Dao Dou Hua has closer and lasting relationship with sunshine. At the end of the lunar month of May, the woven sword bean preserve is sundried until decolorized and then marinated in sugar for three months; finally it is sundried again for at least one week to lose its stickiness.
 
Dao Dou Hua also has an excellent medicinal value. According to one of the most famous herbalists in ancient China, Li Shizhen, sword bean "is good to be boiled, made into sauce, or cooked with honey when tender; the ripe ones have light-pink seeds as big as thumbs that taste good when cooked with pork or chicken. The plant is sweet, neutral in nature, and non-toxic. With a mild nature, sword bean is good for strengthening the stomach, relieving hiccups, tonifying the kidneys and invigorating vital energy."