Tangerine peel
Thu, 2007-12-27 14:35 — batgungAdmin
Bunches of tangerine peel strung out over the pavement to dry, for later use in cooking.
Date picture taken (to nearest decade for older photos):
2007
Comments
Tangerine peels
Hi there,
Other than drying them these peels are usually to be aged. My mom has a small quantity of these in a jar which had been aged for over 40 years.
BTW, the next time you walk pass the Shop House at Pottinger Street in Central, do walk inside and take a look. That shop had some showcase tangerine peels which they mentioned, to have aged for slightly over 100 years. It would cost you an arm and a leg to purchase just few hundred grams.
Tangerine peels, other than cooking, are also for medicine use. Traditional Chinese medicine usually use it to help gitting rid of think mucus.
Best Regards,
T
Vintage tangerines
Hi T, That's interesting to know. So they get better (and more expensive) with age, like wine?
What is it about the peel that changes as they get older? And are the older ones mainly used for cooking or medicine?
Cheers, MrB
Re: Vintage tangerine peels
Hi there,
I would tend to believe aged tangerine peels are used both for cooking and for medicine use. Suggest you ask your acupunturist next time as he would be in the better position to answer your question concerning medical use of the peels.
The sample in the jar in the shop might be a bit scary to some as the peel had already turned charcoal grey and curled up. Just imagine you might have patterns similar to blue cheese..........
My mom usually take her peels out of the jar a once every few months to put them under strong sunshine to dry them.
Best Regards,
T
Desserts with Tangerine Peels at Yung Kee in Central
Hi there,
If you have the chance to dine at Yung Kee, do pay attention to their menu. They have a dessert item made of red bean soup with the peel. They are charging close to HKD10,000 for that as they claim they are using very old tangerine peels.
Best Regards,
T
$10,000 ????
cough, splutter.... I think I'll be sticking to the red-bean popsicles from 7-11.
And maybe I should start saving tangerine peel for the grandchildren to benefit from!
Tangerine peels
Hi there,
If aging tangering peels are concerned we would be talking where were the tangerines originated as well. Tangering Peel (陳皮) is the top among the three treasures of the Guangdong Privince. The other two are very old ginger (老薑) and straw (禾桿草)。
If you have some experience with Chinese medicine, we usually value some items being grown or found in specific county of a province in China. Even the same species of the same plant/herb found in other provinces are believed to be the lesser cousins of the specific ones.
I'll see if I could recall what sort of tangerine is mostly sort for their peels.
Best Regards,
T
Straw
Interesting! What would be the usage of Straw? For construction or for medicinal use as well? What makes them so special?
regards, sophia
Re: Straw
Hi there,
That would be the good old days when the Guangdong Privince was still a major agricultural power horse and way before the modern industralization. The straw basically came from rice fields.
The pre-industralized Chinese people was more environmental aware then their modern counter parts and that was actually the way we were. We make good use of the natural goodies around us.
Yes, straw could be used to contruct huts and shelters. Traditionally for over a thousand years straw was also raw materials for sandals, rain coats, and many other things that I might not know of.
Best Regards,
T