The benefits of rose flower
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What mei gui hua does
What this vegetable does
It is said to settle the workings of qi, release what has stagnated and improve the flow of blood.
How to eat it
As well as drinking it as tea, the dried flowers can be simmered into a soup.
A yakuzen note
It is looked to for tightness or pain in the chest and for the trouble that comes with poor circulation.
Mei gui hua is sweet with a faint bitterness and warm, an edible rose held to settle the circulation of qi, loosen what has stagnated and encourage the circulation of blood. It suits daily care when the mood is low, when tightness in the chest or the flanks is on your mind, or when the trouble particular to women is on your mind. Dried buds make a tea, or scent a dish or a sweet: a yakuzen flower to enjoy every day.
TOC
When mei gui hua is in season, its types, and how to choose it
If you want to enjoy the scent of mei gui hua and what it does, it helps to know its season, its types and how to choose it. It is a yakuzen flower of heady scent, the buds picked before they open and dried.
In season in early summer, the buds picked and dried
Mei gui hua is the dried bud of a highly scented edible rose. In early summer, when the plant flowers, around May to June, the buds are picked while plump and just about to open, and dried so the scent does not escape. The bud carries a deeper scent than the fully opened flower and makes for a more beautiful result. Pingyin in Shandong, China, is known as a growing area for these roses, and has long supplied the raw material for rose tea and rose jam. Available dried all year, it can go into yakuzen teas and baking at any time.
Mei gui hua, hamanasu and rose buds
Mei gui hua in yakuzen means, in principle, the Chinese rose of that name. Other familiar edible roses go by different names and different uses according to where they are grown and which variety they are.
| kinds | What stands out |
|---|---|
| Mei gui hua | The bud of the Chinese edible rose. The standard for yakuzen teas and blends |
| Hamanasu | A close relative native to Japan. Both flower and fruit, the rose hip, can be used |
| Rose buds | Small buds for baking and herbal teas. For colour and for scent |
Mei gui hua for a yakuzen tea where you want the scent, rose buds for colour and for decorating baking: you can choose by use. Combined with jujube and goji berries they make a blended tea that looks the part as well. All of them are dried, so they can be used a little at a time and suit keeping in the cupboard.
How to choose and handle them
When picking out good mei gui hua, these are the things to look for.
- Buds plump and well shaped, not broken up
- A vivid colour, with a scent that rises firmly when you open the bag
- Dry and loose, holding no damp, with no discolouring or fading
Scent is everything with mei gui hua, so using it up before the scent goes is how you keep it good. For tea, pour boiling water over it, put the lid on and let it stand a few minutes and the scent comes up. Simmered too long the scent weakens, so adding it briefly at the end is about right.
How to use mei gui hua
The heady scent of mei gui hua carries it from tea to baking. Here are the usual ways to enjoy it.
As rose tea and in blends
Mei gui hua is at its best as rose tea, hot water poured over the buds. A few in a pot or a cup with hot water is all it takes for a soft, sweet scent to spread, a cup for when you want a moment's pause. A little added to black or green tea turns the usual cup heady. Blended as a yakuzen tea with jujube, goji berries and chrysanthemum flowers, it looks beautiful and suits daily care when you want to shift your mood.
In jam, syrup and baking
Mei gui hua also suits scenting baking and sweet things. Simmered down with sugar into rose jam, or steeped in honey as rose syrup, it can be served with yoghurt and bread for the scent. Scattered over jellies, agar desserts and baking, it works as a note of colour and scent. Dried petals used as they are for decoration finish home baking beautifully. Combined with sugar or honey, the scent comes forward softly.
How to keep mei gui hua
Mei gui hua does badly in damp and light, and left alone the scent goes and the colour fades. Keep it with a desiccant in an airtight container or a sealed bag, somewhere cool and dark out of direct sun. In damp seasons, the fridge holds the scent better. Use it up before long after opening and you get the best of the scent. If you have a lot, split it into small portions and take out only what you need, which keeps the damp off.
Alongside this, ones that likewise partner it in yakuzen teas and blends, The benefits of jujube and a flower likewise enjoyed for its scent, The benefits of osmanthus as a guide when making yakuzen teas.
Loved for its heady scent, mei gui hua is a yakuzen flower that stays with you when you want to shift your mood, in rose tea and blends, in jam and in scenting baking. Highly scented mei gui hua, hamanasu with both flower and fruit, and rose buds for baking: choose by use and each shows its best. For daily care when the circulation of qi is on your mind, bring the scent of mei gui hua into your days.
