Hawthorn belongs to the family Rosaceae and has a hard core, thin flesh and a sour taste. It is adaptable and prefers a cool, moist environment. It can tolerate both cold and hot environments, and can survive between -36 and 43°C. It is distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Jiangsu and other provinces in China, as well as in Korea and Siberia area.

The fruit of Hawthorn can be eaten fresh or made into dried fruit. It can also be used as medicine when dried, and is a unique Chinese plant for both medicine and fruit. It helps to lower blood lipids, blood pressure and resist cardiac arrhythmia, and is also a good medicine for improving the spleen and appetite, eliminating food stagnation, and activating blood circulation and phlegm. The fruit has a sweet and sour taste. Not only can you eat it fresh, but you can also make it into a variety of appetizing snacks that are both delicious and nourishing.

Recipe 1

Sugar-coated Haws

Prepare 200 grams of hawthorn, 80 grams of rock sugar and 100 grams of water. Wash the hawthorn with water and remove the butt. Dry the water and then skewer the hawthorn with a bamboo stick. Pour the icing sugar into a pot and add the same weight of water as the crystal sugar. Stir while cooking and when large bubbles appear, turn down the heat and simmer slowly until small, dense bubbles appear. Once the syrup is simmering, roll the hawthorn skewers quickly into the pot.

Recipe 2

Hawthorn strips

Prepare 1000 grams of hawthorn, 300 grams of sugar, 250 grams of maltose and 400 grams of water. Wash the hawthorn, remove the core and cut it up. Then put the hawthorn and sugar into a pot, add water and cook on low heat. When the hawthorn becomes soft, add malt sugar. Keep cooking until the hawthorn is softer, and break it up with a stirring stick. Put the mashed hawthorn into a pan and fry on low heat. Fry dry and put it into a container and let it cool thoroughly. Turn out the clumped hawthorn and cut it into strips. Once cut, arrange them in a baking dish and bake in the oven at 100 degrees for one hour.

Recipe 3

Homemade Thin Pieces of Dried Hawthorn

Prepare 400g of hawthorn, 60g of sugar and 100ml of water. Wash and remove the core of hawthorn, put it into a blender and add 100 ml of water. Cover with lid and beat it into jam. Put the jam into the pot, toss well and add sugar. Stir-fry over low heat until it becomes thick. Pour the jam into a baking dish and spread it out. Bake in the oven at 100℃ for 60 minutes. After baking, roll it into a roll and cut it into small pieces!

Recipe 4

Hawthorn and Cinnamon Cake

Prepare 1000g of hawthorn, half a lemon, 10g of osmanthus, 100g of crystal sugar and 80g of maltose. Wash the hawthorn, remove the core and stems, and cut it up. Squeeze the lemon juice into it and mix well to prevent the hawthorn from oxidizing. Add maltose and crystal sugar together into a pot and cook slowly over low heat until hawthorn is watery and crystal sugar and maltose are melted. Cook until the water in the hawthorn has evaporated and the liquid in the pot becomes thick, then turn off the heat and sprinkle with dried cinnamon. Quickly cover the lid and simmer for 5 minutes to allow the cinnamon aroma to penetrate the hawthorn paste while it is still hot. Once the cinnamon aroma has simmered, beat the simmering hawthorn with a food processor to a fine pulp. Grease the inside of the food container with a thin layer of salad oil, pour the pounded hawthorn paste into the glass lunch box and smooth the surface with a spoon. Seal with a lid and refrigerate for two hours until solidified. Take it out and turn it upside down and cut it into pieces. Then sprinkle with a little salad oil. Turn it upside down and cut it into pieces. At last, you can sprinkle cinnamon on it.