When picking a son-in-law, Master Dong wanted one who was tough and hard-working enough to inherit and manage his big fortune and successful business. Thus, he asked the chef to make a dish of palm flower, which was bitter to the locals. This was to test the candidates’ capacity in enduring life hardships. The he asked the candidate to follow the caravans to do business. For this story, this dish is also said to be the dish for the right son-in-law.

　　Effects: Heat-clearing and damp-drying; inducing astringency

　　Family: Palm

　　Alias: Palm wood seeds, bamboo shoots.

　　Property & Flavor: bitter, astringent, and mild-natured. According to Supplement to Materia Medica, it is slightly poisonous. Herbs in Chongqing describes it as warm- and mild-natured. And it tastes astringent and cool in quality as recorded in Shaanxi Herbal Medicine.

　　Meridians: Liver and spleen meridians

　　Functions: Stanching bleeding, relieving diarrhea, invigorating the circulation of blood, and removing stasis