Snow-Ear Mushroom - The Natural Internal Moisturizer for our Bodies
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
The best part of Chinese food culture is to eat according to the seasons. With fall in the air and the weather getting dryer, it is important to eat foods that can combat dryness and promote vital fluids to lubricate our lungs, joints and skin.
The best food that can do just that is snow-ear mushroom. The botanical name is Tremella fuciformis. It is a species of fungus producing white, frond-like, gelatinous fruit bodies. They grow wild in the tropics on recently fallen branches of broadleaf trees. Nowadays, they are commercially cultivated and are one of the most popular fungi in Chinese cuisine. The snow-ear mushroom is commonly known as silver ear fungus or white jelly mushroom and is referred to as the poor-man’s bird’s nest because of its low price but with comparable health benefits.
Chinese medicine defines snow-ear mushrooms as neutral in nature, sweet in taste and are known to lubricate lungs and joints, promote vital fluids, promote cell regeneration and blood circulation, moisturize and whiten skin and promote energy.
The mushrooms are sun-dried and are very light in weight but they can expand to 2 or 3 times their size after soaking in water for 5 to 10 minutes. The best ones are slightly yellowish in colour (the very white ones are probably bleached), but will become whiter after soaking, rinsing and cooking. They are softer after being cooked but still retain some crunchiness. Snow-ear mushroom is mostly used in soups, desserts and vegetarian stews.
My favourite recipe for snow-ear mushroom is to make soup with apples or pears (or both) and with pork. The ingredients can vary according to your taste and liking. The soup is very refreshing with fruity, sweet and sour taste and yet is also meaty and rich. It is very easy to make. With apples and pears being so abundant at this time of the year, it is the best soup for the whole family, both for taste and health benefits. Please also search the NourishU website for other snow-ear mushroom recipes.
Snow-Ear Mushroom, Apple and Pork Soup
THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS
Promotes yin, improves vital fluids, benefits lungs, clears phlegm, moisturizes skin and the large intestine, promotes digestion, and improves skin complexion.
INGREDIENTS (6 to 8 servings)
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Snow-ear mushroom 雪耳 – 2
-
Apples - 4
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Northern / Southern apricot kernel 北南杏 - a handful
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Lean pork / pork with bone- 240gm
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Citrus peel (chen-pi) 陳皮- one piece (soak and scrape out white membrane)
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Ginger – 2 slices
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Dried figs – 3 to 4 (rinse and cut into halves)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Wash pork, cut into large pieces and put them in boiling water to cook for a few minutes. Remove and rinse.
2. Soak snow-ear mushroom for about 10 minutes or until fully rehydrated. Cut out the brown stem and separate them into smaller pieces, and rinse.
3. Put pork with about 2 to 3 litres of water in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Remove foam if necessary. Add all other ingredients except apples and let it cook over medium heat for about one hour.
4. Remove skin and core of apples and cut each into large slices and add to the cooking. Add more boiling water to the cooking if necessary and let it cook for another 30 minutes.
4. Add salt to taste and serve.
USAGE
No restrictions.
The Health Benefits of Kelp
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
Kelp is a kind of seaweed that has long, big and thick green leaves. It is high in vitamins, nutrients, and minerals and has many known health benefits:
1. Promotes Thyroid & Immune Functions
Kelp is high in natural iodine, which is essential to the proper function of the thyroid. A healthy thyroid is necessary in controlling growth, energy and metabolism in our body and supporting our immune system to fight infections. Iodine is used for curing goiter, the swelling of the thyroid gland.
2. Lowers Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
Kelp is high in fiber and non-fatty acids and is known to lower blood pressure and cholesterol.
3. Prevents Tumor Growth and Cancer
Kelp is extremely alkaline which keeps our body's pH balanced to prevent cancer growth. Kelp is also high in lignans, phytochemicals found in sea vegetables, which can limit the amount of cancer cells released into the blood stream and limit tumor growth.
4. Anti-inflammatory
Kelp can reduce inflammation in joints and bones which helps to alleviate pain, especially for people suffering from arthritis.
5. Promotes Women’s Health
Kelp is high in iron, calcium and magnesium. It is a good source of vitamins and minerals for women to promote healthy bones and helps to promote better sleep through menopause.
6. Lowers Blood Sugar
Kelp is low in sugar and high in fiber. It helps to slow down the metabolism of sugar therefore reducing sugar spikes commonly found in diabetics after eating.
7. Reduces Water Retention
Kelp can also be used as a diuretic, which helps the body to shed water that it might retain.
Kelp is abundantly available in many coastal countries around the world but may not be commonly eaten especially in the western diet. A daily dose of kelp may just be the ticket to get your body in good health and to lose a few pounds.
Here are a couple of recipe suggestions for you to increase your regular intake of kelp. But it you are high in iron, or suffering from hyperthyroidism, or you are pregnant or are breast feeding, you should stay away from kelp because too much of a good thing can be harmful.
Kelp Salad
Ingredients (quantity as desired)
Kelp (dried or presoaked)
Balsamic vinegar or rice vinegar
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Optional fresh ingredients: (quantity as desired)
Bell pepper of different colors
Celery
Sesame seeds
Directions
1. Soak kelp with plenty of water to rehydrate fully and rinse a few times.
2. Put kelp in boiling water to boil for about 10 minutes or to desired softness. Retrieve, rinse with cold water and strain.
3. Cut kelp into thin strips (matchstick or julienne cut) and then season with vinegar, soy sauce and sesame oil to taste.
4. Cut optional ingredients into similar strips and mix with kelp to serve.
Tips
Make a larger batch of kelp at a time, season it and keep it in the fridge to serve up to a week. Only mix in other optional ingredients when it is time to serve for freshness.
Kelp and Wood-ear Mushroom Soup
Ingredients (quantity as desired)
Kelp
Wood-ear mushroom
Carrot
Pork / Chicken
Ginger – 2 to 3 slices
Scallion (finely cut) – one spoon
Coriander (finely cut) – one spoon
Therapeutic effects
Lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, prevents tumor growth, treats swollen thyroid gland, promotes blood and clears blood stagnation, promotes yin and prevents heart disease.
Directions
1. Soak kelp and wood-ear mushroom until fully rehydrated. Put in boiling water to cook for 5 minutes, retrieve and rinse.
2. Peel carrot and wash.
3. Wash meat and strain.
4. Cut all ingredients into thin strips using julienne or matchstick cut.
5. Season meat with adequate amount of sugar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cooking wine, potato starch and sesame oil and put aside.
6. Bring adequate amount of water (or broth) in a pot to boil, add all ingredients except meat to cook for about 20 minutes on medium boil. Remove foam if any.
7. Add meat to cook for a few minutes more.
8. Add scallion, coriander and seasoning to taste and serve.
Spring Recipe for Nourishing Liver
By Vicky Chan of Nourish U
The arrival of spring brings a new season of growth to all living things on earth. That is why Chinese medicine identifies spring as wood. According to the TCM five-element theory, wood represents our liver and gallbladder system. What this means is that spring is the season when the liver energy is most intense; therefore it is the best time to address and promote liver health.
The liver is the only organ in our body which is responsible for removing poisons and toxins from our blood, making bile to support digestion and making new blood and protein to support growth.
Diet has an immediate impact on liver health. Overeating, especially rich and greasy foods can make the liver system sluggish and can slow down liver functions. Too much alcohol can damage liver cells and can cause hardening of the liver and cancer. Besides food, exercise and emotions can also affect liver health. Too much sorrow is known to suppress liver energy and cause a system failure. Unhealthy lifestyle such as not sleeping at night can interfere with the liver detoxification and blood building cycles. Therefore, a healthy diet and lifestyle and the right state of mind and balanced emotions are the keys to good health.
Spring cleaning is not only necessary for our homes and gardens, but it is also necessary for our bodies, especially the liver to clean out toxins after a winter season of heavy foods and indulgences. A cleansing diet with an emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables is most appropriate. Adding a bit more sour taste to our foods and drinks such as lemon and vinegar can produce effective contracting, astringent and cleansing effects.
After cleansing the liver, nourishing it is also very important. There are many foods and herbs which are excellent for promoting liver health such as asparagus, dandelion, goji-berries, bean sprout and chives. Liver meats are best for promoting liver health. One common misconception about liver or organ meat is that they are full of toxins and cholesterol and therefore is not good for health. In fact, liver meat has an exceptionally high content of quality protein, vitamin A, B vitamins and in particular B12, folic acid, minerals such as copper, zinc, chromium, copper and CoQ10. The by-products of liver detoxification cannot be stored in liver cells because there is no room for them. The World Health Organization has just recently included pork liver as one of the most healthy foods to eat.
Please refer to our website to see more foods and herbs suggestions and recipes for promoting liver health for spring. Here is a recipe using pork or chicken liver to nourish our liver. It is very easy to make, delicious and suitable for the whole family.
Stir-fry Liver with Chives and Goji-berries
THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS
Nourishes liver, promotes good eyesight and increases yang energy.
INGREDIENTS: (2 to 3 servings)
- Chicken or pork liver – 250gm
- Chinese chives – one bunch (about 300gm)
- Astragalus (huang qi) 黃耆 - 30 gm
- Goji-berry / Chinese Wolfberry (gou ji zi) 枸杞子 - 20 gm
- Minced or grated ginger – two tablespoons
- Soy sauce – one teaspoon
- Potato starch – one teaspoon
- Cooking wine – 2 tablespoons
DIRECTIONS
1. Rinse astragalus, cut into short sections and put with 2.5 cups of water in a pot and
let it soak for 30 minutes. Then bring water to a boil and lower heat to medium-low and
cook for 30 minutes to yield 1/3 cup of tea. Discard astragalus and put tea aside.
2. Rinse chives a few times, strain and cut into bite-size sections.
3. Wash liver with salt, rinse, cut liver into thin slices and season with soy sauce, half
portions of ginger and wine, and lastly mix in starch.
4. Soak goji-berries for 10 to 15 minutes with water and rinse a few times. Soak goji-
berries with half of the astragalus tea.
5. Warm one tablespoon of oil in a pan. Add the remaining ginger and stir. Add chive
and stir for 2 minutes. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Add the rest of the astragalus tea and
cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and put chives aside on a plate.
6. Warm another spoon of oil in the pan and add liver. Let liver cook for one minute
each on both sides. Add in goji-berries with tea and cook for 2 more minutes or to liver
is just done. Put chives back into the cooking and mix. Put everything onto a plate and serve.
USAGE
No restrictions
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Recipe for Nursing Colds/Flu
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
This winter has been a worse-than-average flu season and many people have been infected. The Western medicine approach of using antibiotics to fight the cold and flu virus is “over-prescribing” because the success rate has only been around 20%. The overuse of antibiotics has caused many experts to project an imminent “antibiotic apocalypse”.
On average, adults can get two to four colds per year and kids can get as many as six to eight. This is why the ailment is called the COMMON cold/flu. Normally by treating it with enough rest and proper dietary care, the body will be able to recover within days if not a week, without having to use drugs. Usually, it is only people in poor health that can develop serious symptoms and complications that can result in death in extreme cases.
Chinese Medicine knows a lot about the common cold/flu. The renowned classic textbook called The Theory of Febrile Disease describes the different stages and manifestations of the illness. It gives a detailed explanation on what and how to use proper dietary care to speed up recovery and to prevent the illness from going deeper into the body. The key to dietary care is to know what not to eat and what to eat, and to stick to it.
For wind-cold type of conformation, it is crucial not to eat cold foods (temperature wise as well as foods that are cold in nature). This includes cold drinks and foods, fresh fruits and raw vegetables, and cooling foods and herbs. Eat only hot and warming foods and drinks. The common condiments found in most kitchens such as ginger, garlic, scallions, vinegar, pepper, chili and onion are all effective in helping the body to raise its internal temperature to drive out coldness and to kill bacteria and viruses. They are tried-and-true remedies and are suitable for most people. We just need to be mindful to not take more than our stomach can handle especially hot spices and vinegar.
For wind-heat type of conformation, using foods that have a cooling nature such as tofu, daikon, Chinese pears, mung beans, water chestnut, chrysanthemum tea and bok-choy are highly recommended.
In all cases, deep-fried foods and hard to digest foods are restricted because they are more work for the body to digest when it needs all its energy to heal. Plain, easy to digest, fluid and semi-fluid foods such as soup and congee are most suitable. Nutrient dense foods, warming and enriching foods and herbs are to be avoided because they can intensify the virus and prolong the suffering.
Here is a recipe which is most suitable for treating influenza and coughing with phlegm. Take it as many times as needed until most symptoms are gone. Please also refer to our website www.nourishu.com for many other related recipes.
Snow-Ear Mushroom, Fritillariae and Pear Soup
SYMPTOMS
Cold and flu with cough, chronic dry cough, weakened lung function with lack of energy and difficulty breathing.
THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS
Treats cold/flu with sore throat and headache, nourishes lungs, clears heat in the lungs, clears phlegm, astringes cough and promotes vital fluids.
INGREDIENTS
Fritillariae Cirrhosae (chuan bei mu) 川貝母 – 5 grams
Snow-Ear Mushroom – 20 grams
Chinese Pear – one
Honey – to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Crush chuan bei into powder.
2. Rinse and soak mushroom for 30 minutes. Cut out bottom brown stem and separate into smaller pieces.
3. Skin pear, cut into halves and hollow out seeds in the centre.
4. Put chuan bei powder in the center of pear and put pear in a casserole.
5. Add mushroom and enough water to cover the pear (about 1.5 cups). Add honey to taste (about 2 spoonfuls) and cover casserole with lid.
6. Use a slightly bigger pot with water and a stand at the bottom to steam the casserole for about an hour. Add hot water regularly to the cooking to prevent drying.
7. Serve warm and be sure to eat it all for full therapeutic effect.
USAGE
To be taken once a day on an empty stomach. This recipe is suitable for all ages.
Recipe for Health & Longevity - Ginseng Congee
Invigorating the Qi Recipe - Ginseng Congee
This recipe is for invigorating the Qi, increasing the function of the immune system, increasing your adaptability adapt to the environment and strengthening the function of tissues and organs in the body.
Symptoms of Qi deficiency:
Fatigue, weakness, shortness of breath, dizziness, pale complexion, sweating with little or no exertion, poor appetite, stomach distention, loose or soft stools, diarrhea, cold extremities and frequent urination.
Ingredients
*Ginseng - 10g / 1/3oz
Polished Round Grain Rice - 100g / 3.5oz
Water - 3 cups
Instructions
1. Cut the ginseng into small pieces.
2. Soak the ginseng along with 3 cups of water for 60 minutes in a ceramic or glass pot.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 1 hour.
4. Add the rice to the ginseng soup.
5. Boil and simmer again for 40 minutes.
6. Separate into 2 portions and take one in the morning and one in the evening.
*Ginseng Types
Ginseng is a sweet and slightly bitter root well known for its ability to strengthen the body. There are 3 types of ginseng, Chinese, Korean and American. They all have different natures and healing properties depending on where they are grown and how they are prepared. Wild ginseng which is collected in the mountains and forests is the most prized and most expensive.
When cooking ginseng, it is important to use only glass, ceramic or porcelain cookware rather than metal. One should avoid drinking tea, or coffee or eating radishes or turnips immediately before or after eating ginseng as they decrease its effectiveness.
Chinese Ginseng
Chinese ginseng is slightly warm and is especially beneficial to the lungs and digestive system. Its warm nature makes it excellent for treating cold conditions and deficiency syndromes. Chinese ginseng strongly tonifies the lungs and is used to treat breathing problems, cold extremities, profuse sweating and a weak pulse. It also strengthens the digestive system and is used to treat symptoms of fatigue, lack of appetite, and chest and abdominal distension. It is able to promote body fluids so it used to treat dryness and relives mental stress. It also benefits the heart and is used to treat palpitations (racing heart) insomnia, amnesia and irritability which are all due to a deficiency of the body's Qi and Blood.
Korean Ginseng
Korean ginseng is produced in Korea and has the same properties and functions as Chinese ginseng, although it is considered hot and should be used very cautiously.
American Ginseng
American ginseng is produced in the United States, Canada and France, with the best quality coming from the state of Wisconsin in the United States. It is cool in nature, , sweet and slightly bitter in flavour. It benefits the lungs, heart and kidney. American ginseng is used for strengthening the digestive system, promotes the body fluids so helps with dryness and is excellent for heat problems and general weakness of the body.