What is Nepeta?

Nepeta, also known as false shepherd's purse, shepherd's purse, fragrant shepherd's purse or four-angled wormwood, is a perennial plant. It is a kind of seasoning with a fragrant smell. Nepeta is mostly planted in spring and is mostly available in autumn. It grows wild in Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, Hubei, Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan, and is artificially cultivated in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hebei and other places.

What does Nepeta look like?

The stem of shepherd's purse is straight and long, woody at the base, branched, about 40-150 cm high, obtusely quadrangular at the top, with shallow grooves, and covered with white short soft hairs. Its bracts are leaf-shaped, or smaller and lanceolate at the top, and the bracts and bracteoles are sword-shaped and small.

How to cook Nepeta

1. Cold salad

Discard the old stems of Nepeta and leave the leaves, then soak the Nepeta leaves in light salt water for five minutes (wash them more cleanly), then take them out and drain them for later use, then peel the garlic and cut it into minced garlic, put the minced garlic together with step 3 into a container, add appropriate amount of salt, sugar, vinegar, light soy sauce, and sesame oil, mix well, and finally put it on a plate and eat.

2. Soy Sauce

First, you should wash the nepeta, then pickle it in salt water, 1 to 2 times a day. After 3 days, drain the brine, then spread sweet bean sauce evenly on the nepeta, turn it over once a day, and it can be eaten after 30 days.

The efficacy and function of Nepeta

Shepherd's purse has the effects of harmonizing the spleen, promoting diuresis, stopping bleeding and improving eyesight. It is mainly used to treat postpartum hemorrhage, dysentery, edema, enteritis, gastric ulcer, cold and fever, red and swollen eyes, etc. The seeds, leaves and roots of shepherd's purse are edible. Shepherd's purse can also be used as medicine to stop bleeding.

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