Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism
Peanuts are highly nutritious and have many benefits for the body. They are a common, everyday food that can be eaten in many ways. Here are five peanut recipes for health cultivation.
1. Boiled Peanuts
Main ingredient: 500 grams of fresh raw peanuts. Seasonings: rock sugar, star anise, raw licorice root, dried chili peppers, scallion knots, and white peppercorns.
Method: (1) Put the seasonings and peanuts into 1,000 milliliters of cold water and cook together. (2) Bring to a boil over medium heat, then simmer over low heat. (3) After 20 minutes add salt and cook for another 10 minutes. (4) Finally reduce the liquid over high heat, and let the cooked peanuts sit covered in the pot for a while. (5) Transfer to a plate; they make an everyday snack.
Benefits: Can help overcome loss of appetite.
2. Black Sesame and Peanut Soy Milk
Ingredients: 50 grams of soybeans, 15 grams of peanuts, 10 grams of black sesame seeds, and white sugar to taste.
Method: (1) Prepare all the ingredients. (2) Soak the peanuts and soybeans in clear water for 10 minutes; rinse the black sesame seeds clean. (3) Put the rinsed sesame seeds into the soy milk maker and add the required amount of water. (4) Add the soaked soybeans and peanuts. (5) Close the lid and press the “rice-fragrance soy milk” button; when drinking, stir in white sugar to taste.
Benefits: Black sesame is rich in biotin and works very well for hair loss caused by premature aging; peanuts replenish and nourish the blood. This soy milk darkens and nourishes the hair, beautifies and moistens the skin, and replenishes the blood; it is well suited to women as a regular drink.
3. Red Date and Peanut Soup
Main ingredients: 30 grams of dried jujubes and 30 grams of raw shelled peanuts. Seasoning: 30 grams of rock sugar.
Method: (1) Wash the red dates, crack them with the back of a knife, and remove the pits; wash the peanuts and set aside. (2) Put the peanuts in a clay pot, add water, and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. (3) Add the red dates and simmer for another 20 minutes, then add the rock sugar and cook for 5 more minutes.
Benefits: Tonifies the spleen and harmonizes the stomach; nourishes the blood and stops bleeding.
4. Papaya, Fish Tail, and Peanut Soup
Ingredients: 250 grams of papaya, 100 grams of peanuts, 250 grams of grass carp, and 7 slices of fresh ginger.
Method: (1) Choose half of a half-ripe papaya; peel, seed, wash, and cut into thick chunks. (2) Keep the reddish-brown skins on the peanuts; soak them thoroughly in clear water and wash. Peel, wash, and slice the ginger. (3) Scale a fresh grass carp tail, rinse it in clear water, and pat dry; heat a little oil with the ginger slices in a pan and fry the fish until lightly golden. (4) Put the peanuts in an earthenware pot, add a suitable amount of water, and bring to a boil over high heat; then simmer over medium heat for 1 hour. Add the fish tail and papaya, simmer for about another hour, season with salt, and it is ready to drink.
Benefits: Peanuts benefit the spleen, moisten the lungs, and replenish the blood. Papaya, also called “longevity fruit,” nourishes, aids digestion, and kills parasites. Fresh ginger releases the exterior, disperses cold, warms the stomach, and detoxifies. Grass carp tail warms the stomach and harmonizes the middle, calms the liver, dispels wind, and invigorates the blood. This soup strengthens the spleen and whets the appetite, tonifies the middle and benefits qi, nourishes and beautifies, and strengthens the body. It is a nourishing, health-giving soup well suited to autumn.
5. Peanut and Pig's Trotter Soup
Ingredients: two pig's trotter halves (500 grams), 100 grams of peanuts, scallions, ginger, and cooking wine to taste, and a little salt.
Method: (1) Chop the trotters into large pieces and rinse off the scum. (2) When the water in a clay pot is about to boil, add the trotters and the washed peanuts, then the scallions, ginger slices, and cooking wine. (3) Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the remaining scum. (4) Continue simmering over low heat for two or three hours. (5) Sprinkle in a little salt to season, and serve.
Benefits: Warming and nourishing; strengthens the body.