Buckthorn seed?

[cheyrn]

A recipe for vegetable stock in the book "From the earth: Chinese vegetarian cooking", includes "buckthorn seed". People at Asian markets don't know what I am talking about so far.

 

There is: 沙棘 shā jí - sea-buckthorn

also calleed Hippophae. It's a fruit.

 

There is also "chinese buckthorn" - Rhamnus utilis - ju zhi 

 

But, because the book says you can find it in 1/2 lb bags in asian markets, I wonder if it is goji berries.

 

Do you know?

 

 

 

[abcdefg]

I wonder if it is goji berries.

 

Wouldn't be goji berries. Sure about that.

 

From my just-now informal search, it looks to be 鼠李籽。 Maybe ask the Chinese grocer for it by this name. Print out the characters and take them along. Don't rely on being able to say it.

 

I found discussion of it in Chinese Medicine (TCM) -- It's supposed to have a somewhat bitter flavor and be able to dispel excess internal heat. Lots of vitamins, especially C.

 

But I have no personal experience with using it making soup or stock. Note that it's not uncommon to use medicinal ingredients in Chinese soups. Next time I'm in a large store, I'll try to remember to look for it on your behalf.

 

  

 

http://zhongyibaodian.com/bcgm/shulizi.html

 

http://zhidao.baidu.com/link?url=y9y16zry5kBsKyO3byXkoCX0y7DYXml2Axp-7H-H7wb9FLatVYmZm6joKXa4SUZoDLjdREVeL2bktH9g4qYnnfDvOdtW2y10QXXbU3urfcS

[dtcamero]

not sure where to buy it but it is super delicious. the restaurant chain 西贝莜面村 makes a great buckthorne juice drink

http://www.dianping.com/shop/6026269/dish-%E6%B2%99%E6%A3%98%E6%B1%81

 

here's their video describing the production

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTI2NTc1Mzg0NA==.html?beta&from=s1.8-1-1.2&spm=0.0.0.0.IWVXH0

[abcdefg]

Found another on-line discussion this morning in which they suggest that it is probably sea-buckthorn that the author of the cookbook means as an ingredient. 沙棘 in Chinese characters, as the Original Poster was surmising.

 

BTW, Could you send the author an e-mail and just ask her to clarify this ingredient?

[cheyrn]

Thanks everyone. I haven't found a way to contact the author yet. The book was copyrighted in 1995 and so unsurprisingly doesn't have an email address listed. But, that's a good idea. I'll try to contact her.

 

Sea-buckthorn was the first interpretation I listed. Because she says they come in 1/2 lb bags in asian markets and she lived in the US, that doesn't sound like it would be a fresh fruit. Also, she says buckthorn seeds, which I would think doesn't mean the fruit.

[abcdefg]

The two snapshots I posted show the fruit fresh and then dried. I was guessing the dried form were being called "seeds." Could be I'm wrong.

 

In the next day or two I'll look around in the "beans and seeds" department at one or two grocery stores and see what I find (I'm in China.) Will return afterwards to post.

 

This is definitely not something about which I'm an expert; just trying to help out a little bit.

[coolnicholas]

Buckthorn seed=沙棘籽油

[abcdefg]

Looked today in a medium-sized supermarket that had 50 or 60 different types of item in the seeds and dried beans department. They didn't have them and an employee said they were not just temporarily out; rather they never stocked them because demand for them was so small.

 

So it sounds like they might be a specialty item, not something common here on the mainland. I checked under both of the most likely Chinese names: 沙棘籽 and 鼠李籽。