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Fruits. Part III: Hawthorn and BeyondChinese Food in the Middle East
Spring Volume: 2017 Issue: 24(1) pages: 15 to 19
This series about fruits began in Volume 23-4 and
featured apples, apricots, bananas, chayote,
cherries, and coconuts. Part II continued with
the citrus family and included dates, durian, figs, gingko
nuts, goji berries, the gooseberry, grapes, and guavas.
Each fruit does include one recipe. In this, the third
article, we continue with more fruits common in the
Chinese cuisine. In the next issue, information about
nuts and berries will follow. Do note often but not always, one fruit can substitute
for another one. A reminder, there are additional fruit
recipes in this magazine’s index to be enjoyed by those
who prepare them. Hawthorn is in the genus
Crataegus, species rhipidophylla.
These local small fruits grow on
shrubs or small trees, and often these have thorny
branches. You may have seen them sold candied and
on sticks in open air markets in early summer. Year
round, they are found dried as wafers sometimes called
haw or flakes. They come wrapped in paper and look
like thin reddish coins. Found in Asian markets, this
fruit is also sold as a drink, in alcoholic beverages, and
preserved or canned. When fresh, they are sweet and
bright red or blackish-brown.

Considered delicacies, they are eaten raw, cooked, and
in many other ways. The Chinese call them shan zha;
in English they are known as hawthorn or mountain
red fruits. Made into assorted snacks with different
names, they are very high in vitamin C, have many
phytochemicals, tannins, and phenolic acids. TCM or
traditional Chinese medical practitioners say they have
many uses. These include relieving indigestion, reducing
diarrhea and high blood pressure, and removing pain
from a hernia when mixed with ground fennel seeds.
They also ease the itch of a rash, reduce dizziness and
symptoms from dysentery. 
Hawthorn with Pork in Lotus Leaf |
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Ingredients:
½ pound pork butt, coarsely chopped
2 Tablespoons water chestnut flour
2 scallions, minced
1 Tablespoon each broad bean and chili pastes
1 Tablespoon each sesame oil and soy sauce
20 dry round haw circles, each broken into four or more
pieces
2 large lotus leaves
4 whole cinnamon sticks
Preparation:
1. Mix pork butt with water chestnut flour and then add
in the minced scallions, both pastes, sesame oil and soy
sauce. Then, add the broken circles of haw, and mix
these well. Put this mixture on the lotus leaves and tie
them into a flat pancake.
2. Now, distribute the cinnamon sticks in various places
on the bottom of a steamer basket and set this tied
pancake on them.
3. Then, add two cups of boiling water into the bottom
of a steamer and steam this on its rack for two hours.
After that, remove it to a pre-heated platter discarding
the cinnamon sticks. Cut the top of the pancake open,
and serve.
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KIWI is a fruit whose botanical
name is Actinidiaceae, and is one
with many species, some say four
hundred or more. Most are called
yang tao, years ago all called Chinese
gooseberries. They are also known
botanically as Souris vegetale, and
were known and eaten by the Chinese
for thousands of years. However,
they were not as popular as they are
today since being called kiwi fruit. Current varieties did
develop from a single seed brought to New Zealand
where they were popularized after their name kiwi was
adopted.
One mature vine can produce some two hundred fruits.
They store well in the refrigerator, and can be frozen then
defrosted keeping their texture and taste undiminished.
Their hairs eventually disappear after they ripen, though
few consumers seem to know this; they eat them before
fully ripened. Technically a berry, without fertilization, these fruits
grow to be about the size of a hen’s egg. Their black seeds are edible and not tough. In years past,
these fruits were pickled. They were and still are a good
source of antioxidants, have many vitamins and minerals,
and are a particularly good source of Vitamin C. TCM practitioners tell us these fruits are good to aid
digestion, and can be a heart tonic. Boil their branches
and they are used to treat mange in dogs, their vines
when young make great rope. Shredded Chicken and Kiwi |
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Ingredients:
1 whole boneless chicken breast, cut in thin two-inch
strips
1 egg white, beaten
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
3 Tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup carrots, angle cut in half-inch pieces
2 scallions thinly angle-cut
5 slices fresh ginger, cut in strips
3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and smashed
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3 kiwis, peeled, sliced, the cut in half
Preparation:
1. Toss chicken strips with egg white, cornstarch, rice
wine, and the salt and pepper.
2. Heat wok or fry pan, add oil, and stir-fry chicken strips
until almost crisp then drain and set aside.
3. Add carrots to remaining oil, and when almost soft,
add scallions, ginger, garlic, and sugar and stir-fry
another minute before adding kiwi pieces, stir for one
minute, then serve in a pre-heated bowl.
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LI ZHI are tree fruits native to
Guangzhou. They are a member of the
soapberry family called Sapindaceae;
its botanical name is Litchi chinensis.
These fruits are very sweet and very
juicy. They have a thin membrane
under their warty exterior skin. Inside
is a hard dark pit, this seed is in its
center. Usually red or pink-skinned
when ripe, these fruits dry out with a
brown crisp outside and are called lizhi nuts.
This fruits probably went from China to India and then to
the US. Their pits can be ground and mixed with fennel
and simmered and used to reduce swollen testicles and
relieve menstrual pain. Chinese traditional medical
practitioners say they are very sweet and improve
blood and are good for those who are ill. They are
also good for those suffering with asthma, pain from a
hernia, and for those with a cold stomach. Wild li zhi trees grow on China’s Hainan Island and
throughout the rest of the country. There are many
stories about their love as a delicacy in Imperial courts.
In early times, they were described by Michal Boym
and others as fruits from trees with thick twigs with
smooth internal fruit. Known as far back as 2000
BCE, a famous story is about their use in the courts of
Imperial times, rushed at great expense by fast horses
to the capital and the court there. Preferred raw, many
Chinese purchase them no matter the price when they
first come into season. Few cook them or use them in
dishes, those that do often use them in a meat dish or a
cold soup such as the one that follows. Li Zhi, Chayote, and Oyster Soup |
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Ingredients:
5 sugared hawthorns on a stick, minced
5 li zhi, skins peeled, they and the pits discarded
1 dried oyster, rinsed in hot water, drained, and slivered
2 large chayote, slivered
1 pound chicken breasts, cut in thin strips
1 carrot, peeled and minced
5 slices fresh ginger, mincer
2 large Chinese black mushrooms, soaked, stems
discarded, caps and slivered
5 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and slivered
Preparation:
1. Put peeled li zhi in two cups of boiling water and
set aside, than after half an hour mix them with the
preserved ones on a stick.
2. Put the slivered dried oyster pieces in a quart of
boiling water and simmer them for twenty minutes.
3. Then add the chayote, chicken breasts, and carrot
pieces and simmer for ten minutes, then mash this
mixture gently.
4. Now add two more cups of boiling water, the ginger,
black mushroom pieces and the garlic, reduce the heat
and simmer for one hour, then stir well, and serve in
individual soup bowls.
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LONGAN, another
ancient Chinese fruit that is
often called dragon eye
fruit, is botanically known
as Dimocarpus longan. They
grow on twenty foot or taller
evergreen trees, and some say
their fruit does look like an
eyeball. We do not see this but
do note they have a dark pit
and white flesh. They are also
known as cassia chief, and in
Chinese are called gui yuan.
Not as sweet as the li zhi, they ripen somewhat later.
The Chinese consider them warm in nature, and say
they benefit the spleen, enrich the blood, increase
vigor, calm the nerves, help reduce bleeding, ease
pain, and reverse weight loss after illness. They also say they help settle dizziness and blurred
vision. TCM medical practitioners prescribe them to
reduce nervousness, reduce heart palpitations, restore
weak feelings during pregnancy, and heal ulcers. They
also recommend roating their pits and using them for
these needs, for scalds, burns, and anemia; and they
use their dried skins and pits to make wine. The fruit
itself is used fresh and dried when making wines and
liquors, and for cooking in many main dishes. They
particularly like them in soups and sweet ones. Shrimp and Longan Soup |
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Ingredients:
½ pound fresh shrimp, peels and veins discarded
½ cup longan wine
20 goji berries
30 dried longan
½ slivered hot pepper, their seeds discarded
1 Tablespoon light soy sauce
5 cups chicken stock
1 scallion, finely cut on an angle
Preparation:
1. Soak the peeled shrimp in the wine for half an hour
with the goji berries and dried longans. Then put all of
this in a pot with five cups chicken stock and the hot
pepper slivers.
2. Bring it to just below the boil and simmer for twenty
minutes, then add the scallion pieces for five minutes
and serve hot or tepid.
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LOQUAT,
called pi pa
in Chinese, is the same
name as one of their
musical string
instruments. Some
Chinese call these fruits
lu jie or reed oranges,
perhaps because their
fruit is yellow-orange.
They ripen at the end of
summer, and TCM
practitioners say they
cool fevers and increase
saliva, and are good to
relieve constipation in
the aged, and reduce coughs for those of all ages.
Botanically known as Eriobotrya japonica, these
fruits grow on flowering evergreen shrubs or trees,
and are in the Rosaceae family. Their origins are quite
ancient, and some say they originally came from Japan
while most believe they originated in China. There are
several varieties and they differ in flavor and color, all
with dark green leathery leaves. The fruits are succulent, smell sweet, grow in clusters,
and can have one or many pits. Some have a bitter
flavor. Many Chinese tell us they taste like a mixture
of peach, mango, and citrus. They were mentioned in
ancient Chinese literature, sometimes as lu jie. Some
of the fruits have light hair on their exteriors. Chinese TCM practitioners say they cool fevers and
increase saliva; and that their pits when ground can
help reduce coughing and other throat irritations.
These dried fruit, when placed under a marriage bed,
are a wish to have children quickly. The Chinese
elderly are encouraged to eat some dried if they are
constipated, also if they have asthma. In Chinese kitchens, loquats are known for their high
sugar content and abundance of pectin. Therefore,
they are used for all kinds of preserves. Fresh ones are
poached in syrup. Fresh, dried, or canned, they are used
in bakery products, and made into wines and liquors.
Low in saturated fat and sodium, TCM personnel often
recommend them as a cough medicine; and they do
warn that their leaves can be poisonous because they
can contain cyanogenic glucosides. Even though many
do, they still make and sell them as a paste and suggest
they are a fine expectorant that soothes the throat and
the digestive system. Hairy Mellon Soup |
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Ingredients:
½ pound hairy melon, peel
discarded, flesh cut into two-inch
pieces or smaller
1 chicken thigh, bones and skin
discarded (optional)
3 slices fresh ginger, slivered
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
5 chicken or vegetarian bouillon cubes
5 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked, caps discarded,
and slivered
2 carrots, peeled and slivered
1 pound silken doufu, cubed then smashed
1/4 teaspoon each ground white and black pepper
Preparation:
1. Prepare hairy melon, chicken, ginger, and garlic and
mix them with six cups of boiling water and the bouillon
cubes, hen reduce the heat and simmer for ten
minutes.
2. Now add the mushroom and carrot pieces and
simmer for an additional hour, then add the doufu and
both ground pepper. Simmer another fifteen minutes,
then serve.
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NUTS,
are edible fruits or seeds,
many true nuts, drupes, or dry
fleshy fruits surrounding a pit or a
stone, or a naked seed such as are pine nuts. Peanuts
are angiosperms not enclosed in a larger fruit or
another exterior part. The most popular nuts to the
Chinese are almonds, apricot seeds they consider nuts,
cashews, Chinese chestnuts, coconuts, ginkgo nuts,
peanuts, pine nuts, and walnuts. Also popular are
soybeans that some do call soy nuts; but these are not
nuts. Many nuts are popular for their oil and as
vegetables. They can be used dry or roasted, either
way in stir-fry dishes, in baked foods, as flavorings,
and/or when raw.
Olives,
are fruits, though not
everyone thinks of them as such. To the
Chinese, the most important one in their
culinary is botanically known as Canarium album,
and called tol gai lan, huang lan, or bai lan. All
olives grow on evergreen trees, are often oval-shaped,
and have hard pits. This Chinese olive has very pointed
ends, many using them as tooth picks.
Olives are astringent, and their pits or hard stones,
when ground and consumed, TCM practitioners say can
clear a fever, relieve poisoning from alcohol, benefit
the throat by reducing chronic coughs, ease hangovers,
slow down the bleeding of wounds, reduce chill blains,
and reduce skin sore infections. All olives are eaten processed, the Chinese bury many
in salt after drying them in the sun for two or more
days, then preserving them for weeks. The love them
for their taste and for healing. Spicy Chicken with Chinese Olives |
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Ingredients:
2 pounds skinless and boneless chicken thighs
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup unsalted roasted cashew nuts
1 teaspoon dried chili pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon honey
1 fresh hot pepper, seeded then slivered
1 sweet onion cut in large dice
10 Chinese olives, flesh cut away in large pieces.
Pits discarded
2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
1 scallion, slivered on an angle
Preparation:
1. Cut the chicken pieces into one-inch pieces and toss
with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a wok, add the oil, and stir-fry the nuts for half
minute, then remove them to a paper towel-lined bowl
and discard the paper towel. Then toss them with the
chili pepper flakes and add the honey and set aside.
3. Add the seasoned chicken to the wok, and stir-fry for
three minutes, then add the onion pieces and stir-fry
another two minutes before adding the olive pieces,
and the oyster sauce. Return the chicken and onions
and stir-fry for two minutes.
4. Add half the scallion pieces and stir for half a minute,
then put in a pre-heated bowl and top with the rest of
the scallion pieces, and serve.
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PAPAYA, also called paw paw, is
botanically known as Carica
papaya. It is a very large group of
tropical fruits growing on large
trees or their trunks. There are
some two dozen species, their fruits
technically are berries that are ripe
when soft and almost orange.
Female trees most often grow these fruits, one flower
left on to make for a stronger and larger fruit. These
fruits are very susceptible to disease and viruses, and
growers are working to genetically modify them.
There are two main kinds of papayas, one with orange
to red flesh, the other with yellow flesh. Either can be
picked green and they usually are. Green papayas are
used for salads and cold dishes, the orange-ish red ones
eaten raw or cooked in soups or with meat or fish dishes. Papaya Soup with Fish |
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Ingredients:
1 two-pound green papaya, peel and seeds discarded,
and cut into two-inch pieces
1 two-pound fish
3 ounces white Chinese wine
12 red dates, pits discarded, each cut in four pieces
6 slices fresh ginger, slivered
20 goji berries
Preparation:
1. Remove skin and bones from the fish, and gut it.
2. Put pieces of the papaya and the fish in two quarts
of water, then add the wine, dates, and ginger, and
simmer for forty minutes.
3. Add the goji berries, and simmer for five minutes
more, then serve hot or warm.
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PEAR,
is a fruit that lovers
should not share. Why not,
because the Chinese word for
pear is identical to the word
meaning separation. That is
why Chinese friends do not like
to share a pear. This is true for
the common pear or the Asian
pear; the latter is crunchy and
tastes somewhere between a pineapple and a rose.
Most pears grow on deciduous trees, though there are
two species growing on evergreen ones. Not all are
pear-shaped, a few look like apples. One way to tell is
when eating them. Some are ‘gritty’ in texture, apples
never are. Pears are Pyrus, their species one of thirty or
so. Some say there are a thousand pear species, others
tell us there are many cultivars but only three species. Pears grow their fruit on what is called the ‘spur’
which is a shoot more than a year old. Nashi or Asian
pears look like apples but are more crisp. In Chinese,
all pears are bai li. Chinese TCM practitioners tell
us they moisten lungs, cool fevers, relieve the effects
of alcohol, and ease constipation. Also, if one has a
cough, diarrhea, or a cold feeling in the lungs, one
should not eat any pear. There is one pear called tang li in Chinese, in the
species P. betulaefolia; It is round and sometimes
known as a ‘false pear’ and it is used to stop diarrhea
and ease acute throat irritations. One TCM doctor told
us never eat these fruits without the skin, and chew
them slowly for best results. He could not explain
why, but did say to cook any type of pear any way you
might like. |