Eat "sweet potato" in summer? This should sound very strange to friends in the north, obviously winter is the season to eat roasted sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes), in fact, this "sweet potato" is not the other "sweet potato", the sweet potato in the mouth of the southern friend is a cold potato.
In different regions of the south, it also has many different common names, such as sweet potato, pear, sage, etc., because there are too many names, it is easier to cause people in different regions to mention it, there is a situation of "chicken and duck talking".
In fact, cold potatoes are not difficult to identify. Its skin is similar in color to a potato, shaped like a large water chestnut, flattened in shape, and fresh cold potatoes have soil-stained roots. Don't look at its appearance, but its nutritional value is very rich, and it is also an excellent player in the summer "fruit"!
Cold potatoes on a white background
Super hydration, inducing bowel movements
Rich in vitamin C
1
Plenty of water and low in calories
Cool potatoes with good varieties and excellent planting conditions are said to have a moisture content of up to 90%. This moisture content is already comparable to that of watermelons (most watermelons have a moisture content of about 90%).
As a legume plant (yes, you read that right, although the name of the cold potato and the appearance of the family look particularly like potatoes and sweet potatoes, but in fact the cold potato has nothing to do with potatoes, it belongs to the legume family, and the small soybeans, mung beans, and red beans are close relatives), the cold potato is quite low in calories.
100 grams of cold potatoes have only 56 kcal, which is 17% of mung beans (dry) and 17.2% of red beans (dry). Even compared to edamame, which is tender and has a higher moisture content (soybeans are edamame when they are not ripe), it has only 43% of the calories of edamame, which can be said to be an absolute low-calorie fresh bean.
2
High in dietary fiber, weight loss and laxative
Cool potatoes inherit the advantages of higher dietary fiber in the legume family, with up to 1 gram of dietary fiber per 100 grams of cold potatoes, which is consistent with the dietary fiber content of bananas, apples, and peaches, and is 2.5 times that of watermelon. This means that eating cold potatoes can bring us a strong sense of satiety, and friends who need to lose weight can use it to replace some staple foods such as rice, noodles, and steamed buns, at least it tastes much more delicious than other "meal replacement foods".
Moreover, cold potatoes are rich in soluble dietary fiber - fructooligosaccharides, which not only provide a sweet taste for cold potatoes, but also promote the growth and reproduction of intestinal probiotics, delay the absorption of fat and sugar in the intestines, and are beneficial to improving intestinal health, promoting intestinal peristalsis, and assisting in regulating blood sugar and blood lipids.
It can be seen that for friends who need to lose weight, reduce calorie intake, or suffer from constipation, juicy and refreshing cold potatoes are really a good choice!
3
High in vitamin C, which improves immunity
In addition to being sweet and refreshing, cold potatoes are also relatively high in vitamin C. There are 13 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams of cold potatoes, which is 30% more vitamin C than cherries and 4.3 times more vitamin C than apples, 2.6 times more vitamin C than pears, and 2.3 times more vitamin C than watermelons.
In summer, people are prone to loss of appetite and inevitably lack of nutrients, if you can supplement vitamin C through food in time, it can help improve immunity, but also play a role in antioxidation, free radical removal, and at the same time promote the healing of small skin wounds.
Eat cold potatoes
These details should be taken care of
First, don't eat too many cold potatoes at once.
Considering that the content of dietary fiber and fructooligosaccharides in cold potatoes is not low, if too much is eaten at one time, it may cause diarrhea due to excessive promotion of intestinal peristalsis. This is probably the origin of the word "cool" in the name of the cold potato.
Second, don't touch the leaves, flowers, pods, and beans of cold potatoes.
Unlike other legumes, the leaves, flowers, pods, and beans of the cold potato are not only inedible, but also poisonous. The emerald green stems and leaves, the swaying lilac flowers, the pods, and the round seeds all contain a toxin called rotenone.
This toxin can block the use of oxygen by human cells, and once it is ingested in excess, it will gradually cause nausea, vomiting, difficulty breathing, purple lips, decreased blood pressure, coma and other symptoms due to lack of oxygen in the cells, and may even cause death in severe cases.
However, generally the cold potatoes we see in the market only have the root parts, so there is no risk of poisoning. It's just that if you see cold potatoes in the wild, remember not to touch them at will.
Eat cold potatoes in summer
These patterns are delicious
The taste of cold potatoes is very interesting, very sweet and crisp when eaten raw, like fruits, and if it is fried on high heat for a short time, it will be crispy, and if it is heated for a long time, it will become the texture of flour noodles. Because of this, there are many ways to eat cold potatoes.
The simplest is, of course, eaten raw. Peel or peel and eat directly to quench your thirst and fill your stomach, which is very enjoyable.
Secondly, cold potatoes are eaten as cucumbers, radishes and other vegetables that can be eaten raw, and they are directly cut into cubes, shredded and mixed with salad, which is also refreshing and delicious. For example, in Southeast Asia and parts of the southern part of the mainland, lemon juice or vinegar, chili pepper and other seasonings are used to eat cold potatoes.
Thirdly, cold potatoes can also be combined with other ingredients to make sugar water. For example, you can use frangipani to make cold potato and egg drop syrup, red dates, white fungus, lotus seeds, mung beans, etc. to make syrup, or other fruits, such as pears, lychees, etc.
If you like to eat a soft, noodle and glutinous texture like taro, you can also eat it with cold potato soup. Guangdong's cold potato and peanut chicken feet soup is a stew of cold potatoes with chicken feet. In addition to chicken feet, stewed duck meat, pork ribs, and pig's trotters are also natural.
For those who like the crisp and refreshing taste, you can stir-fry cold potatoes. It is also a good practice to stir-fry meat with cold potatoes, the refreshing sweetness of cold potatoes neutralizes the fatness of pork, and the dishes made with carrots and black fungus are full of color and flavor, which is quite good for rice.
If you treat cold potatoes as radishes or water chestnuts, then you can also try using cold potatoes to make kimchi. As long as the temperature and time are well controlled, the fermented cold potatoes are sweet and sour, refreshing, and have a long aftertaste, and they are also great as a side dish for summer heat.
Friends from the north, come and try this magical food that is "hidden" by southerners~
Planning and production
Source: Popular Science China
Author丨Wang Lu is a registered dietitian
Review丨Zhang Yu, Researcher/Ph.D., Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Health Science Popularization Expert