Preserved mandarin peels

Chenpi, chen pi, or chimpi (simplified Chinese: 陈皮; traditional Chinese: 陳皮; pinyin: chénpí; literally: "preserved peel") is sun-dried tangerine peel used as a traditional seasoning in Chinese cooking and traditional medicine. It is aged by storing them dry. The taste is first slightly sweet, but the aftertaste is pungent and bitter. According to Chinese herbology, its attribute is warm. Chenpi has a common name, ‘ju pi’ or mandarin orange peel.

Chenpi contains volatile oils which include the chemical compounds nobiletin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, tangeridin, citromitin, synephrine, carotene, cryptoxanthin, inositol, vitamin B₁, and vitamin C. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine uses the alcohol extracts of several citrus peels, including those extracted from mandarin orange and bitter orange.

In general, the longer Chenpi is aged, the higher the quality. Since the products produced in Xinhui are of the purported to be the best quality, it is often called Xinhui Pi or Guang Chen Pi. It is normally cut into shreds before serving and presenting in the raw form.

The practice of using citrus peels in traditional Chinese medicine originated from Song Dynasty and has lasted for seven hundred years. Chenpi was of high popularity through the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was shipped to foreign provinces by businessmen from Xinhui in Guangdong. A famous Qing doctor named Ye Gui (1667-1746) prescribed Chenpi as one of the ingredients in ‘Erchen Tang’, a decoction consisting of two old drugs. Chenpi business brought wealth to Xinhui peasants and it also extended to food processing, logistics areas which forms a food production chain. However, there was a decline of Chenpi business in the 1990s until late 2002 when Chenpi farmers helped set up the Chenpi Industrial Association with support from Xinhui Agriculture Bureau and Business Federation, and Chenpi has regained its popularity since.

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