If you are a big fan of dehydrate fruit (Mijian), and you are walking in market
seeing full of items
it's hard to choose...
but when you talk varieties of dehydrate fruit, we can not compare ourselves with the people living in Song dynasty
Mijian, in that time, called Mijian (honey-pan-fried fruit, with same pronunciation but different in chars)
according to the dinning service in Song
a department called Mijian that founded in purpose
it's major duty is to explore many types of Mijian for government and magnates
On the subject of Mijian, people in Song dynasty is full of creativity
almost everything can be honey-panfried
like for fruit, kumquats, peaches...
some herbs like rehmannia, Platycodon
and never give up trying veggies
A record in Yuan dynasty "everything you need to know for staying at home" has bookkept a honey pan-fried lotus root, dubbed Mijian lotus root.
(quote referece) "everything you need to know for staying at home---method to honey pan-fry lotus root"
lotus root, harvested early autumn, boiled till half cooked and peeled.
cut to slices or thing sticks, use 200g of white plums per 500g of lotus root
put in a cold soup to marinate for two hours
sift out the water. use honey 300g to prepare the marination
Pour another 500g honey with lotus root and plum and slow cook it till amber color. Put in jar and refrigerate it.
Despite the honey and lotus root
A fruit called white plum is used
it's not white plum tree blossom
it's the salt marinated plums
to make them you take the unriped green plum at early summer
smoke them and they are called ebony plum
use salt to cure them, and they will become white plums
while plums are extremly salty and acid, a common condiment/seasoning at that time
nowadays you can only get them from traditional Chinese herb store
boil 1.5 liter of water in a pot
put 250g white plum and turn off heat
the salty, acid flavor is dissolved out into hot water
if you can not get white plum, salty Huamei can be a alternative
Salty Huamei is salty and sour. One can put your teeth down.
Choose some tender lotus roots and put them in cold water
boil and turn down heat to low
about 15 mins will make them half cooked
Take them out and use a spoon to scrape slightly on their surface to get rid of peel
slice them to thick cut
now the water with white plum is about to be at room temperature
the plums, could be use to cook sweet-vinegar ribs
we only keep the plum water here. Put the lotus root slices in about 2 hours
the lotus, has salty and sour falvor added
will not become too sweet to eat later on by using honey
take out the slices and let it dry for a while
add 300g honey
stir and marinate about 3 hours, or overnight
see water comes out a lot
slices are shrunk by volume
put slices in a pot
and pour 500g honey, with medium low heat on
better use pale flavored honey to cook
locust honey is a good choice
cook until you see the syrup a bit viscous
the slices turned to be amber with some transparency
take a bite
and see the color is uniform in and out
the honey pan fried lotus root could be stored for a long time
put them in jars and seal them
they won't expire before a long time
but I can't put them long
because I addicted to few slices randomly
the honey pan fried lotus root is not curnchy
but a little sticky and chewy
the lotus root aroma is well embraced in the sweet taste with a hint of salty and sour
like having a rich flavored dried sweet potato
or the sweeter plum flesh
full profile but not too sweet
It must be a popular snack at Song dynasty!