What is water shield?

What is water shield?

Water shield is an aquatic vegetable with high nutritional value. Its aliases are water sunflower, water shield, green vegetable, water chestnut, water chestnut, lake vegetable, Brasenia schreberi JFGmel. It is more common in spring or autumn. In my country, it is mainly distributed in seven provinces, including Yunnan, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

What does Brasenia schrenkiana look like?

The front of the water shield leaf is round, like the leaves of a water lily, but much smaller. There is a gelatinous transparent substance on the back, which feels very tender and smooth, making it difficult to pick.

How to cook water shield

1. Water shield and shredded chicken soup

(1) Water shield and shredded chicken make a delicious soup. To make the soup, you need to prepare 200 grams of water shield, 150 grams of chicken breast, green onions, ginger, cooking wine, white pepper powder, salt, and chicken essence. Prepare appropriate amounts of each.
(2) Place the prepared chicken breast in a pot in advance and cook it with clean water. Then tear it into shredded chicken. Heat the water in the pot, add the washed water shield, and then the prepared shredded chicken and cook together. After boiling, add salt, MSG and sesame oil to season. After mixing well, the fragrant water shield and shredded chicken soup is ready to be eaten.

2. Hibiscus and Water Shield Soup

(1) Water shield is a delicious green ingredient. It is especially delicious when used to make soup. It can be paired with different ingredients when making soup. In addition to the water shield and shredded chicken soup mentioned above, it can also be made into lotus and egg drop soup. When making it, you need to prepare 300 grams of pure vegetables, three egg whites, 500 grams of chicken soup, and an appropriate amount of table salt.
(2) Wash the prepared water shield with clean water, and then blanch it in boiling water for 20 minutes. Take it out and drain the water. Heat the prepared chicken soup in a pot and boil it. Add a small amount of salt to season, and then add the blanched water shield into the pot and cook together.
(3) Take out the egg whites and put them in a bowl to make egg liquid. After the water shield in the pot is cooked, pour the egg liquid into the pot to make egg drops. Add salt, sesame oil and chicken essence to season before serving.

The efficacy and function of water shield

1. Clearing away heat, detoxifying, killing bacteria and relieving inflammation. The mucus of water shield contains a variety of nutrients and pentose, which has a good effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, and can inhibit the growth of bacteria. Eating it can clear stomach fire and relieve intestinal heat. Mashing it and applying it externally can treat carbuncles and furuncles.
2. Anti-cancer: The polysaccharides in water shield mucus have an inhibitory effect on certain tumors in experimental animals. After culturing B lymphocytes with cancer toxin genes and carcinogens, the ingredients in water shield were added. The results showed that it had a strong inhibitory effect on the activation of cancer toxins.