During festivals and holidays, the most heartwarming scene is the gathering of the whole family, and in such a scene, food must be involved to make it complete.
In the large-scale traditional Chinese medicine cultural documentary "Chinese Materia Medica," Deng Guiting and Deng Zhonggui, father and son, gathered around the hot Ganoderma Lucidum Old Duck Pot, three generations of family members, to enjoy the warmth of family and the deliciousness of the pot, as well as the health benefits.
【Healthiest Cooking Method: Stewing in a Pot】
In today's world where people's tastes are generally heavy, frying, frying, and grilling are very common methods. The taste is good, but our health is also compromised. In today's increasing attention to health, many people are confused about how to eat healthily. In fact, stewing in a pot is one of the best ways.
Stewing in a pot is a traditional Chinese cooking method. By placing a clay pot on the fire to stew, it can retain the taste of the food to the greatest extent due to its high sealing degree, good air permeability, even heat conduction, and slow heat dissipation. Nowadays, whether in restaurants or family banquets, pot dishes are undoubtedly the key to improving the grade of the meal. Common ones include stewed radish and spare ribs, seaweed and spare ribs, and mushroom pot; higher-end ones include fish maw, sea cucumber, ginseng, and cordyceps, which are all excellent choices.
When stewing different foods, the methods are also different. Meats such as chicken, duck, and ribs should be blanched first, not only to remove blood but also to remove some fat. Vegetables should be stewed for a short time and can be quickly stewed over medium or high heat in the last ten minutes before serving to prevent the loss of nutrients. The most recommended pot dishes now are those with "dual medicinal and food use," such as Chinese yam, lotus root, coix seed, jujube, and sea cucumber, which have a relatively mild nature and can be consumed by almost everyone. Some foods have more prominent medicinal properties, and individuals can choose them according to their own conditions. For example, ginseng is mainly used to replenish qi and is most suitable for people who often feel tired and short of breath; wolfberry can nourish the liver and kidneys, improve vision and health, and is most suitable for people who often feel dizzy and have blurred vision; polygonatum can nourish yin and moisten the lungs, nourish the stomach and produce fluid, and is most suitable for people who have dry cough with sticky sputum, hidden pain in the stomach, and dry mouth and thirst; Polygonatum can nourish the kidneys and moisten the lungs, invigorate the spleen and replenish qi, and is most suitable for people who have dry cough with little sputum, long-term cough with sore waist and knees; Gastrodia can calm the liver and extinguish wind, and is most suitable for people who often feel dizzy and numbness in the limbs. Most of these ingredients are cooked directly in the pot and can also be eaten with other foods; for those who pay more attention to it, they can use clean gauze to wrap the medicinal materials, put them in the pot during cooking, and discard the medicine package before serving, so as to extract their nature and flavor.
【Secrets of Pot Cooking: Adding Water】
Don't be fooled by the simplicity of a pot, there are actually many tricks to it. For example, adding water, the temperature and amount of water have a direct impact on the flavor of the pot dish. Generally, the amount of water used should be 3 to 5 times the weight of the main ingredients. Adding more water can make the food tender and easily release the active ingredients. It is important to note that cold water should be used first, not boiling water, so that the ingredients are heated together with cold water to control the process of protein denaturation and coagulation, allowing the fats, amino acids, and flavor substances inside the cells to be fully extracted during the slow process of protein coagulation and ingredient shrinkage, making the flavor of the pot dish more concentrated. It is best to add all the water at once before cooking, but if you find that the soup is not enough and you must add water during cooking, you should use boiling water. At this time, the dish already has a certain temperature, and if you add cold water, the surface of the expanded food will solidify, affecting the continuous release of nutrients.
【Secrets of Pot Cooking: Heat Control】
Now let's talk about heat control. Generally speaking, we all know that high heat brings to a boil, and low heat simmers, similar to frying Chinese medicine. In more detail, it can be divided into three types: high heat, medium heat, and low heat. After putting the ingredients in the pot and adding enough water, you can use high heat to quickly bring it to a boil, especially during blanching, you must use high heat to rapidly heat it, without losing the nutrients. Medium heat, also known as gentle heat, is usually used after adding vegetables. It can make the ingredients tender and flavorful while avoiding the loss of nutrients and changes in color caused by long cooking. Low heat, also known as simmering, is the most commonly used heat for pot dishes, requiring long cooking time to make the ingredients soft and tender, allowing the proteins and other fragrant substances to dissolve as much as possible. At the same time, the cooking time should be controlled well. Generally, fish soup takes about 1 hour, chicken soup and rib soup take 2 to 3 hours.
【Secrets of Pot Cooking: Seasonings】
Many people add a lot of spices when cooking in a pot. Nowadays, onions, ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns are no longer considered special. If you go to a supermarket, the variety of seasonings is enough to dazzle you. When drinking soup, it is best to use fewer spices to retain the original taste. Ginger can be added, as it can remove the fishy smell and increase appetite. In Guangdong-style pot dishes, large pieces of ginger are often added. Adding a little wine to the pot can enhance the aroma of the dish and remove fishy and off odors, which is a good choice. Especially when cooking meat dishes, the wine and the fat in the meat will undergo esterification, making the meat more nutritious. When the green vegetables are about to be cooked, sprinkling some wine on them not only enhances the aroma but also keeps the color bright and pleasing to the eye. For other pot dishes, before serving, sprinkle a little cooking wine along the inner wall of the clay pot, cover it, and then remove the cover after serving to create a table full of aroma. In this process, yellow wine is most recommended, as the better the wine, the stronger the aroma, and the better the cooking effect. Finally, let's talk about salt. Salt can cause protein coagulation, hinder the diffusion of umami components, so it should be added just before serving during the cooking process.
【Enjoy Festive Pot Dishes】
Ginseng and Dendrobium Chicken Pot
Ingredients: 1 ginseng root, either dried or fresh, 30-50g fresh Dendrobium, 30g wolfberries, 10g tangerine peel, 1 chicken.
Method: Blanch the chicken in hot water; soak the ginseng root in water for 24 hours in advance, then cut it into small pieces or slices, and use the soaked water together; wash the fresh Dendrobium and flatten it with the back of a knife, do not discard the leaves, set aside. When cooking, put the chicken, ginseng, and Dendrobium in the pot together, simmer for 3 hours, then add wolfberries, tangerine peel, and Dendrobium, simmer for 5 minutes, season with salt, and serve. After cooking, the ginseng and Dendrobium will release their excellent medicinal properties, and the texture will be soft and glutinous, making them easy to chew. Wolfberries and tangerine peel can also be eaten together.
Efficacy: This pot dish has the effects of nourishing qi and nourishing yin, and is suitable for daily nourishment of sub-healthy people.
Dendrobium and Polygonatum Stewed Quail
Ingredients: 1 quail, 30g wolfberries, 30g Polygonatum.
Method: Clean the quail, stuff it with wolfberries and Polygonatum, and stew it in a pot. Wolfberries and Polygonatum can be eaten together.
Efficacy: Quail is small and tender, with strong nourishing power, it has been a delicacy offered to emperors since ancient times. Wolfberries nourish the kidneys and enrich essence, nourish the liver, improve vision, and fight fatigue, enhancing physical and mental strength. Polygonatum can improve the nutritional status of the body, enhance the immune level, and strengthen the body. Wolfberries and Polygonatum used together with quail have strong nourishing power and high intellectual benefits, which are helpful for people with deficiency of essence and blood, fatigue, weak waist and knees, dizziness, and forgetfulness.
Cordyceps Duck
Ingredients: 1 old duck, 3g Cordyceps, 30g ham, ginger slices, scallion segments, cooking wine.
Method: Blanche the duck in hot water; wash the Cordyceps and insert them into the duck; put the duck, ham, ginger slices, scallion segments, and cooking wine in the pot, stew for 2 hours, remove the ginger and scallion, season, and serve. Cordyceps can also be eaten.
Efficacy: According to "The Little Knowledge of Citrus Gardens," eating a whole Cordyceps duck is equivalent to consuming one or two ginseng roots for those who need recuperation or are deficient. Cordyceps is a high-grade tonic, which can nourish the lungs and kidneys. It has a mild nature and light taste, making it suitable as a raw material for medicinal and food therapy, with effects comparable to ginseng.
