Chinese medicinal wood lotus fruit is mainly eaten in summer and has the effects of cooling and relieving heat, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. There are many ways to make wood lotus fruit, but how can we make our favorite wood lotus fruit tofu?
Image of wood lotus fruit
[What are the varieties of wood lotus fruit?]
Among the wood lotus varieties planted in China, the most similar one is Hainan wood lotus. Although they are different varieties, their flowering and fruiting periods are similar, and there is no significant difference in tree shape, only the color of the flowers is different.
Hainan wood lotus variety has brown flowers, while traditional wood lotus flowers are pure white, including flower stalks, flower buds, etc., and the center of the flower will have a leaf margin of more than 1 millimeter.
In summary, traditional wood lotus flowers are slightly larger and white in color, while Hainan wood lotus flowers are slightly smaller and have a hint of brown.
[Origin and distribution of wood lotus fruit]
The original home of wood lotus fruit is China, and there are also plant varieties in China. It is a tree lotus plant different from aquatic species and can be selected as a variety for urban greening.
Wood lotus flowers are mainly distributed in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and other places in China. The original area of origin is Fujian, China. Nowadays, it has also been introduced to many countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, and it is spread all over the world. However, the variety of wood lotus is relatively single, with little possibility of variation and slightly difficult reproduction, so it is not suitable for large-scale planting.
In the Fujian region, the first good wood lotus tree was collected from Hong Kong, and then it became popular.
[How to make wood lotus fruit tofu]
Effects: Mainly eaten in summer, it has the effects of cooling and relieving heat, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis.
Method: Wood lotus fruit, water droplet gather (a coagulant, available at Chinese medicine stores. Can also be replaced with lotus root powder), mint, sugar, etc.
Prepare a container such as a bowl and filtering materials such as gauze.
1. Juice extraction
Wrap the wood lotus (Bi Li) fruits in gauze and then immerse them in a bowl filled with cold water, continuously squeeze them. Squeeze out a viscous liquid, repeat the process until the squeezed liquid is no longer viscous.
2. Coagulation
After completing the squeezing process, add the coagulant "water droplet gather", or you can add a small amount of lotus root powder (preferably lotus root powder that has settled after squeezing the juice from old lotus roots, whether dry or wet).
The liquid in the water will coagulate into a jelly-like substance. Then put it in the refrigerator (in the past, it was put in cool well water), the liquid wood lotus juice will turn into jelly. When eating, add sugar and mint water, and the cooling and relieving heat wood lotus tofu is ready.
