Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch

Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch

　　Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch

　　The lotus root, also known as lotus, water lily, or hibiscus, is originally from India and belongs to the perennial aquatic plant family Nymphaeaceae. After being ground, filtered, and sun-dried, the lotus root becomes a convenient and suitable starch for all ages. Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch comes from Sanjia Village in Chongxian Town, Yuhang, and the surrounding lotus-growing areas spanning dozens of miles. It has a long history. The Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi wrote in his poem "The Scenic Beauty of Yuhang": “Thirty miles of lotus flowers encircle the town.” During the Southern Song Dynasty, it had already become a tribute. The Qing Dynasty’s "Tangqi Annals" recorded: “Lotus root starch is made from lotus root juice. In other places, much of it is fake, often mixed half genuine and half fake. Only that produced in Sanjia Village of Tangqi uses such cheap lotus roots that there's no need to mix it with other ingredients.” In the early 1970s, when then-U.S. President Nixon and French President Pompidou visited China, they highly praised the Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch they tasted in Hangzhou. Premier Zhou Enlai gifted the starch to both presidents as a souvenir to take back to their countries.

　　Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch is white with a slight red hue, has a fine texture, is clean and fragrant, and shows a silvery sheen when rubbed between fingers. It is highly nutritious and is known to "promote saliva and appetite, clear heat and nourish lungs, as well as enrich blood and boost energy." It is especially suitable for the elderly, new mothers, patients, infants, and young children, making it a renowned traditional tonic.

　　The uniquely superior quality of Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch is inseparable from the distinctive environment in which the lotus roots are grown. Sanjia Village is located by the ancient canal, in a low-lying area with deep soil layers, heavy clay-rich soil that is fertile and highly suitable for the growth and development of lotus roots. Lotus cultivation in Sanjia Village started with pond-grown roots and gradually developed into a production model summarized as “using the shoot tip as seed, three feet of river mud and three inches of water, and a hundred dan (unit of weight) of fertilizer per mu.” Moreover, the symbiotic relationship among lotus roots, fish, and ducks supports mutual reliance. Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch quickly expanded from pond-grown roots to field-grown and marsh-grown roots, forming a situation where “all three types of lotus roots are cultivated together,” gaining fame worldwide for its large quantity and high quality.

　　The excellent quality of Sanjia Village Lotus Root Starch is also closely related to the refined production techniques of the local lotus root farmers. The starch is made from the “Jiantou Ri He” lotus root variety. This variety has a “middle section” consisting of three segments, with a thick diameter of about 10 cm, very small lotus root holes, a medium-long “rear handle,” numerous daughter tubers, and commonly found grandchild tubers. It is high-yielding, early-maturing, and produces fine starch. The ideal period for making lotus root starch is from Cold Dew to the following Pure Brightness, with the starch produced from First Frost to Light Snow being the best.