How to eat ginkgo nuts without getting poisoned

As the name suggests, ginkgo fruit is the fruit of the ginkgo tree, also known as white nut. It is a food with high yin and yang value. At the same time, ginkgo fruit is magical, it can survive for thousands of years. As the saying goes, rare things are valuable, and ginkgo is even more valuable because of its rarity. However, many people also know that ginkgo nuts contain toxins and it is easy to get poisoned if you are not careful. So what are the ways to eat ginkgo nuts and what do you need to pay attention to?

Food Culture

1. How to eat ginkgo

1. Salt and pepper ginkgo

Preparation method: Take a plate of ginkgo nuts with shells, put them in a pan with pepper salt and stir-fry until cooked, then remove the shells and eat.

Eat immediately after frying and while hot. It tastes delicious and fragrant when eaten hot, but tastes dry, bitter and tasteless when eaten cold. When entertaining guests, one plate of 150-200 grams is appropriate for each table.

2. Ginkgo porridge: replenishes vital energy, nourishes the five internal organs, and resists aging. It is especially good for the elderly and the weak and sickly. Normal people can eat it to keep fit. Suitable for family consumption.

Preparation method: Put 6-10 ginkgo nuts (peeled and the inner coat removed with boiling water), a small amount of rock sugar, 2 taels of polished rice, and an appropriate amount of water into a pot at the same time and cook over low heat until done. Cook the japonica rice until it becomes a paste.

Ginkgo nuts should be paired with other light, sweet and low-sugar rice porridges, such as Ginkgo Eight Treasure Porridge, Ginkgo Mung Bean Porridge, Ginkgo Adenophora and Lotus Seed Porridge, etc. Rock sugar and white sugar are preferred.

3. Ginkgo glutinous rice balls

Preparation: Bake 25g of ginkgo nuts until crispy, grind into powder, cook with chicken oil, fry flour until golden, and stir-fry black sesame seeds until fragrant and mash them. Mash the honey into a paste, add sugar, ginkgo powder, black sesame seeds, chicken oil and fried noodles, and knead into the filling. Mix the glutinous rice flour evenly, divide into small balls, wrap the stuffing and make dumplings. When the water in the pot boils, put the glutinous rice balls in and simmer until they float on the water for 3-5 minutes.

Features: Ginkgo nuts are added to the filling, which means blessing for "eternal longevity".

2. Taboos of Ginkgo

1. Ginkgo is very nutritious, containing ginkgolic acid, ginkgol, as well as various trace elements beneficial to the human body such as calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and multiple vitamins. It also tastes sweet, soft, and excellent, and has good health benefits. But ginkgo also has its side effects.

2. Ginkgo nuts are slightly poisonous. In addition to starch, protein, and fat, they also contain hydrogen cyanide. Generally, the green embryo is the most toxic. When eaten as a dried fruit, ginkgo nuts must be cooked or made into candied fruit. For medicinal purposes, it has a strong astringent effect when cooked; it has a strong effect of clearing away toxins and killing insects when used raw. But don't eat too much raw food.

3. According to modern medical research, there is a substance similar to quinine in ginkgo nuts. When its solution is injected into experimental animals, the animals may experience convulsions and eventually die from medullary paralysis. The medical community currently believes that children can be poisoned if they eat 7 to 15 pieces raw. The toxicity is reduced after they are fried, but the amount consumed at one time should not be too much. Generally, 15 to 30 grains are suitable for each person to eat cooked food. It is okay to eat more after removing the core; 6 to 10 grains are suitable for eating raw food. Children under 5 years old should not eat ginkgo nuts. It is generally best not to take it long term.