Goji leaves
The leafy shoots of the goji plant (the same shrub whose berries are dried as gau gei ji) sold fresh in thorny bundles. The stems are simmered first for flavour and fished out, then the leaves go in at the end; they give a gentle bitterness that finishes clean and sweet, classically with pork liver.
TCM properties
Nature · cooling Flavour · sweet、bitter Meridians · liver
Traditional food therapy
In Cantonese food therapy goji leaves are used to clear the liver and brighten the eyes, and are considered a gentle tonic suited even to those too weak for rich supplements, the base of Hong Kong's home-style eye-nourishing soup.
Cautions: read first
- If you run cold and deficient, pair them with ginger
- The stems are too tough to eat, so boil them for flavour first and then lift them out
Preparation
Strip the leaves off and keep the stems, then handle the two separately: boil the stems 5 to 10 minutes to draw out the flavour and scoop them out, and add the leaves at the very end, turning off the heat and letting them steep through.
Origin
Grown as a leaf vegetable in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong (the daodi source for goji berries is Zhongning, Ningxia, while the leaf is a southern seasonal green). Seasonal at Australian Asian greengrocers; locally grown
Availability in Australia
Easy to find
