Silver Strip Vegetable

Silver Strip Vegetable

　　An ancient poem reads: “After spring rains fall in fine drizzle, fair ladies rejoice at the first clear noon. None surpasses the pure white silver strip vegetable—not even jade tablets or crystal pots.” The poem refers to the silver strip vegetable, a rare delicacy among vegetables that is only produced in Jiexiu and hailed as one of the “Eight Treasures” of Jiexiu County. The silver strip vegetable is a perennial herbaceous plant with slender, upright stems, lanceolate leaves, and small pale pink flowers. Its rootstalk grows over 30 centimeters long, about the thickness of a chopstick, hollow and jointed with a white color. People often eat the silver strip vegetable in early spring when other vegetables are scarce. It can be served cold in salads or cooked with pork, retaining its distinctive flavor. This vegetable is as white as jade, crisp and tender, delicious in taste, and highly nutritious. It has proven therapeutic effects on constipation and gastroenteritis. Editor: 208 (Jiexiu)