour in clear soup. Add the white radish, carrot, and tofu into the pot, bring to a boil over high heat, then add the Chinese cabbage and bring to a boil again. Season with salt and MSG, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro before serving.
Benefits: Radishes contain rich enzymes, which can absorb starch in food and help digestion by resolving food stagnation in the stomach. Therefore, when the dishes are rich, you can make a white cabbage and radish soup, which not only tastes delicious but also speeds up digestion and warms the stomach.
Herbal Recipe 2: Sugar Radish
Method: Use a round and big-bellied white radish that is newly available in the market. Wash the radish and dry it. Cut a horizontal slit at one-third of the top of the radish, set the top aside, and hollow out the bottom part with a small knife, leaving about 1 centimeter of the edge. Fill the hollow with sugar. Cover the top of the radish, fix it with toothpicks, put the radish in a sealed jar, and store it in the refrigerator. After five or six days, open the radish, and the sugar inside has turned into a thick syrup. Just make sure to place the radish correctly, or the syrup will leak out if it is tilted.
Benefits: This radish juice has a nourishing effect on the lungs. White radish has good expectorant and thirst-quenching effects, while sugar nourishes yin and moistens the lungs, relieving cough and dry mouth. Sugar radish is a traditional folk remedy for nourishing the lungs and relieving thirst.
Herbal Recipe 3: Radish, Scallion, and Ginger Soup
Method: Cut white radishes into thin slices, and boil them with sugar, scallion roots, and ginger slices to make a soup.
Benefits: Scallion roots have the functions of dispelling wind and cold, anti-inflammatory, and sterilization. Scallion roots and ginger have the effect of dispersing cold, promoting sweating. Cutting white radishes into thin slices and boiling them with sugar, scallion roots, and ginger slices to make a soup is very effective in treating the early stage of wind-cold colds. However, remember that it must be used to treat wind-cold colds. If it is a wind-heat cold, it will not only be ineffective but may worsen the condition.
Herbal Recipe 4: Lamb and Radish Soup
Method: Wash and slice the lamb, marinate it with soy sauce and Shaoxing wine, wash and peel the radish and cut it into slices, chop the cilantro. Stir-fry the scallions and lamb with salad oil, add an appropriate amount of water, add the radish, cook over medium heat for 40 minutes, add the cilantro, season with salt, and serve.
Benefits: Eating lamb in autumn and winter can dispel cold and warm the stomach, nourish qi and blood, nourish the liver, and improve blood circulation. However, excessive lamb consumption can cause phlegm. If it is stewed and eaten with cooling white radish, not only can it resolve phlegm and relieve heat, but it can also dissolve grease and complement nutrition.
Herbal Recipe 5: White Radish Leaf Tea
Method: Take an appropriate amount of white radish leaves. Clean the radish leaves and let them air dry for 3-4 days. Then, put 30 grams of dried white radish leaves into 1000 milliliters of water and boil. After boiling, simmer over medium heat for a few minutes, then filter and drink. If the taste is not good, you can add a little sugar.
Benefits: Drinking this tea regularly can prevent skin aging, prevent the formation of black spots, and keep the skin smooth and fair.
Herbal Recipe 6: Radish Dumplings
Method: Start by peeling and washing the white radish and cutting it into pieces. Shape the radish into dumplings and boil them in boiling water for five minutes. Keep the soup, do not pour it away. Then steam the radish in a steamer for 20 minutes. At this time, we can chop the ham. After the radish has been steamed for 20 minutes, pour it into the soup, add condensed milk, bring to a boil, add seasoning, then thicken with starch, and finally drizzle with sesame oil and garnish with ham.
Benefits: It has the effects of clearing heat, detoxification, resolving phlegm, relieving cough, invigorating the stomach, and aiding digestion.
