大米
Rice refers to two species (Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima) of grass, native to tropical and subtropical southern & southeastern Asia and to Africa, which together provide more than one fifth of the calories consumed by humans[1]. (The term "wild rice" can refer to wild species of Oryza, but conventionally refers to species of the related genus Zizania, both wild and domesticated.) Rice is an annual plant, growing to 1–1.8 m tall, occasionally more, with long slender leaves 50–100 cm long and 2–2.5 cm broad. The small wind-pollinated flowers are produced in a branched arching to pendulous inflorescence 30–50 cm long. The seed is a grain (caryopsis) 5–12 mm long and 2–3 mm thick.
玉米
Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays), also known as corn, is a cereal grain that was domesticated in Mesoamerica. It spread to the rest of the world after European contact with the Americas in the late 15th century and early 16th century. It is called corn in the United States, English Canada (in French Canada it is called maïs), New Zealand, and Australia, but in other countries that term may refer to other cereal grains. It is called mealies in southern Africa. Hybrid maize is favored by farmers over conventional varieties for its high grain yield, due to heterosis ("hybrid vigor"). Maize is one of the first crops for which genetically modified varieties make up a significant proportion of the total harvest.
While some maize varieties grow 7 m (23 ft) tall at certain locations, commercial maize has been bred for a height of 2.5 m (9 ft). Sweetcorn is usually shorter than field-corn varieties.
大豆
The Soybean (U.S.) or Soya bean (UK) (Glycine max) is a species of legume, native to eastern Asia. It is an annual plant, which may vary in growth habit and height. It may grow prostrate, not growing above 20 cm (7.8 inches); up to stiffly erect plants growing to 2 meters (6.5 feet). The pods, stems, and leaves are covered with fine brown or gray pubescence. The leaves are trifoliate (sometimes with 5 leaflets), the leaflets 6-15 cm (2-6 inches) long and 2-7 cm (1-3 inches) broad; they fall before the seeds are mature. The small, inconspicuous, self-fertile flowers are borne in the axil of the leaf and are either white or purple; The fruit is a hairy pod that grow in clusters of 3-5, with each pod 3-8 cm (1-3 inches) long and usually containing 2-4 (rarely more) seeds 5-11 mm in diameter.
Like corn and some other crops of long domestication, the relationship of the modern soybean to wild-growing species can no longer be traced with any degree of certainty. It is a cultural variety (a cultigen) with a very large number of cultivars. However, it is known that the progenitor of the modern soybean was a vine-like plant, that grew prone on the ground.
Beans are classed as pulses whereas soybeans are classed as oilseeds. The word soy is derived from the Japanese word shoyu (soy sauce/soya sauce).
花生
The peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the legume family Fabaceae native to South America. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing to 30 to 50 cm (one to one and a half feet) tall.The leaves are alternate, pinnate with four leaflets (two opposite pairs; no terminal leaflet), each leaflet 1 to 7 cm (1/3 to 2.75 inches) long and 1 to 3 cm (1/3 to 1 inch) broad. The flowers are a typical peaflower in shape, 2 to 4 cm (3/4 to one and a half inches) across, yellow with reddish veining. After pollination, the fruit develops into a legume 3 to 7 cm (1 to 2 inches) long containing 2 to 3 (rarely 1 or 4) seeds, which forces its way underground to mature.
Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the peanut is a woody, indehiscent legume or pod and not technically a nut.
Peanuts are also known as earthnuts, goobers, goober peas, pindas, jack nuts, pinders, manila nuts and monkey nuts (the last of these is often used to mean the entire pod, not just the seeds).
红豆
The Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is one of several species of the widely cultivated genus Vigna. Four cultivated subspecies are recognised:
Vigna unguiculata subsp. cylindrica Catjang
Vigna unguiculata subsp. dekindtiana Black-eyed pea
Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis Yardlong bean
Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata Southern pea
Cowpea is one of the most important food legume crops in the semi-arid tropics covering Asia, Africa, southern Europe and Central and South America. A drought tolerant and warm weather crop, cowpea is well-adapted to the drier regions of the tropics, where other food legumes do not perform well. It also has the useful ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen through its nodules, and it grows well in poor soils with more than 85% sand and with less than 0.2% organic matter and low levels of phosphorus. In addition, it is shade tolerant, and therefore, compatible as an intercrop with maize, millet, sorghum, sugarcane, and cotton. This makes cowpea an important component of traditional intercropping systems, especially in the complex and elegant subsistence farming systems of the dry savannas in sub-Saharan Africa (Blade, 2005).
The cowpea is a common food item in the southern United States, where it is sometimes called crowder pea.
绿豆
Mung beans are commonly used in Chinese cuisine, where they are called lǜ dòu (绿豆), or kacang hijau in Malay (both words literally mean "green bean"). Germinated mung bean sprouts (usually sold simply as "bean sprouts," known as taugeh in Malay or 芽菜 yá cài in Chinese) are stir fried (usually with ingredients such as garlic, ginger, spring onions or salted fish pieces to add taste) as a vegetable accompaniment to a meal. Uncooked bean sprouts are used in filling for Vietnamese spring rolls. Mung beans are also used to make a sweet soup, served either warm, or chilled. In Korea, slightly cooked mung bean sprouts (called sukjunamul (hangul: 숙주나물)) are often served as a side dish . They are put in boiling water for less than a minute, immediately cooled down in cold water, and mixed with sesame oil, garlic and salt (and often with some other ingredients).
Mung bean sprouts are the major bean sprouts in most Asian countries. In Korea, soybean sprouts (kongnamul (hangul:콩나물)) are more widely used, in a variety of dishes.
In several Asian countries, mung bean ice cream and frozen ice lollipops are popular desserts. Mung beans are ground to make transparent cellophane noodles (also known as bean thread noodles, bean threads, glass noodles, fen si, or tung hoon). Glass noodles become soft and slippery when they are soaked in hot water. Mung beans are a major ingredient in a variety of Malaysian dishes including char kway teow, hokkien mee, mee rebus, and pasembor. In Korea, a jelly called nokdumuk (hangul: 녹두묵; also called cheongpomuk; hangul: 청포묵) is made from mung bean starch; a similar jelly, which is colored yellow with the addition of gardenia coloring, is called hwangpomuk (hangul: 황포묵; hanja: 黄포묵).
Mung beans in Indian cuisine are stripped of their outer coats to make mung dal. Mung beans are widely consumed by Keralites along with kanji (rice gruel).
Mung beans are also made into a popular Indonesian dessert snack called es kacang hijau. The beans are cooked with sugar, coconut milk, and a little ginger. The dish is something that looks like a porridge.
参考资料：www.wikipedia.org