What kind of beans are Luohan beans

The name of Luo Han bean actually has an ancient story, but in fact it is the broad bean we are familiar with, and it is not much different from other legumes. As a very common legume plant, Luo Han bean has realized its own value. Both the fruit and the stems and leaves of Luo Han bean have their value. At the same time, Luo Han bean itself is also a very good food ingredient. Modern people mostly eat it as a snack.

Luo Han beans, also known as broad beans, Japanese beans, and Buddha beans, are annual or biennial (autumn-sown) legumes. They are a crop that can be used as grain, vegetable, fertilizer, and feed. Generally, after harvesting Luo Han beans, their stems and leaves are used as green manure. Luo Han beans are also a good green manure crop. The lotus bean is upright, generally 60 to 120 cm tall, with a well-developed root system and many lateral roots. Early-maturing varieties have short plants with not very lush stems and leaves; late-maturing varieties have tall plants with lush stems and leaves, and both grass and seed yields are high.

Luohan beans account for a large proportion of winter crops in rural Shaoxing. In addition to wheat and rapeseed, Luohan beans are the most common. They are planted in acres and are also intercropped with other crops. Because it is widely planted, harvesting and eating loquat beans has become an important part of farmers' life in Shaoxing. Around the beginning of summer in the lunar calendar, the Luo Han beans that have overwintered are mature and firm. At this time, they can be picked with dew on them, the pods are peeled off, and the emerald-like beans are taken out. They are put into a pot with water and sprinkled with a little salt after cooking. They are extremely sweet when eaten. This is called eating fresh Luo Han beans. Because fresh lotus beans are extremely sweet, farmers often give them as gifts to relatives living in the city.

If the beans are left to grow on the branches for a long time before being picked, they are called old beans. After the old beans are podded and dried, they can be stored in cans and used at any time. We eat it until fresh loquat beans come on the market the following year. In the countryside, old arhat beans are often fried and eaten as “fried arhat beans”. In the city, especially in small hotels like the Xianheng Hotel, it is often used to make "vegetable beans", "fennel beans", "orchid beans" and so on, which are used as "wine base" (appetizers) prepared all year round.

Luohan beans are suitable for planting in well-drained, moist and fertile clay soil. The temperature requirements for the growth of Luo Han beans vary with the growth period. The suitable temperature for seed germination is 16℃~25℃, the minimum temperature is 3℃~4℃, and the maximum temperature is 30℃~35℃. The required temperature during the vegetative growth period is relatively low, with the minimum temperature being 14℃~16℃, and the flowering and fruiting period requires 16℃~22℃. If the temperature drops below -4℃, the above-ground part will suffer frost damage. Although broad beans rely on rhizobia to fix nitrogen in the air, they still need to absorb large amounts of various elements from the soil for their growth.