China · Chinese

Ginkgo nuts with shiitake

The fifth cold starter of the three-head banquet. The ginkgo nuts are handled to the guidance of the China CDC Institute of Nutrition and Health: shelled, boiled for 10 minutes to slip off the skin, and the germ removed, then braised with sliced shiitake. The toxicity sits mostly in the germ, so shelling, boiling through and picking out the germ is the precondition for serving this at all. A small portion per person is enough; adults are advised to stay within 10–20 nuts. Public reference · home adaptation, not a historical original.

65 minutes · 4 servings · Moderate

Ginkgo nuts with shiitake

Public reference · Home adaptation Ginkgo with shiitake is the second vegetable cold starter, built from two ingredients that look plain but carry a sense of season: ginkgo nuts are the seeds of the autumn ginkgo tree, and shiitake grows in the forest. Traditionally the dish appeared in autumn and winter, in season. Ginkgo has long been described at the banquet table as a tonic. That is old talk. This project takes only the culinary handling and **adopts no therapeutic or health claims**. From a food-safety angle it is in fact the most hazardous item on this menu: ginkgo contains ginkgolic acid, ginkgotoxin, hydrocyanic acid and allergenic proteins, the germ holds the highest concentration of the toxic fraction, and poisoning typically begins 3–4 hours after eating, with vomiting, abdominal pain, convulsions and breathing difficulty, and can be fatal. **Shelling, boiling 10 minutes to slip the skin and removing the germ are therefore not optional; adults should stay within 10–20 nuts, children within 5, and infants should not eat it at all.** The 2018 group-standard report lists the cold dishes by name only, so **this technique comes from a public home recipe and published CDC guidance, with no correspondence to the banquet's own kitchen method**; it is not a historical original. **The seat list records only the dish name, not the method; this version's technique comes from a public home recipe for braised shiitake on xiachufang, and the ginkgo handling follows the published guidance of Huang Jian of the China CDC Institute of Nutrition and Health carried by Xinhua; it has no correspondence to the actual three-head-banquet kitchen method.** It is not a historical original or a house secret. **The sauce ratio and cooking time are editorial for 4 servings and have not been kitchen-tested.** The source is a **vegetarian** shiitake stir-fry (light soy, oyster sauce and starch for the sauce, blanched then stir-fried); this version **removes the oyster sauce** (a shellfish-derived seasoning) for a purely vegetable cook, and adds properly handled ginkgo nuts. **Important safety limit:** ginkgo must be handled as in the allergen note and steps 1–2; nuts that still have the germ or are not boiled through are not edible. **Only cooked ginkgo is served here; raw ginkgo is never offered.** Nuts are bought from proper channels as food-grade dried ginkgo, never gathered wild fruit. Only the technique is taken; no therapeutic claims are adopted. **This dish contains ginkgo and must be handled to the published guidance of the China CDC Institute of Nutrition and Health: remove the hard shell (wear gloves, as the sap corrodes skin) → boil 10 minutes to slip the membrane → pull out the germ from every nut.** The germ carries the highest concentration of the toxic fraction; nuts that still carry a germ or are not boiled through are not edible, and ginkgo must never be eaten raw. Quantity: 10–20 nuts for adults, no more than 5 for children, none for infants. Poisoning typically begins 3–4 hours after eating, with fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, convulsions and breathing difficulty, and can be fatal through respiratory failure; induce vomiting and seek medical attention immediately if symptoms appear. Ginkgo contains ginkgolic acid, ginkgotoxin, hydrocyanic acid and allergenic proteins, so **allergic people can react even to cooked nuts.** The dish also contains soy and wheat (light soy sauce). Any claim in the cited source that ginkgo benefits the heart and brain is a therapeutic claim; this project takes only the food-safety procedure and does not adopt it. 银杏果随意食用易引发中毒（新华网，转载人民政协报，2023-11-08） — Food-safety points (the safety procedure within the method itself): Huang Jian of the China CDC Institute of Nutrition and Health states that ginkgo contains ginkgolic acid, ginkgotoxin, hydrocyanic acid and allergenic proteins; the germ contains most of the hydrocyanic acid and ginkgolic acid and some ginkgotoxin and is the most toxic part; shelled ginkgo sold on the market must have its hard shell removed, be boiled 10 minutes in water to remove the membrane, and have the germ taken out before cooking; ginkgo must not be eaten raw; adults are advised 10–20 nuts, children no more than 5, and infants none; the sap corrodes skin during shelling, so gloves should be worn and hands washed thoroughly under running water. https://www.xinhuanet.com/food/20231108/7ae16ad040644f25b73bb090132e2ec7/c.html 下厨房：香菇这样炒比肉都好吃😋素炒香菇 — The method itself: a sauce of 2 spoons light soy, 1 spoon oyster sauce, salt to taste, water and 1 spoon starch; shiitake washed and sliced; dropped into boiling water for 1 minute and drained; oil heated, scallion and garlic fried fragrant, shiitake stir-fried, sauce added and tossed, finished with chopped scallion. This version drops the oyster sauce and garlic and adds properly handled ginkgo nuts. https://m.xiachufang.com/recipe/106045985/ 扬州晚报美食团：扬州发布“三头宴”团体标准（搜狐，2018-01-18） — Seat evidence: the eight cold starters are listed in order, placing the ginkgo and mushrooms fifth. The report gives dish names and groupings only, with no methods. https://www.sohu.com/a/217424559_740963 AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.

Ingredients

  • dried ginkgo nuts, food-grade, shelled, boiled and germ removed200 g
  • dried shiitake, soaked and sliced150 g
  • warm water for soaking shiitake, kept for the sauce500 ml
  • water for blanching the ginkgo1500 ml
  • light soy sauce25 ml
  • white sugar8 g
  • starch for thickening the sauce8 g
  • water for the sauce80 ml
  • scallions, finely chopped15 g
  • vegetable oil25 ml

Directions

  1. 1

    **Ginkgo safety step 1:** crack the hard shell of the dried nuts with a small hammer or the back of a knife and take out the kernels. **Do not prise them apart by hand** — the sap irritates skin, so wear gloves while shelling and wash hands thoroughly under running water afterwards. The kernels are still covered in a brown membrane.

  2. 2

    **Ginkgo safety step 2 (mandatory):** boil the shelled nuts for **10 minutes** to loosen the membrane, then lift them out and **pull out the germ (the green core) from each nut individually.** The germ holds the highest concentration of the toxic fraction and every one must come out; only de-germed nuts are edible. Drain and spread the cooked nuts out. **This step cannot be skipped, shortened, or done partially — a nut still carrying its germ is not safe to eat.**

  3. 3

    Soak the dried shiitake in warm water for about 30 minutes until fully pliable. **Set the soaking water aside and keep the clear liquid** — it is the whole point of the dish (leave the grit at the bottom of the bowl). Trim the stems, squeeze the caps dry and slice them thinly. Soaking time is not counted in the cooking time.

  4. 4

    Boil a pan of water, drop the sliced shiitake in for 1 minute and drain. Blanching firms the mushrooms so they do not feel spongy in the teeth and concentrates their flavour — this is the key step in the public method.

  5. 5

    Mix the sauce: light soy, sugar, starch and 80 ml water (including a spoonful of the shiitake soaking liquor), stirred until no lumps remain. **No oyster sauce is used here** — it is shellfish-derived, and the banquet has guests who do not eat animal products.

  6. 6

    Heat the oil, fry the chopped scallion until fragrant, add the shiitake and stir-fry 1 minute, then add the ginkgo and toss to combine. Pour in the sauce, cover and cook about 8 minutes over medium-low heat so both soak up the flavour.

  7. 7

    Uncover, raise the heat and reduce the sauce, tossing, until it thickens and coats both the mushrooms and the nuts, then turn off the heat, plate and scatter over scallion. **When serving, portion a small amount per person and label the dish as containing ginkgo**, and ask guests to eat it within the meal; cooked ginkgo should be eaten promptly and its risk rises the longer it is kept.

Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.