Are sweet potato leaves really delicious?

When I was a child, I planted a lot of land in the countryside, among which sweet potato is basically an essential crop for every household. Why is it so common to grow sweet potatoes in rural areas? Sweet potato is a very common cash crop, which has low requirements for planting environment and does not need to be watered frequently. It can dig a hole in the ground and grow by itself. Sweet potato leaves, also known as sweet potato leaves, belong to Petunia of Convolvulaceae and are perennial vines. The 10 ~ 15 cm at the top of sweet potato vine, tender leaves and petiole is collectively called the stem tip, which is the part with good taste in sweet potato stem and leaf, and was often discarded in the past.

In the old rural hometown, in the sweet potato harvest season, people planed out the sweet potato, and the sweet potato leaves were used to feed livestock or thrown into the ground with the stems. Few people would think of making sweet potato leaves into delicious food to enjoy. As coarse grains, sweet potato can be eaten instead of rice in southern China, and it is also a good health food for the elderly. Sweet potato leaves grown by planting sweet potatoes are also a dish that rural people often eat. Many old people said that sweet potato leaves were not sold in supermarkets in China. At first, farmers used leaves as feed for livestock after harvesting sweet potatoes. It was not until the last 30 years that they became agricultural products and were sold in the market.

In recent years, because of its attractive health care function, it has been more and more favored by the world. Hong Kong people call it the "vegetable queen", while Japanese people praise it as a new vegetable that makes people live longer. People only know that sweet potato is a coarse grain with high health care value. In fact, the health care function of sweet potato leaves is incomparable to other vegetables. "Sweet potato leaf fever" has gradually set off in many parts of the world, and food made from sweet potato leaves has been put on the dining tables of hotels and restaurants. Let's unveil the mystery of sweet potato leaves together!

1. Sweet potato leaves have high nutritional value and the price is close to the people. It is an ordinary table dish. Sweet potato leaves have obvious dietotherapy and health care functions, and are "healthy longevity vegetables" with great development value. Modern nutrition research has found that sweet potato leaves have special flavor and rich nutrition, which is incomparable to many vegetables. They are rich in vitamins C, B2, carotene and α-tocopherol, which are good sources of minerals needed by human body. According to the analysis, the protein of fresh sweet potato leaves is 2.28g100g, fat is 0.2g, sugar is 4. 1g, mineral potassium 16mg, iron is 2.3mg, phosphorus is 34mg, carotene is 6.42mg, and vitamin is 0.32mg Minerals and vitamins are superior to representative vegetables, and carotene.

The content of carotene, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, iron and essential amino acids extracted from sweet potato leaves is very low. Sweet potato leaves are also rich in flavonoids, which can capture the "killer" of oxygen free radicals that cause fluctuations in the body, and have many health care effects such as antioxidation, improving human disease resistance, preventing aging and diminishing inflammation. In addition, modern scientific research also shows that sweet potato leaves and tubers contain a lot of liquid, which can prevent cardiovascular fat deposition, maintain arterial elasticity, prevent coronary heart disease, prevent connective tissue atrophy of liver and kidney, and maintain lubrication of digestive tract, respiratory system and joint cavity. Sweet potato leaves are rich in fiber, which can also accelerate the work of food in the stomach and make the intestines clean.

Second, the cooking of sweet potato leaves is simple, and "frying" is the best way to eat sweet potato leaves. The average family is mainly cooking. In rural areas, "Fried sweet potato leaves with lard" is a classic dish blindly! First of all, we wash the tender sweet potato leaves and stems, blanch them in a boiling water pot, take them out, shower them with cold water and cut them into sections; Peel garlic and mash it into minced meat; Put the wok on fire, add lard to 40% heat, stir-fry garlic, stir-fry tender sweet potato leaves and stems, add fresh soup, refined salt and yellow wine to taste, add monosodium glutamate and sesame oil, and sprinkle with the remaining garlic and mix well. You can also fry sweet potato leaves with oyster sauce. 1, removing old stems from sweet potato leaves and washing with clear water; Shred red pepper; Flatten garlic and remove clothes; Mix 1/2 tablespoons of raw flour and 3 tablespoons of clear water into raw flour water; Boil the water in the pot, add 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons oil, blanch the sweet potato leaves until they are soft, and drain; Heat 3 tbsp oil in the pan, saute garlic and shredded red pepper, and pour in 1 cup of water; Add 3 tbsps of oyster sauce, rice wine 1 tbsps, sugar 1/3 tbsps, salt 1/5 tbsps, mix well and bring to a boil, then pour in cornflour and water to thicken; Add the blanched sweet potato leaves and stir well. Serve. In fact, sweet potato leaves can be boiled, fried garlic, cold salad and so on, and the cooking method can be said to be your choice.

Third, pay attention to the phenomenon of "blackening" of sweet potato leaves when cooking. When many people fry sweet potato leaves at home, it is easy to fry them until they are "black". Although this does not affect the taste of sweet potato leaves, the original green sweet potato leaves have become dark, which is really ugly and affects appetite. On the other hand, the sweet potato leaves fried by many chefs such as food stalls and restaurants are fragrant, green and tender. After asking a restaurant chef, the author found that we missed something when frying sweet potato leaves! That is, when we peel the skin off the stems of sweet potato leaves, put the oil and garlic in the pot, and pour the oil into the sweet potato leaves for quick stir-frying, at this time, we need to add a small amount of "cooking wine" in the stir-frying process to slow down the oxidation rate of "chlorophyll" in sweet potato leaves, so that the fried sweet potato leaves will not turn black!

Fourth, people who love to eat sweet potato leaves need to pay attention to the fact that "excessive" consumption will lead to calcium deficiency. Although sweet potato leaves are good, not everyone is suitable for eating sweet potato leaves. People with indigestion and kidney disease are especially despised. Don't eat too much! Here, the author particularly emphasizes that people with diarrhea and indigestion should be careful to eat sweet potato leaves! Sweet potato leaves are sweet, astringent and cool, but they are rich in cellulose, which is not easy for the stomach to digest. Eating too much can easily cause abdominal distension, indigestion and other discomfort. Therefore, people with diarrhea or indigestion should eat less or not, so as not to increase the burden on the stomach. Before cooking sweet potato leaves, it is best to "blanch" them, that is, blanch them with boiling water. This operation can degrade oxalic acid in sweet potato leaves, which will combine with free calcium in human body to form calcium oxalate. Therefore, it is best to blanch sweet potato leaves and remove some oxalic acid before cooking, so as not to hinder the body's absorption of calcium and iron.

In short, even if the nutritional value of sweet potato leaves is no matter how good, it should be based on weight when eating. Many friends who keep fit and lose weight often recommend sweet potato leaf meal replacement. In fact, sweet potato leaves, as a single vegetable intake, can't meet people's nutritional absorption in one day, so we need to pay attention to balanced collocation in our daily diet to ensure good health.