64.) This asian vegetable scavenges the body to remove mucus. Here's how to prepare and cook it. (2 min. read)
This information provided to me from Cedric Sun, blog address of:
cqs19.net
This blog contains information on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
The vegetable is loofah. Yes, the same loofah that people use to exfoliate their skin. The loofah that you use to exfoliate, is when the vegetable goes to full maturity and dries out. The loofah that you eat, are the younger, greener vegetables that look similar to zucchini.
It can be found in Asian supermarkets. Which fortunately, are more readily available in medium-sized cities like Buffalo, Syracuse, N.Y. or Hamilton, Ontario.
It looks similar to a dark green zucchini. Diameters are generally inch and a half to three inches. It has long narrow fins, running lengthwise, end-to-end. To prepare you simply cut off both ends, take a paring knife and slice off each of the fins, end to end. It is not necessary to remove all the skin, only the narrow fins.
It's usually labeled simply as "squash".
Then you simply slice and cook as any other vegetable. I like to slice and fry in butter, salt and pepper to taste. You can add it to soups just like okra. It has a delicate taste. And as Cedric puts it, your taste buds may have to awaken to it. It's a new taste. And the seeds also have a distinctive delicate taste.
And Traditional Chinese Medicine uses it as a medicine to remove mucus from the body. And TCM says cancer is mucus.