Recipes

During the last year, many have experienced weariness, loss of loved ones, or lingering effects from long-term illness depleting our Yin (our reserves). As we move into Spring with a renewed sense of optimism, we would like to share one of our favorite family recipes for health and healing. Check out the recipe, techniques, and suggested cookware!

The TCM concept of “form complementing form, organ complementing organ” (yi xing bu xing, yi zang bu zang 以形補形、以臟補臟 ) is well known throughout Asian culture and cooking. For example, eating walnuts for brain tonification and cashews for the health of the kidneys, or drinking red wine to tonify the blood is common folk wisdom. In this recipe, we are honoring this concept by using pig's heart (Zhu xin 豬心) to nourish the heart.

The first known mention of herbal tonic wine is from the Wu Shi Er Bing Fang (Prescriptions for 52 Ailments), which was unearthed at Ma Wang Dui tomb, an archaeological site located in Changsha, China. It is believed to have been written around 200 BC, although the prescriptions are thought to be much older.

The days are getting shorter, colder and wet. Today is a perfect day for having a warm bowl of chicken soup. Mothers and grandmothers all over the world recommend, “Give ‘em some chicken soup!” Chicken soup with Chinese herbs is particularly warming and nourishing. Here’s a traditional recipe and demo of how to create this wonderful dish for your entire family.

Have you ever wanted to make your own therapeutic ointments from Chinese herbs? Skye Sturgeon leads you through easy and straightforward, step by step instructions that teach you how to make Zi Yun Gao, a famous, over 350-year-old Chinese herb formula that’s applicable for a variety of skin conditions.

Congee is a nourishing and comforting porridge, regarded to be particularly beneficial for its recuperative properties, often enhanced with herbs for specific functions that are added to the porridge while cooking. Rice is considered a Qi and Yang tonic. This particular recipe nourishes the skin by tonifying the Blood, preserving Yin fluids and helping to heal skin that has been damaged from UV exposure.

Figs are one of the oldest cultivated crops throughout the world, and often said to be a symbol of peace, abundance and prosperity. Dried figs hold a special place in this delicious fall recipe, with heat clearing and moistening properties. Entering the Lung, Large Intestine and Stomach meridians, figs can promote the secretion of saliva to soothe a sore throat and dry cough, as well as being supportive to the functions of digestion and elimination.

Huang Bai Summer Soup is a simple and nourishing soup that is perfect to clear Summer Heat and strengthen the middle Jiao. Making use of the corn cob after cutting off the kernels, in combination with the sweet crispness of carrots and sharpness of dried ginger make for a balanced and nutrient-rich treat.

Five Flowers Tea, or Wu hua cha 五花茶 is a traditional Chinese folk tea, enjoyed especially during the summer months by Cantonese people in the hot and humid south. Sweet and slightly cold, its’ main TCM functions are to clear heat and toxins, drain dampness, promote urination, cool blood, and alleviate summertime wind-heat.

Zongzi are a traditional food during the Dragon Boat Festival. The story behind these dumplings started over a thousand years ago during the Warring States period, when there were seven kingdoms in China who were constantly battling for dominance.

A phonetic play on He 荷 “lotus” and He 和 “harmony”, this is a delicious, calming, and nourishing dish; a perfect treat for these tumultuous times! Steaming rice in dried lotus leaves infuses the rice with a smoky, roasted tea fragrance.

Rice congee, or porridge, is a traditional staple of Cantonese cuisine eaten in the morning hours, between 7-11 AM, when the Stomach and Spleen Qi are ready for nourishment, gently warming the digestive system and preparing us for the day’s opportunity. It is also a recuperative food that can be supportive to recovery following a long period of illness.

Two recipes that both support the lungs, but with different herbal functions. The first is Pear Bai Mu Er Soup - a delicately sweet herb soup known to lubricate dryness and eliminate mucus. The second is Tai Zi Shen Soup - a supportive tonic for recovery after illness or chronic exertion. Both delicious!

Reishi Mushroom, known as Ling Zhi in Chinese herbal medicine, is often categorized under herbs that "Calm the Spirit and Nourish the Heart." Our LIng Zhi soup recipe will nourish and calm while promoting lung qi, the middle jiao's digestive function, and supporting the Yin and blood.

A complex understanding of how the physical environment influences the human body is central to Chinese medical thought and is a hallmark of its’ sophisticated view of health and disease. From the early writings of the I Ching, The Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, and the Shang Han Lun, Chinese physicians have been blessed by their understanding of how the body is influenced by the changing of the seasons, and the six environmental factors of wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and summer heat. The doctors of old understood that the negative influences of the environmental factors are counterbalanced by the Zheng or Upright Qi, which is comprised of proper levels of qi, blood, yin and yang, and the balanced functioning of the zang and fu organs. Today’s practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine evaluate these many factors to diagnose the cause and nature of the patient's illness and determine a path to healing. Read More