Carrot

The carrot was first recorded in the "Vegetables" section of the Compendium of Materia Medica original: "Bencao Gangmu," the definitive 16th-century pharmaceutical text by Li Shizhen. In the southern regions, it is eaten only during the autumn and winter, but in the North, it is served as food year-round.

Some say that it first entered China during the Yuan Dynasty 1271–1368 AD. When the Yuan forces expanded toward the east, they first acquired the region of Yunnan term: "Dian" (滇), an ancient name for Yunnan Province; for this reason, this vegetable is particularly abundant and grows to a great size in Yunnan.

There are two varieties, red and yellow. However, its flavor is similar to that of "stinking celery" term: "Xiehao" (邪蒿), likely referring to Seseli libanotis, an aromatic herb in the parsley family. Those who are fond of eating "fat-tailed sheep" a breed of sheep prized for its succulent fat, common in Central Asian and Mongol cuisine always cook the meat together with this root. Is this perhaps a continuation of the culinary traditions of the Yuan Dynasty? term: "Shi Xianzhang" (食憲章), referring to dietary codes or established culinary customs of that era