Bitter Buckwheat in Spring

My aunt's throat hurts, and she refuses the medicine I give her. She says that Western medicine causes stomach pain, and she gathers some vegetables from the garden to boil and drink. Sometimes she also stir-fries these vegetables and eats them as a main course, which tastes quite good.

I don't like weeds growing everywhere in the garden, and every time I see such vegetables, I grab a small shovel to remove them. But my aunt always says this stuff is good and doesn't allow me to dig them up. I said it's dandelions, which is not special. She says it's not dandelions, but bitter buckwheat, a cool and excellent vegetable. She insists on growing it, and I am speechless, letting it grow wildly.

This spring vacation is unprecedented in length.

In idle times, I began to pay attention to the small flowers and grasses in the garden, and I found that bitter buckwheat grows more wildly than other grasses. It really looks like a dandelion, with a yellow flower bud, and after the flower bud opens, it turns into a white fluffy ball, and when the wind blows, the seeds on the ball scatter. In the small garden, wherever there is soil, it goes to occupy it, forming clumps and bunches, quite impressive.

Over the past few days, I learned from my aunt to pinch the tender shoots of bitter buckwheat. When washing, some thorns pricked my hands, after washing, I boiled the water and put in a little oil and salt, I put the bitter buckwheat into boiling water to blanch, to remove the fishy smell, then I drained it, heated up the oil, and added a lot of dried chili to fry fragrant and add it to the bitter buckwheat to stir-fry, which is slightly bitter but fragrant and unique.

After eating several meals of bitter buckwheat, I went online to find out its history. Its name has evolved into more than ten names, such as mountain bitter buckwheat, bitter vegetable,, small bitter wheat, bitter leaf seedling,, bitter buckwheat, yellow grass, small bitter artichoke, blood circulation grass, blood coagulation, small bitter wheat, bitter pea, bitter dish, bitter plate, light-leaved bitter wheat, swallow's clothes,. Because its names are so diverse, it is said that all over north, south and east, many people pay attention to and eat it.

Bitter buckwheat is a plant of the daisy family, which clears heat, detoxicates, reduces swelling, cools blood and stops bleeding.

I am very attentive to the 'blanching' method in vegetable preparation.

Song man Lin Hong, based on the style of Wei Jin scholars' 'Mountain Home Clear Offerings', introduced a series of light and refreshing vegetables, such as 'Clear Stream Soup', 'Alfalfa Plate', 'Peach Blossom Rice', and 'Purple Iris'. These vegetables all need to be 'blanched'. He used many 'blanching', 'charring', 'steaming' and other similar terms. The reason for blanching is probably because wild vegetables often contain small toxins. This method had already appeared in the Song Dynasty and was passed down to today, becoming a common practice.

A friend who eats a vegetarian diet often 'blanches' her dishes, adding a little oil and salt when blanching to remove the fishy smell. After blanching the vegetables like this, they taste similar to how a chef sears them, with a combination of flavors and aromas that are almost like Michelin restaurant.

When I stir-fry bitter buckwheat, I learn the blanching method from her.

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