Ejiao Guyuan ointment (Ejiao cake), how to eat it?

In recent years, there has been a health-preserving upsurge of Guyuan ointment all over the country. Whether it is the finished products of various brands in major shopping malls or the self-made products processed at home according to the formula raw materials, Guyuan ointment is becoming more and more famous and more people are eating it. Some people say that eating Guyuan ointment has obvious improvement on physical fitness, full of qi and blood, rosy complexion, full of energy and good health; Some people say that eating Guyuan cream is not as good as expected, and they have doubts about everything advocated by "healthy godmother". In fact, Guyuan ointment is not the original invention of some modern "health teachers". Its formula and origin have a history of at least 2,000 years, and there are many legends and stories accompanying Guyuan ointment. We might as well go into history first and see the origin of Guyuan ointment. "Lead China is washed away according to the abundance, and the fish falls on the lotus leaf. I secretly took Gillian away and refused to say anything but that I was born a gentleman. " This poem appeared in Supplement to Tang Poems and Palace Poems. The protagonist of this poem is Yang Yuhuan. After the protagonist left, her appearance is still beautiful and moving. The secret of keeping beautiful lies in "secretly taking Ejiao". Ejiao here should refer to "walnut glue paste", which is what we call Guyuan paste today. Yang Guifei's sister and Guo's wife also realized the beauty of paste. There is a poem in "The Smiling Man": "Mrs. Guo is slender, like a rabbit wrapped in clothes. Donglai Ejiao has accumulated enough to charm the king three times a day. " It can be seen that the original formula of Guyuan ointment spread in the Tang Dynasty at the latest. Walnut and donkey-hide gelatin are made into paste, which is not uncommon in ancient folk. There is a secret recipe called "Guifei Beauty Cream" circulating among the people. In addition to walnut gelatin, there are black sesame seeds, yellow wine and rock sugar. These ingredients are made into paste, and the daughters of large families will eat them as daily nutrients. However, due to the precious and complicated production process of Ejiao, "Guifei Beauty Cream" did not enter the homes of ordinary people. 1233, that is, in the second year of Jin Aizong, the Mongolian army invaded Jindu Kaifeng, and a young poet was separated from his relatives in the mutiny and took refuge in Liaocheng, Shandong. This experience made the young man decide not to be an official in the Yuan Dynasty, and he drank and wrote poems every day, and left a Song Yuan-"Autumn leaves, rain, flowers on brocade": a bowl of donkey-hide gelatin, a sesame seed, red candied fruit, blushing cheeks, apricot flowers and spring rain smiling. Moisturized youth, saved years and gained capital. This poet is Bai Pu, one of the four masters of Yuanqu; This word also describes glue paste, a kind of diet for beautiful women since the Tang Dynasty. The love of beauty is the nature of ancient and modern women. Ancient women may not have as many kinds of cosmetics as they do today, but their beauty treatments are more original. The beauty method of Ejiao sesame comes from the beauty method that has been passed down for thousands of years-food tonic. There is also a historical figure who has an indissoluble bond with Guyuan ointment, that is, Empress Dowager Cixi. When Cixi was pregnant in her early years, she suffered from fetal leakage and bleeding. After taking Gillian, she successfully gave birth to a baby boy, the later Tongzhi Emperor. The wonderful fate between Cixi and Gillian is not limited to this. In her later years, she had a hobby, which was eating walnuts and glue paste. This made her skin delicate until her later years, which aroused great curiosity of the ruling and opposition parties and people's desire to explore. Lafayette's secret of nourishing spring is recorded in The Story of Qing Palace: "The Queen Mother loves to eat walnut gum paste, so the skin of the elderly is greasy." The walnut mastic of Empress Dowager Cixi in the West is mixed with a convenient "imperial beauty cream" from the people. In addition to walnut and donkey-hide gelatin, black sesame, yellow wine and rock sugar are also added, which is the Guyuan paste that has evolved to this day. Legends emerge one after another, leaving a lasting appeal of two thousand years. Whether Guyuan ointment was invented by Yang Guifei is impossible to verify. However, the eternal spread of "Guifei Beauty Cream", a folk beauty prescription, is inseparable from Yang Guifei's advertising effect. Imagine that Yang Guifei is one of the top beauties in the history of China. Her beauty secret can't be wrong. Who can't learn from her, whether it's Cixi or a rich woman? Nowadays, the ancient treasure of Chinese medicine is no longer the secret of health care in yesterday's palace, but has become a common thing for people to maintain health today. The most common formula of Furukawa Guyuan ointment is: 500g of pitted red dates, 500g of walnuts, 500g of black sesame seeds, 500g of donkey-hide gelatin, 250g of rock sugar and 500g of yellow wine. Grind red dates, walnuts, donkey-hide gelatin, sesame seeds and crystal sugar into powder, add yellow wine, stir well, and then steam thoroughly in a teapot, and serve. Colla Corii Asini has the strongest fixation ability in Guyuan ointment made from donkey skin, and is used for various hemorrhagic diseases and yin deficiency dryness in traditional Chinese medicine. People's bleeding, yin deficiency, palpitation and other manifestations are all problems of insufficient fixation. The ancients used the method of "drawing inferences from one example to another" to think that the donkey's personality is the most stubborn, and its skin has strong colloid fixation ability, which is very effective for sucking blood. Later, it was said that it was derived from its efficacy and became the so-called "blood tonic". Considering the characteristics of Guyuan ointment, it is not difficult to find that Guyuan ointment is actually very particular about its consumption: first of all, be careful in choosing materials. Good Guyuan ointment must be made of high-quality raw materials, so the choice of merchants needs to be cautious: the best Ejiao in China is produced in Dong' e Town, Pingyin County, Shandong Province, and Cao Zhi was once the "King of Dong' e" here; Xinzheng jujube is famous for its thin skin and thick meat and rich nutrition. Hubei oilseed hemp has a strong smell, high oil yield and richer vitamin E content. There is a kind of 5A-grade walnut exported from Yunnan, which is full in appearance and delicate in taste, and it is a good product among walnuts. Don't think that it is impossible to judge the quality of the raw materials of Guyuan paste. The raw materials of ingredients directly affect the taste of Guyuan cream. If the selected red dates are not good, the taste of Guyuan cream will be sour; If the quality of walnut kernel is poor, Guyuan paste will be bitter; If you choose fake Ejiao, it will directly harm your health. A good Guyuan cream should be full of color and fragrance: the color is even and bright, the smell is slightly alcoholic, the taste is delicate and smooth, and the aftertaste is mellow. At the same time, exquisite and clear packaging is also an element to buy good Guyuan ointment. A businessman who makes Guyuan ointment with his heart will inevitably choose a good packaging material, clearly explain the ingredients and edible instructions of the product, and introduce the characteristics of the product in detail. Second, the eating method of Guyuan ointment should vary from person to person. Colla Corii Asini has strong color fixation and blood coagulation. Excessive consumption will lead to stagnation of qi and blood, affecting the transport and transformation of spleen and stomach, which is the so-called nourishing product. In the daily health food, adults should take 1-2 times a day, with a spoonful each time, and children can halve it appropriately. Pregnant women should not eat Guyuan ointment in the first trimester of pregnancy and three months before labor; Because the baby's spleen and stomach are still very delicate, it is not suitable for eating Guyuan cream. Excessive or blind consumption of Guyuan ointment without considering one's physical condition is not only not good for health, but will damage health. Third, try a variety of Guyuan ointment. With the development of science and technology and medicine, people's research on food characteristics is more and more in-depth. In summer, it is advisable to reduce the donkey-hide gelatin in the traditional formula, add lotus seed cores that can clear away heat and strengthen the heart, and use red wine instead of yellow wine to steam "summer Guyuan ointment", which not only retains the efficacy of traditional Guyuan ointment, but also plays the role of clearing away heat and dispelling fire, which is more conducive to the transportation and absorption of human body. For diabetic patients, Lycium barbarum can be used to replace the traditional formula of rock sugar in Guyuan ointment, which not only reduces the sugar intake, but also enhances the function of nourishing yin and improving eyesight. In addition, for people with poor sleep, Ziziphus jujuba seeds can be added to the traditional Guyuan paste formula, which not only enhances the taste, but also helps to sleep and soothe the nerves. Finally, I want to say that Guyuan Plaster is a good thing and an ancient recipe of China diet, but we should not blindly exaggerate its function and regard it as a panacea for all diseases. As a kind of health food, reasonable consumption according to season, constitution, age, environment and other factors can really nourish liver and kidney, moisten face and strengthen body. In a word, only by eating the right food, giving it to the right person and using the right method can this China health food, which has been circulated for thousands of years, add icing on the cake to the health of modern people.