What is Purslane?

What is Purslane?

Purslane is a common annual plant. It is also called Purslane, Five Elements Grass, Longevity Vegetable, Five-sided Grass, Melon Seed Vegetable, Hemp Rope Vegetable, Purslane Vegetable, and Grasshopper Vegetable. This plant grows in summer and grows until autumn, which means it is mostly on the market in summer and autumn. It grows in most parts of my country.

What does Purslane look like?

Portulaca oleracea is an annual herb with no hair on the whole plant. The stem is procumbent and spread on the ground. The branches are light green or dark red. The leaves are alternate, flat, and about 1-2 cm long. Some of the leaves are thick and shaped like horse teeth, dark green on the upper side, and light green or dark red on the lower side.

Purslane recipe

1. Cold salad

(1) Pick the old roots and leaves of Purslane into sections, soak them in clean water with salt for ten minutes, and then wash them clean.
(2) Put the purslane segments into a pot of boiling water and blanch until they change color. When they turn green, remove them from the pot and put them into cold water to cool for later use.
(3) Take a bowl and add MSG, vinegar, chili oil, salt and sesame oil and mix evenly for later use.
(4) Take out the cooled purslane, drain the water, put it into a container, add the prepared sauce, and stir well.

2. Make porridge

Purslane must be fried first, remove impurities from the purslane, wash it, put it into boiling water for a while, take it out, wash off the mucus, chop it, heat the oil in a pan, add chopped green onion, then add purslane, add fine salt and stir-fry until it is tasty, remove from the pan and set aside, then cook the purslane and rice into porridge.

The efficacy and function of purslane

Purslane is sour and cold in nature. It belongs to the category of traditional Chinese medicine for clearing heat and detoxifying. It is a commonly used medicine for detoxification and dysentery. Purslane has three major effects. The first is to clear heat and detoxify. It is used for carbuncle, furuncle, eczema, erysipelas, snake and insect bites caused by heat toxins. The second is to cool blood and stop bleeding. It is used for blood in stool, hemorrhoids, and metrorrhagia. The third is to stop dysentery. It is used for bloody dysentery caused by heat toxins. Purslane is generally used raw or fresh.