How to eat carambola and its benefits

The carambola is beautiful and unique in appearance, with a green and yellow color, thin skin, crisp and tender flesh, sweet and sour taste, and plenty of water. In addition to being eaten fresh, people in some regions also use some "unique" methods to eat carambola. For example, Hainanese people are used to sticking a little salt and chili on carambola, which makes it taste unique and addictive; Sanya people often cook sour carambola with fresh fish, and the soup is sweet and sour, and can remove the fishy smell.

Nutritional value of carambola:

It has high nutritional value, contains protein, fat, sugar and citric acid, as well as a variety of vitamins and minerals. The fruit is fragrant and sweet.

Benefits of Carambola

It can be processed into candied fruit, and its juice can promote appetite, help digestion, and treat skin diseases. Star fruit can be divided into two types: sweet and sour. The former is sweet and crisp, suitable for fresh eating or processed into star fruit juice or canned food. Whether fresh or processed, the quality and flavor of this star fruit are quite good; the latter is commonly known as "Sanren", the fruit is large and sour and astringent, not suitable for fresh eating, and is mostly used as a cooking ingredient or candied fruit raw material.

Star fruit contains many ingredients that are beneficial to human health, such as sugar, vitamin A, vitamin C, and various fibers and acids. Star fruit also has great medicinal value. It has a good effect on the treatment of mouth sores, chronic headaches, and swelling and pain caused by injuries. The fiber and acid contained in it can relieve internal heat, clear dryness, moisten the intestines, and promote bowel movements. It is the most suitable heat-clearing fruit for people with heat in the lungs and stomach. In addition, star fruit is also an expert in treating sore throat. The leaves, flowers and roots of star fruit also have good medicinal effects: its leaves are good for urination; its flowers can cure cold and heat; its roots can cure joint pain. Although star fruit has great effects, patients with kidney disease should eat less star fruit.

In addition to being beneficial to human health, carambola also has a good effect on women's beauty. Carambola contains a lot of fruit acid, which can inhibit the precipitation of melanin, effectively remove or lighten dark spots, and has a moisturizing effect, which can make the skin moisturized and shiny, and has a significant effect on improving dry or oily skin tissue. Here is a beauty method of applying carambola externally: mash the carambola and apply it on the face for 10-15 minutes each time, which helps to eliminate dark spots and melanin on the complexion.

Other Benefits

1. Clearing away dryness and moistening the intestines: Carambola contains sufficient water and fiber, which can relieve internal heat and moisten the intestines;

2. Clear the heat in the lungs and stomach: If coughing is caused by heat in the stomach and intestines, and there is a tingling sensation in the chest and back when coughing, and it is difficult to spit, eating carambolas raw has a certain therapeutic effect. It can clear the heat in the lungs and stomach, promote spitting, and eliminate chest pain.

3. Treatment of colds: If you suffer from a cold, feel dry mouth, hot air coming out of your nose, constipation, and your urine is yellow and has a strong smell, eating a lot of carambola will be very effective.

How to eat carambola

1. Direct consumption

Wash it clean, then use a knife to peel off five (or six) water chestnuts. Note that you only need to peel off the thinner ones, and there is no need to peel off the entire water chestnut. Otherwise, there will not be much left of the whole carambola. Then use a knife to cut it into thin five-pointed star slices and you can eat it.

2. Egg and milk stewed carambola:

Star fruit is rich in sugar, fiber and acid, which can relieve internal heat, clear dryness and moisten the intestines. Using it to make desserts can protect the skin and beautify the face, which is suitable for people who stay up late.

Ingredients include: 1 star fruit, remove the hard edges and core, and cut into small pieces, 2 eggs, 250ml of milk, and optional sugar.

The method of making it is simple. First, put carambola cubes, milk, and sugar in a pot and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then turn off the heat and let it cool (the carambola is cooked together to give the milk soup the aroma of carambola). Then filter out the milk, add the milk to the beaten eggs and mix well, sieve to filter out the foam and unbeaten egg whites, and finally add the carambola cubes, cover with a dish, and steam over high heat until solidified.

3. Candied Carambola:

The carambola is shaped like a pentagonal rhombus (a few are hexagonal rhombuses), and looks like a star when cut in half, so it is also known as a star-shaped fruit. Now let me introduce a homely dessert - candied carambola. Not only is it delicious, but the most pleasing thing is its lovely star shape, wrapped in candied crispy pulp, which looks particularly crystal clear in the sun, so it is given a nice name, called "Glass Star".

Ingredients: 2 star fruits, 1 cup of self-raising powder (or flour), 5 spoons of sugar, 2 spoons of carambola (or maltose).

Preparation method: Wash the carambolas, remove the hard edges, wipe dry, and cut into thick pieces. Add 3/4 cup of water to the self-raising flour and mix into a paste. Dip the carambolas into the paste and fry in hot oil until golden and crispy. Drain the oil and set aside. Use a little oil to simmer sugar, carambolas, and half a cup of water until thick and almost gelatinous. Turn off the heat and add the fried carambolas and mix well.

4. American Starfruit Buns:

Ingredients: 150g high-gluten flour, 30g low-gluten flour, 1 1/2 tsp dry yeast, 80ml warm water, 20g butter, 2 tsp sugar, 1/3 tsp salt, 2 tsp milk powder. 2 star fruits, 2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp butter (optional), 1 tsp egg white, 25g powdered sugar.

When making it, preheat the oven to 175 degrees, place it in the middle of the oven, and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the core of the star fruit and cut it into small pieces, then blend it in a blender, add sugar, cornstarch and butter, mix well and boil, then let it cool to make the star fruit filling.

After basic fermentation, divide the dough into 12 equal parts, flatten it slightly and make a concave shape in the middle, and ferment for the last 30 minutes. Fill the concave holes with stuffing, apply egg and sugar solution and bake. Mix the powdered sugar with egg whites, put them in a small plastic bag, and squeeze thin threads on the baked bread for decoration.