Chestnut for Kidney Health

By Vicky Chan of NourishU

According to TCM, winter is the season for promoting kidney health. Kidneys have astringent and active storage functions which help in preserving energy. In winter, our body is also designed to better absorb rich and nutritional foods to stay warm and healthy. For people who have a cold constitution with cold hands and feet, weak kidney health with frequent urination, cold and stiff body and constant pain in their lower back and ankles, winter is the best time to correct these health problems as it is when the body is most responsive to nutritional treatment. Winter food should be eaten with less salt to reduce work burden on the kidneys. Elderly people in particular should take winter/kidney tonics which can greatly improve their body constitution and promote better resistance to illness.

Winter/kidney tonics include superior warming herbs, fatty and meaty foods. Warming herbs such as dang shen, ginseng, astragalus, reishi mushroom, longan fruit and deer horn are most popular for promoting yang energy. Warming foods include chive, chicken, mutton, shrimp, ginger, garlic, walnut, mushroom, chestnut, mustard, vinegar, wine, gingko, red pepper and spring onion.

Chestnut is plentiful in winter and is best for making hearty soups and stews. Chestnut is warm in nature, sweet in taste and acts on the spleen, stomach and kidney. The following is my favourite winter recipe with chestnut which is very delicious but needs some work for preparing the chestnuts. It is well worth the effort!

Pork Ribs, Shiitake Mushroom
and Chestnut Stew

Therapeutic Effects

Strengthens spleen
tonifies kidney
strengthens tendons
promotes blood circulation and stops bleeding
cures asthma, cough, back pain and diarrhea
promotes weight loss
protects the heart
lowers blood pressure and cholesterol
combats cancer

Ingredients

(3 to 4 servings)

Chestnuts – about 20
Pork ribs or chicken pieces – about 400gm
Dried shiitake mushrooms – 6 to 8
Carrot – one
Minced ginger – 2 spoonfuls
Minced garlic – 2 spoonfuls
Spring Onion – 3 pieces
Dark soy sauce – 3 spoonfuls
Light soy sauce – 3 spoonfuls
Sugar – 2 spoonfuls
Sesame oil – one spoonful
Cooking oil – about 3 spoonfuls
Cooking wine – 2 spoonfuls
Potato starch – one spoonful

Directions

Prepare chestnuts ahead of time by cutting a few crosses on the outer shell by using scissors. Then put chestnuts in a toaster oven (a few at a time) to bake on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Use a small knife to remove the shell and membrane together while still hot (please wear gloves!). The alternative method is to remove the hard shell first with a small knife, then put chestnuts with membrane in boiling water to cook for about 8 minutes. Strain and remove membrane while warm.
Soak mushrooms for 30 minutes or until soft, rinse and slice into halves. Peel carrot and cut into pieces.
Wash ribs/chicken pieces. Put them in boiling water to cook for a few minutes to remove foam and fat. Retrieve, rinse and strain.
Warm one spoonful of oil in a skillet. Put chestnuts in, stir to brown for a few minutes (so chestnuts will not be so easily disintegrated when cooked), remove and put aside.
Add one spoonful of oil to the skillet, put in half of the ginger and garlic to stir briefly and put in the mushrooms. Stir, add one spoonful of sugar to mix well and follow by one spoonful of cooking wine and half a cup of water. Cook for a couple of minutes and put aside.
Add one spoonful of oil to the skillet, put in remaining ginger and garlic and ribs/chicken to stir for a couple of minutes. Add in remaining sugar, cooking wine and stir for a couple of minutes more and then add mushrooms, carrot and enough water just to cover everything. Add soy sauce, bring to a slow boil, cover with lid and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add chestnuts and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes to just a little sauce is left. Add water if necessary.
When the meat and chestnuts are cooked to the desired softness, add salt to taste if necessary. Wash and cut spring onion into sections and add to the cooking. Mix potato starch with 2 spoonfuls of water and sesame oil, add to the cooking and cook for another minute and serve.

USAGE

Serve with rice. No restrictions.

Chestnut for kidney health

* Featured image from paleohacks.com

by admin

Chinese Yam – Nourishing to Spleen, Lungs & Kidneys

By Vicky Chan of NourishU

Chinese Yam (Dioscorea opposita) is called Shan Yao (山藥/山药) in Chinese. It is a spindle-shaped, thick, hard root or tuber up to 1 meter in length and is white on the inside. It is used as both a nutritious food and medicine because of its large amounts of mucilage, which is a thick and slimy substance that has a soothing effect on mucous membranes, linings of respiratory passages and stomach.

Chinese medicine classifies Chinese yam as neutral and sweet. It serves to tonify and strengthen the spleen and stomach, strengthens lung yin and tonifies lung qi and stabilizes, tonifies, and binds the kidneys. It is used to treat weak digestion with fatigue and diarrhea, general weakness, frequent urination, decreased appetite, leukorrhagia (excessive vaginal discharge), premature ejaculation, the symptoms associated with diabetes, chronic wheezing (whistling sound caused by breathing difficulty) and coughing.

Traditional Chinese medicine uses Chinese yam to mix with other herbs to treat specific types of symptoms. There are no side effects associated with the use of Chinese yam, no indications of any interactions between Chinese yam and any drug or other herbal medicines so it is very safe to use. Fresh Chinese yam is commonly used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cuisines - mostly in soups. However, in Chinese therapeutic cooking, it is also used to make tea, wine, congee, stir-fry's, cake and dumplings. It can go with almost any cooking with meat or vegetables or can even be eaten raw. Fresh Chinese yam is inexpensive and is widely available in Asian grocery stores and health food stores. If fresh ones are not available, use dried ones instead but make sure you soak them for at least 30 minutes and then rub and rinse them a few times to make sure any preservatives are washed away.

With winter just around the corner, nothing is better for you than making a fresh Chinese yam and mutton soup. It warms the body, soothes the lungs and stomach, and prepares your body to combat the cold harsh weather ahead. There are many recipes on our website www.nourishu.com for cooking with Chinese yam for health.

Fresh Chinese Yam and Mutton Soup

SYMPTOMS

Yang deficiency manifested as always feeling cold with cold hands and feet, lack of appetite and being underweight.

THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS

Promotes yang (fire energy) and nourishes the spleen to improve appetite, digestion and strengthens the body in general.

INGREDIENTS

Recipe makes about 6 servings

Mutton with bone (shoulder or thigh)- 640gm (cut up into pieces)
Fresh Chinese yam (shan yao) 淮山 - 200gm
Dried longan fruit – a handful
Ginger - 10 slices
Green Onion – 3 (finely cut)
Cooking wine – 2 spoonfuls

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash mutton and place in boiling water to cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove, rinse and drain.
Peel Chinese yam, rinse and cut into slices.
Warm 2 spoonfuls of oil in a pan and stir-fry mutton and ginger for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle in 2 spoonfuls of cooking wine followed by a cup of water.
Bring about 2.5 to 3 litres of water in a soup pot to a quick boil. Transfer everything in the pan to the soup pot.
Add Chinese yam and longan fruit to the cooking and let it boil for another 10 minutes. In the meant time, remove foam until the water is clear. Then, reduce heat to medium and let it cook for another 2 hours or more until mutton is tender.
Add salt to taste and sprinkle with green onion and serve.