Strengthen Spleen and Remove Dampness Soup
By NourishU
Symptoms
Weak digestion, lack of appetite and loose bowels.
Therapeutic Effects
Promotes spleen and digestive health, relieves dampness in the digestive system (stomach & spleen).
Chinese Fuzzy Melon
Ingredients
(6 servings)
- Pork bones 豬骨 – 240gm
- Fuzzy melon 節瓜 – 480gm
- Chinese Yam (shan yao) 淮山 – 10 slices (5ogm)
- Job's Tears (yi yi ren) 生薏仁 – 90gm
- Dangshen (dang shen) 党參 – 90gm
- Pitted red dates 紅棗(去核) - 6
- Ginger 生薑 - 3 slices
- Citrus Peel (chen-pi) 陳皮 – one piece (pre-soaked and with white tissue removed)
Chinese Yam
Directions
- Rinse pork bones and put in boiling water to cook for a few minutes. Remove and rinse.
- Rinse herbs and put all in a soup pot with pork bones and about 3 litres of water. Bring to boil and lower heat to medium and cook for one hour.
- Peel melon and cut into large pieces and add to the cooking. Continue to cook for another hour and add more water if necessary.
- When done, add salt to serve. Eat melon with soup.
Chinese Red Dates
Usage
No restrictions.
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Chinese Water Chestnut
By Vicky Chan of NourishU
When I was growing up, Chinese water chestnut was one of the most popular street foods sold by food vendors. They are white in colour after the skin is peeled and sold strung together on a long stick. Most people and children like water chestnut during the hot summer because they are juicy, crunchy and very refreshing to eat and they have a delicate flavour and are mildly sweet in taste. It is best to eat them after being peeled and chilled in water (to prevent turning brown) in the fridge. It is definitely a much healthier alternative than other snacks such as lollypops or ice cream cones.
Chinese water chestnut is widely used in oriental cuisines. They can be sliced thinly to add to salads, stir-frys, vegetarian/meat stews or desserts. They can also be finely chopped and added to meat balls or stuffing to give it a softer texture and some crunchiness. Water chestnuts are ground into powder to make pudding, a popular dessert for dim sum lunch. The powder can also be used as thickener to add to soups, desserts, and sauces and glazes to give them a transparent look.
The healthful effects of water chestnut known to Chinese medicine are that they are cold in nature, sweet in taste and act on lungs and stomach. Water chestnuts can clear heat, relieve indigestion, promote urination, relieve hypertension, cure sore throat and hemorrhoids, stop coughing and clear phlegm. They are also effective in helping children to relieve skin rashes when having measles. Nowadays, water chestnut is found to be good for people wishing to lose weight because it has almost zero fat, releases water retention and is high in potassium. It is also used as a beauty food to promote better skin.
The following recipe is a common spring/summer drink for households with children. Modern children are eating too many highly processed foods such as chips, French fries, biscuits and baked goods which are causing their internal body systems to have too much heat. The symptoms of overheating are indigestion, lack of appetite, constipation or difficulties in passing stools, skin rashes or acne eruptions. Together with the immense summer heat, foods with cooling properties are necessary to balance out the system and not become sick. This recipe can help to soothe and rebalance the internal condition and can be taken regularly without restrictions. For parents who want their children to maintain good health throughout the summer, keeping the drink handy in the fridge instead of soft drinks is the best approach. And children will love it too because it is sweet in taste and very refreshing, and they will feel good after drinking it.
You can easily find sugar cane already cut into short sections and conveniently packaged with the fresh Imperatae root available for sale in the vegetable section of most Chinese super markets. If the fresh root is not available, you can just do without it. The root is for getting extra cooling and detoxifying effects.
Please search our website www.nourishu.com for other delicious recipes using water chestnut.
Sugar Cane & Water Chestnut Drink
SYMPTOMS:
Skin rashes or measles.
THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS
This recipe is for reducing internal heat and can help to alleviate pain during a measles outbreak. It can also be used regularly to detoxify the spleen, prevent rashes and for clearing internal heat during the spring and summer seasons.
INGREDIENTS
- Fresh/Dried Rhizoma Imperatae 鮮茅根 – 60 gram (optional)
- Carrot – 450 gram
- Water chestnut – 300 gram
- Sugar cane – 500 gram
1. Chop sugar cane into smaller pieces. Cut carrots into thin slices. Wash water chestnuts. You can either keep or remove the skin as you wish and crush them open with the back of a knife. Rinse the fresh root.
2. Put all ingredients in a big soup pot half full of water (about 3 liters) and cook over medium heat for one and a half hours until about 6 cups of water are left.
3. Strain and drink tea. The water chestnut can also be eaten if desired.
USAGE
Can be drunk regularly for the whole family.
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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.
USAGE
Can be eaten often to strengthen the immune system, tonify lungs, kidneys, build the digestive system and prepare the body for winter.
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Download Our Sheets - The Spleen in Chinese Medicine
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The Common Cold - Causes and Food Therapy in Chinese Medicine
By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP
How many of us, with the coming of winter and colder weather, succumb to the common cold? Sore throat, stuffy nose, fever and chills are all symptoms that accompany a cold, and ones most of us have come to know so well.
In Chinese medicine, the common cold is seen to be caused by external pathogens invading the body. There are several kinds of external pathogenic factors leading to the common cold. The first is wind-cold, the second is wind-heat and the third is summer-heat and dampness. Remember, if your immune system is depressed or under stress then your defences are less able to fight off a cold or any pathogenic factors.
The common cold occurs at any time of year, but is most common in winter and spring. The incubation period for a cold is about one day. Symptoms usually begin around the nose and throat, with a stuffy nose, sore throat or sneezing, and sometimes there may be a slight fever. Here is how, in Chinese medicine, you can tell what kind of cold you have and below are some simple Chinese herbal recipes to help relieve symptoms and help you get over your cold more quickly.
Wind-Cold Common Cold
The symptoms of a wind-cold invasion are:
~ strong aversion to cold
~ slight fever without sweating
~ headache
~ stuffy nose
~ watery nasal discharge
~ cough
~ expectoration of thin, white sputum
~ thirst with a desire for hot drinks
~ pain in the limbs
Wind-Heat Common Cold
The symptoms of an invasion of wind-heat are:
~ high fever
~ slight aversion to wind
~ distending pain in the head
~ a little sweating
~ sore throat
~ stuffy nose
~ thick yellow nasal discharge
~ cough with sticky yellow phlegm
~ thirst with a strong desire to drink
Summer-Heat and Dampness Common Cold
The symptoms of a summer-heat with dampness type cold are:
~ fever
~slight aversion to wind
~ heavy and distending pain in the head
~ aching pain in the limbs
~ thirst but little or no desire to drink
~ chest oppression
~ loss of appetite
~ nausea
~ yellow or cloudy urine
Food Therapy Recipes for the Common Cold
Wind-Heat Common Cold Recipe
Peppermint Porridge (Congee)
Step 1
1. Take 30g (1 oz) of fresh peppermint, or 15g (1/2 oz) of dried peppermint.
2. Add 2 cups of boiling water to fresh or dried peppermint
3. Cover and allow to steep for 5 minutes
4. Strain and save the liquid to add to step 2
Step 2
5. Take 90g (3oz) round grain rice, 3 cups of water and 1 tsp of honey
6. Bring rice and water to a boil, then allow to simmer for 30 minutes
7. When the rice is cooked, add the peppermint tea and teaspoon of honey
8. Stir and allow to boil for 5 minutes
9. Divide porridge into 2 servings and take on in the morning and the other in the evening.
Wind-Cold Common Cold Recipe
Ginger Rice Soup
1. Take 10g (5 slices) of fresh ginger, 100g (3 1/2 oz) polished round grain rice or glutinous rice and 30g (2 pieces) green onion
2. Cook the fresh ginger and rice in 4 cups of water for 30 minutes
3. Then add the green onion and simmer for 30 minutes
4. Eat the entire amount while it is still hot
5. After eating, lie in bed under a thick blanket to sweat out the cold that has entered the body. (This soup enduces sweating!)
Summer-Heat and Dampness Common Cold Recipe
Porridge of Job's Tears Seed & Hyacinth Bean
1. Take 30g (1oz) Job's-tears seed, 30g (1oz) white hyacinth bean, 100g (3 1/2oz) round grain rice
2. Bring all ingredients to a boil in 4 cups of water
3. After bringing to a boil, reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for 40 minutes
4. Separate porridge into 2 servings, and take one in the morning and the other in the evening.
There are several things we can do to prevent catching a cold. Things like dressing warmly (so wind doesn't get in), getting enough sleep to keep your immune system strong, staying hydrated, eating well and exercising are all important to staying healthy in the winter months and all year round. But, with our busy lifestyles, if you do happen to come down with a cold, resting, and using Chinese food therapy is a good way to get over your cold as quickly as possible.
Summer Recipe - Artichoke, Zucchini & Olive Pasta
This light, delicious pasta is perfect for summer. All ingredients are beneficial for us in the summer season.
Ingredients
Artichoke hearts - 1 can (even better if you can get fresh)
Green olives with pimento - 1 cup
Zucchini - 1 medium, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Red wine vinegar - 1/4 cup
Fresh Oregano & Basil - 1 tbsp. each
Pasta - 1lb
Olive oil - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 6 cloves, smashed
Salt & pepper - to taste
Red pepper flakes - 1 tsp
Corn starch - 2 tbsp.
Water - 1 cup
Instructions
1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Add a tsp oil so pasta doesn’t stick.
2. Wash, cut in half, then slice the zucchini
3. Drain artichokes, and slice. Take olives and slice in half
4. In heavy pot, add olive oil and heat on low. Add smashed garlic and stir so it doesn’t burn. Wash and add oregano and basil. Add red wine vinegar & water.
5. When water boils, add pasta.
6. Add zucchini, olives and artichokes and turn heat up to medium, stir constantly. Add salt.
7. Cover and let zucchini soften, about 10 minutes.
8. Once Zucchini is soft, add pepper, and more oil/red wine vinegar to taste if necessary. Add red pepper flakes.
9. Put corn starch in small glass and add enough water to cover. Stir. Add to sauce and keep stirring to thicken. About 2 minutes. Taste sauce and make sure it is delicious.
10. When pasta is done, drain and add into sauce. Stir well until all pasta is coated.
11. Serve and top with fresh grated parmesan or Romano cheese if you wish. Enjoy!
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If you would like a downloadable information sheet that will tell you all about how to live in harmony with the Summer season in Chinese Medicine, you can find it here - The Summer Season in Chinese Medicine.