119.(simple) Healthy recipe --- stir fry red onion with broccoli (V)

It is a recipe from my dad -- he has been very supportive, since I started writing this blog. Here, he just introduced a new recipe to me -- a beautiful and healthy dish, simply stir fry red onion with broccoli.

My dad has always been very conscious with ‘healthy food’, ha… probably you already heard me talking about this a few times. He gets more serious and strict with healthy ‘concept’ when he steps into his late 50s and now 60s. Now, this recipe he made is not only for the taste, but also, as his intention -- it is a super healthy recipe, which can give you lots of healthy benefits.

Red onion was only introduced to China in recent years, but it nutritious properties became popular almost immediately. For example, of which my dad always mentions (when persuading me to eat) are lowering cholesterol, relaxing the vascular and coronary artery, and helping the excretion of the salt in the body. With combination of broccoli --- you can imagine how healthy it can be. But just like any other ‘healthy recipes’, it needs to be taken regularly in order to have the ‘healthy result’.

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101. Healthy recipe: Chinese lamb and radish soup

Chinese lamb and radish soup

As I said yesterday, if you don’t want to make dumplings for winter solstice day, let’s make a healthy lamb soup. :)) It is another most popular dish for entering winter.

According to the news,  these days, because of the winter solstice day in China, lamb has become a most popular food and the price of lamb has rapidly increased. --- So, it seems many people are celebrating with lamb this year.

This lamb and radish soup is popular not only because of its taste, it is also famous for its health benefits. Probably you are familiar with the reputation of ‘healthy soups’ in China, most of them are from Cantonese cuisine with many herbs, but the recipes of ‘healthy soup’ in Northern China are a totally different story. This is probably why you rarely come across this kind of dish in any Chinese restaurants outside China, as most of them serve Cantonese or southern Chinese cuisine.

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95. Healthy recipe: bitter gourd omelette (V)

Chinese bitter gourd omelette

We are really starting tasting winter now -- it is getting cold. My parents told me that back in my hometown, they are getting heavy snow, the first heavy snow for this winter. On the way back from city centre this afternoon, I even wished if I had a pair of gloves on, but you know, I never really liked gloves, even in the deep cold winter, my fingers got too frozen to move -- I could bear with that, but never liked to put the gloves on.

Do you know in Chinese there is a funny saying of that if you have cold hands it means that there are not enough people caring for you? :)) My grandma did not like that, she always prepared some good thick winter gloves for me, and used a ‘string’ to make the two gloves attach together, then I could just ‘hang’ the gloves over my neck, so I couldn’t lose them. She always made sure that I was cared for… I began to miss northeast Chinese winter.

When I say how much I miss the winter in northeast China, everyone, who knows how cold it could get, think that I am crazy. But it is not the coldness I really miss, it is the beautiful white snow -- under the moon light, the whole world turns to pinkish / orangish, I could just watch outside through the window forever; under the sun light, the whole world then becomes shining white.

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Heathy ingredient: Bitter gourd

Bitter gourd

Couple of weeks ago, when we were shopping in the market where we normally go, I saw bitter gourds. Since they are difficult to find, I decided to buy some, and make a few healthy dishes with them. Before sharing the recipes here, I thought it would be good to talk about the benefits of bitter gourds; then, we can probably try to persuade ourselves to bear with their bitterness. :))

When I told my parents that I was going to prepare a bitter gourd dish, they were so happy - they have been pushing me to have them for years, and always trying to cook them for me whenever I am back to China, but I was put down by their bitter taste each and every time. --- My parents were quite disappointed, but they did try to give me some time to get used to the bitterness.

And now, I am trying to have them again -- you know what, I think it is because of the nostalgia, rather than a change in my heart. --- Well, probably, not totally true, I do want to benefit from their rare properties.

Bitter gourd comes in different varieties regionally, the function and taste is all the same though. For example,

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89. Healthy recipe: stir fried celery and almond (V)

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Chinese stir fried celery and almond

After staying indoors the whole day, in the afternoon, around 4.15pm, I decided to pack my sport wear and go to gym. According to the weather forecast, sun set would be at around 4.06pm, so I thought I would be walking in the ‘dark’. However, when I stepped out, day light was not totally gone yet, then after passing the buildings in the yards, which blocked my view, suddenly I saw the beautiful sky, rose, purple, orange, red--- the sun was making its last splash in the sky, it was a beautiful picture in the west. I wished I had a camera with me.

I could not help but looking back every single step as I moved forward. When I turned into another street at the end of the road, suddenly I realized there were so many people already coming out from the shops, galleries, restaurants, and were all looking at the sky. --- It is not because something so rare, but because something we try not to miss in life.

This recipe is an easy and healthy one -- stir fried celery and almond. Ok, we have to talk about almonds a little bit. There is a difference between almonds grown in Southern China and those grown in Northern China; so, we usually distinguish between Northern and Southern almonds.

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Simple Chinese recipe/remedy for cold (boiled ginger and dark brown sugar drink)

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姜糖水

When I was in Manchester, I worked part-time in the International society of Manchester universities for a few years while studying my MA and PhD. Every year this time, when the new students arrived, the weather became very variable, and flu & cold affected all of us, one by one. In the office, you could hear coughing, sneezing, all over. -- Writing this makes miss the time working with my dearest friends, well, saying working isn't exact, chatting, laughing, eating and much more…

Anyway, I should not spell too much nostalgia here, as it seems late autumn is already here, and it has brought along the coldness and darkness.  What I want to say is that, because of the changing weather, it is so easy to catch a cold or the flu. So I meant to share a simple Chinese recipe/remedy for the cold -- a boiled ginger and dark sugar drink. In fact, the drink is so tasty, you don’t need to be having a cold to enjoy drinking it. :)))

Since I am in England, I realize that Chinese and Western people treat cold very differently. For example, when treating fever, Western people normally try to cool down the body temperature by using, for example, ice -- from outside to inside; in contrast, traditional Chinese methods are all about making you sweat,

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80. Chinese mushroom recipe: stir fried mixed mushrooms (V)

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Chinese mixed mushrooms

I have to confess that I never really liked mushrooms, especially those usually called ‘Chinese mushrooms’, which have a ‘thick' and a bit ‘meaty’ texture.

Well, it is probably because in Chinese cuisine, this kind of mushrooms are always cooked with meat; for example, the most famous such dishes is ‘mushroom and chicken’ pot, which is supposed to be very healthy, and help with body recovering, especially for women after giving birth. But, I never liked meat that much, especially chicken, so I always tried to keep mushrooms away.


So really, it is not that I cannot eat mushrooms or don’t like them at all; it is more because of the combination with meat. But, I honestly did not know any Chinese mushroom recipes without meat.

About three years ago, when we went back to China, in a ‘fast food’ chain restaurant, we ordered a mushroom vegetarian dish - it was impressively good, especially for a ‘fast food’ stand. Since then I have been trying several different mushroom recipes without meat. Hey, you know, I actually really like mushrooms now.

Mushrooms in Chinese Cuisine

In Chinese cuisine, there are too many different types of mushrooms, I could not even name them all. And sometimes they don’t really look like ‘mushrooms’， for example, shimeji (Cha Shu Gu), black fungus (mu’er), white fungus (yin er), enokitake (jin zhen mo)，

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Health note: How fatty is Chinese food? -- A healthy Chinese food diet

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… Most of us keep on battling between ‘eating carelessly’ and ‘keeping a good shape’.

For me, I want both, well, probably a bit more towards -- ‘never sacrifice my food for a super slim body’. :)) My family and friends must be tired of me complaining that I have put on weight, but I still cannot stop eating. Saying that, of course, I don’t want to go out of shape completely either.

By ‘shape’, I do not mean (and will never mean) a super slim bony body shape, but rather a well proportioned, nicely curved body shape. Before talking about how fat food is, I think having the right conception of ‘shape’ is the most important thing. I have never been the ‘skinny’ type, and thanks to my friends I have never been corrupted by the current cult to ‘slimness’. The good thing is that I have never really been completely out of shape.

But, how fatty is Chinese food? Are there lots of calories in Chinese dishes? I do not believe Chinese food is generally speaking fatty or highly caloric, but there are exceptions…

I have come across diet plans online a few times. In almost all of them, the first rule was to cut off Chinese take-away food. I was surprised. I always thought Chinese food was not something needs to be avoided.

Later, I realized that the problem is not ‘Chinese food’ per-se, but rather ‘take-away’ food, which is often deep fried and can be very greasy and heavy. Well, in fact, Chinese restaurant food can also be equally greasy and heavy. That is why I like to cook at home -- ‘personalized’ food, I am in charge of the calories, fat and nutrients in my plate.

I also heard some friends saying that Chinese food cannot be too fatty, because there are not many overweight Chinese people. I partly agree with this. In North China, food portions are surprisingly generous; in the South (especially the Canton area), people eat four or five times per day, and most women wear size 8 to 16. (Southeners are considered slimmer than northeners). There are, however, many rather fatty Chinese dishes; balance is the key thing.

I am not an expert in health or nutrition, but myself can be a good example: I don’t have the genes to stay slim effortlessly or being overweight. So the saying ‘you are what you eat’ totally works on me. I increase my calorie intake, I put on weigh; I watch out a bit, I lose some. I have my weight ups and downs, but never put on or lost more than 4 kg since I was 17. And Chinese food has always been my main meal.

Is simple stir-fried food fatty? - no, at least, I don’t think so. As you can see, in all my ‘simple stir-fry’ recipes, there is little oil involved, no cheese or butter, and not much salt. It is healthy -- since it is quickly cooked, the freshness and nutrients in the ingredients are better preserved. However, one thing that one needs to pay attention to is that the amount of sugar in the dish, that is also part of the calories hidden.

What can be fatty in Chinese meals then? -- I think that deep fried food or deep frying before stir frying is the enemy, for both keeping body shape and staying healthy. Too much deep fried food can harm stomach, liver…, and it is not good for skin either. This is one of the main problems when dining in Chinese restaurants or having Chinese take-aways. For example, when my dad decided to lose some weight for health reasons, the first thing he did was to cut off meals in restaurants; he lost his belly in less than three months.

How about meat then? It depends on how you cook it really. Again, if you fry it, the result is not good. However, luckily, in many Chinese recipes, meat is boiled, for example, ‘Jiang Niu Rou’ (Soy sauce beef salad), after long time boiling, most of the fat comes out, only the leanest part of the meat is left, so it is healthier than ‘Crispy beef’.

I honestly cannot stand somebody refusing to eat this and that just because they are on diet, no matter, how strong a desire they have for the food. The advantage of Chinese food culture is there are usually many dishes on the table, so you can balance out. For example, if I make ‘crispy beef’, then I would stir fry a vegetable leaves as another dish, along with a simple Chinese salad (no really ‘dressing’). And when you think you have been taking too much fried food, then some dishes like black fungus can help cleansing your digesting system, instead of embarking yourself in a difficult detox diet. Or you can drink tea while eating, for example, Pu’er tea, which is known for ‘flushing’ out fat in the digesting system.

Despite this, many of my Chinese male friends ended up growing a belly; this is mostly due to drinking.

How much of an effect does this ‘balanced way of eating’ has? Every time I go back to China, stay with my parents, normally for a month, you can imagine the way my parents, relatives and friends feed me, I ate everything that I have been craving for, meat, vegetables, cakes, you name it. I was even too full to walk at some point, but at the end of my vocation, I lost weight -- I know, it surprised me as well. And I could keep on losing a bit more even when I came back to UK.

Then I realized that it is not only about ‘balance’; I unintentionally followed most of my mum’s rules ‘right food, right amount and right time, combined with right amount of exercise’ -- try to eat well balanced healthy food, do not over eat, and eat three meals at right time, especially the dinner time should not be later than 8pm; as for the exercises, over the years, the metabolism gets gradually slower, and exercise can help speeding it up again. This are really my basic and simple rules for having healthy diet, and keeping a good body shape while having Chinese food.:))

Health Note: what to eat at this time of the year - the end of summer, the beginning of autumn?

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Having said in my previous post that this is a good season to eat -- I think I should talk a bit more about it. As I am finishing with my summer recipes (sadly), we come to the so-called golden time of the year in China- not only because of the ‘gold’ leaves, autumn’s harvest, but also because of the many different kinds of seasonal foods available in the markets. So it is good to EAT, take in as many nutrients as possible.

Couple of years ago, I did not purposely choose this time of the year to go back home, but I did have feasts of food, fruits, vegetables, seafood...

The change of season, however, can have effects on the digesting system, mood, energy, and so on. In Chinese medical theory, you do need to pay attention to what you eat, and what not to eat, and keep the body well balanced.

Because of the heat in the summer, many of us tried to eat as light as possible, and at the same time, the body lost much ‘energy’ because of the heat, so we need to ‘make up’ what we lost. And at the same time, in autumn, the weather might cause “dryness” in the body, therefore might cause the Qi and Yin deficiency (Chinese medical terms, I don’t really know how to say it in English), so we need to eat to make it balanced.

This does not mean that we can eat whatever we want - because of the weather’s impact, for example, fish and meat should be taken in moderation, especially at the beginning of the autumn, should not take much lamb. The most recommended food includes watermelon, pear, and ‘non-fine’ grains, for example, brown rice, corns, millets, etc. And it is better to take some food for ‘clearing’ the lung, for example, lily bulbs, honey, boiled pear with crystal sugar.

If the warm days of late summer still continue for a bit longer, ‘juicy’ vegetables are good for calming down the heat, for example, cucumbers, winter melon, tomatoes, celery. And for the fruits, grapes, watermelon, pear, banana. However, when goes into the deep autumn, should take less melon types of fruit, as it is easy to cause stomachache.

According to to Chinese yang sheng (health theory), you really need to take good care of yourself during this time of the year, then you can be ‘prepared’ for the coming winter. :)))

The autumn recipes and autumn healthy recipes will be coming soon. :)

Sea kelp (Kombu or Haidai): a healthy Chinese ingredient

the image source:http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/seaveg.htm

Hai dai or kelp

I don’t really know how to call Hai dai in English. According to Wikipedia, in Japanese it is called Kombu or dashima, in English it is apparently called Laminariaceae, or kelp. In Chinese, Hai dai literally means sea’s belt, because of its shape. :)

Hai dai is a sea plant; in fact, in Chinese it is also called “Hai cao” as in Sea grass. It grows in the shallow part of the sea, and its shape resembles a long belt. It is said that some of them can be 7 meters long.

Uses of Kelp in Chinese cooking and Chinese medicine

In Chinese cuisine, the use of all kinds of seafood and sea plants is very common (an example is the ‘famous’ jelly fish salad). Sea food and sea plants are normally considered very healthy: they provide many nutrients that cannot be normally obtained elsewhere. :) The legend says that one of the reasons why many monks in Japan live a very long life is because of the many properties of sea kelp (they also eat a lot of tofu with this sea kelp). :)

True or not, the many benefits of seaweed are real. This kind of seaweed/kombu is best known for its richness in Iodine, which plays an essential role for thyroid balance; and calcium, needless to say its importance in the body. Sea kelp also contains dietary fiber, unsaturated fatty acids and glial, all these together can help with cleansing cholesterol, and stimulating stomach and bowel movement.

In the famous Chinese book "Yin shi ben cao', kelp is described as a powerful anti-expectorant, and it is also supposed to act against potential tumors, cool down the body heat, and help lowering blood pressure. It is known to be particularly good for people suffering from (hypo)thyroidism, over-weight problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, constipation...etc.

Kelp, however, is categorized as a ‘cold’ food in Chinese medicine, so it should be taken carefully if you have ‘cold’ stomach problems :) (it is a Chinese medical term, which basically describes the stomachache triggered by either cold weather or cold food. And in general, the intake of kelp needs to be carefully measured, as too much kelp could cause (hyper)thyroidism, which is a concern during pregnancy and breast feeding.

Sea kelp can be found in many Chinese, Korean, Japanese shops, it is normally sold dry and fairly cheap, it needs to be soaked it at home first, after soaking, it comes back as fresh and soft again. Actually even if you get the fresh ones, soaking and washing them properly is still very necessary due to potential problems related to sea pollution. Normally it is recommended to soak it for 5 or 6 hours before making it into dishes in order to get rid of the 'arsenic' that may be dissolved in sea water. I also boil it to make sure it is completely clean.

In modern Chinese Shi liao, kelp salad, kelp congee, stir fried kelp with meat, or tofu, kelp soup are all recommended. I have one kelp salad recipe posted already, the rest, I will write here as I am cooking them. :)

60. Chinese rice with mung beans (mung bean rice)

--- Actually, in Chinese, when referring to ‘having a meal’ (dinner/breakfast/lunch), we always say ‘Chi Fan’, Chi as ‘eat’, and Fan in this context means food, but if by itself, Fan only means ‘rice’.

Normally, a meal is composed by two parts - Fan and Cai. Fan is the stable food, normally only refers to rice, where Cai means the actual dishes. Am I talking sense again? :)

Combining rice with other grains

My friends from South China used to ask me, ‘in the North, you eat lots of flour based food, right?’ … I was always a bit puzzled - well, we have rice with dishes most of the time, then I realized, it is true, particularly compared to South Chinese people, who sometimes only make dumplings once per year, we eat dumplings, steamed bread, bing… almost every week.

But apart from these, we normally have a bowl of rice to accompany the dishes. The varieties of rice are different to those used in Southern cuisine.

In south China, rice is normally stir fried, for example, the most famous one, ‘Yang zhou fried rice’; in contrast, in the North, we usually mix rice with other types of grain. For example, today’s rice is white rice mixed with mung beans (although, in Chinese it is called ‘mung bean rice’).

In northeast China, the popular combinations include red bean with white rice, Chinese millet with white rice, Sorghum grain with white rice, crushed corn with white rice, and so on.

In the past, since China was very poor, and white rice was expensive, combining the different grains with rice was very common. However, nowadays, it is considered as a healthy way of eating, it can help making up what white rice lacks. And for example, today's recipe includes mung bean, which are very healthy and are even used for medical purposes (they are also good for hot summer days ).

In addition, mung beans certainly enrich the flavor of the rice, and I could get bored of eating white rice only everyday. The proportion of white rice and mung bean (or others) is very flexible, depends on how strong you want the flavor.

It is very easy to make, the only thing needs to pay attention is grains like mung bean and red bean (for example) takes longer to cook than white rice, so you do need to soak them first, then put them together with white rice to boil.

The recipe: mung bean rice

Here you go the simplest way of making mung bean rice.

Making for 3 people for dinner.

1) Soaking around 1 cup of mung bean in water. (I soaked it in warm water for 2 hours, if it is cold water, it takes longer.)

2) Mix 1 and half cup of white rice with soaked mung bean, and fill in with water around 2.5cm above the rice level.

3) Then the rest, boil it as normal rice.
(If you like congee, just add double or even a bit more water. )

You can have it with all kinds of dishes.

56. Stir fred Lily bulbs, black fungus and celery (Part 1)

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These days in Spain, I totally fell in love with the food that my in-laws prepare. For lunch, my lovely mother-in-law would make different kinds of traditional rice dish (I eat until I couldn’t move :)) -- I have been meaning to learn, but I got lost in all the ingredients she puts in, so have to try them down in my little notebook; for dinner, I am so amazed by how simple and nice the food is which my father-in-law made -- I kept on asking him what ingredients/seasonings he puts in, so I can write down in my little notebook as well, he always says only “oil, garlic and salt -- ya está” ---

--- In Chinese, we normally refer to all Western food as “Xi Can", and think ‘Xi Can’ must be made with all different ‘western ingredients / seasonings”, that’s why the taste is so different to Chinese. But after traveling to Italy, having food in the local small bars, and seeing how my in-laws cooking Spanish food --- no, ‘Xi Can’ can be simply made and still tasty.

Sorry for boasting my in-laws’ food and how lucky I am, :)) what I want to say is I begin to believe in ‘simplicity’ in cooking (where I used to think it has got to put many seasonings or cooking for long time to get the flavor out, for example, for making those ‘healthy recipes’ / ‘Yangsheng Cai’ or ‘Shiliao’-- the popular food trend in China at the moment).

A simple and healthy Chinese recipe

This recipe, is really simple and healthy --- simply stir fry the root of ‘Lily’ with black fungus and celery.

It is just a quick stir fry with garlic, the real ‘healthy part’ is the three main ingredients.

The bulb of the Lily

The bulb of the ‘Lily’ in Chinese is called “Bai He”. “Bai He’ was been recorded in Chinese medicine centuries ago. It is the part of ‘Lily’ plant that is ‘under’ the ground. In medical terms, ‘Bai he’ is rich in proteins, calcium, iron and vitamins, etc.--sorry, some terms I don’t even know how to say.:)

The bulb of the Lily can go with Chinese herbal medicines , as well as with daily food. It can be boiled with rice congee, stir fried with different vegetables, or soup… Depending how you make it, it will have different effect. Nowadays, having ‘Bai he’ is very popular among girls -- it improves the skin's texture.

The bulb of Lily is normally sold in two forms -- fresh ones and dried ones, the latter need to be soaked into water first before cooking. In England, I could not find the fresh ones, so I normally buy dried ones from Chinese supermarket, it is not very, very cheap, but not bad price, and really worth it. :))

Black fungus and celery

As for black fungus (Mu’er), its properties could boost iron intake, blood circulation, and very helpful for detox as well. (see the post black fungus - health theory)

The third main ingredient is celery. Celery in the Chinese medicine ‘bible’ ‘Bencao Gaomu’ is recorded as ‘good for stopping bleeding, help with high blood pressure, loosing weight…’. There are different types of celery depending to where it grows, for example, in China, northern celery is slight different to southern celery, and in general, the stem of Chinese celery is slimmer and juicier than the celery we normally buy from the supermarkets over here in England. Western celery was introduced to northern China around 20 years ago, (or more? I don’t remember). But in this recipe, it is western celery used in cooking the dish.

The combination of these three ingredients is very popular in warm days, when you just get a bit restless in heat, or sudden weather change, and lost taste in food. :) It can help with detoxification, clearing up the skin textural, calming down the mind. So if you have swinging mood, uneven skin surface, regular insomnia, and headache, it is said that good to have this dish. But as I mentioned in the previous post, ‘yang sheng cai’ (healthy recipe) is not medicine, it doesn’t work immediately, but benefit in a long term, so it is good to have it regularly.

And Differ to the ‘usual’ Chinese healthy recipe, this one is just simple like my father-in-law would say, ‘just oil, garlic and salt’. :)) Good for somebody like me -- lazy, but want to eat healthily. Je, je…

(Too long now, the recipe will be continuing tomorrow then. :)

Black fungus / mu'er-- health theory

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Oh, London, today, Oxford street was so … crowded, as so many people on the street … ;confusing, as so many road works everywhere…;very colorful, as the signs of Sal’ hanging on almost every window of the shops… ;and I was lost, as many languages floating over my ears, I tried to distinguish them, English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Arabic… then I got lost…; I was even more confused when seeing there was a forever queue outside Louise Vuitton, people were trying to get A brand over their shoulder?...



Probably living in Oxford really changed me, I only realized it at the moment I was so longing for quiet and peaceful street where I can embrace the air -- which I’d never thought I would one day.


I said Oxford street was too busy for me, as I found really difficult to place my body among the busy crowd and to find a way to go through. My husband would laugh and ask, ‘but you grow up in China, more crowded! True, true, I used to hear the noise from the streets and early markets in the morning to wake up, used to go in the street with people shoulders to shoulders. Now... I am so used to the quietness --- I was asked many times, ‘do you think you have changed in some respects since you moved to England?”


Certainly, for example, I am also used to queuing now. Only my nostalgic still make me longing for the noise from the cars, bells from the bicycles and people playing cards in the yards, but I don’t know if I can still with it... So, yes, many things changed, unconsciously...
Even my food changed -- my brother came to visit couple of months ago, and said my food has changed taste. :))
------------------------

I know that I have talked about black fungus many times already. Sorry for the repetition, and in this post, I want to add a bit more information on the health/ medicine side of the story.

You might have heard some people call black fungus "yun er" as cloud’s ears , where I normally refer it as mu’er , as wood’s ear - another difference between South and North. But I really think that it is so romantic to compare the shape of black fungus, especially the edges, to the irregular and forever changing shape of clouds, where Northern people imagine that they are the ears of the trees. :))

Black fungus in traditional Chinese Medicine

I often cook it at home, especially when we have friends over, and almost all of the friends love it after having it. But it is a bit difficult to explain what it is when friends ask -- … it is more like mushroom, but different type, for example, after soaking it, it will get soft enough for having it just like that.
One can never underestimate the valuable properties in black fungus. It is often called "meat of the vegetables" because of its rich nutritious properties.

In Bencao Gangmu (the "Bible" of Chinese medicine), Li Shizhen wrote, "it is good for increasing appetite, helping with blood circle, and minimizing the bleeding of hemorrhoids or heavy period…". In traditional Chinese medicine , black fungus has always been recommended for iron boost, stopping bleeding, increasing blood circulation.


Of course, it needs to be taken continuously, and benefits only come long term, after all, it is not medication, however, if you have it regularly, you can then avoid taking medication in the future. :)

Modern Uses of Black Fungus

In modern days, black fungus has been re-discovered for anemia if it is caused by lack of the iron in the body. One of most recommended recipes is to boil 15g black fungus and around 15 jujube dates with crystal sugar for around 30 minutes to 1 hour, then drink the soup and have the contents.

Black fungus is also used for constipation, especially good for kids. One of the simplest recipes is to boil black fungus without any seasonings after soaking it well, then have it. If you think it is too plain, there are other recipes, for example, put soaked black fungus and one egg into a mixer, mix well, then boil it, add a few drops of sesame oil, drink the ‘soup’ when it is warm. The result will show in a day or two days time.

As for blood circulation, anti-aging, preventing from cancer, it is just good to have black fungus regularly in the dishes or in congee.
Black fungus sold in the markets nowadays are from different parts of China. I like the ones from northeast, they are normally from da xing an ling . The texture is smoother after soaking, and more tasty after cooking (at least making it in northeast recipes). I have tried fresh picked wild grow ones from da xing an ling forest, wow, really "taste the difference".

There are many recipes I will put them here, so you will never get bored of it :)

Chinese health theory: the body heat

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The Chinese Theory of Body Heat

It is a very common symptom and very common diagnosis in Chinese medicine --- body heat .

As I write these two words down, I could almost hear my husband laughing… :( actually, not only him, many other friends (non Chinese) would laugh as well --- they really make a big fun of it --- but it is a very very common Chinese medical diagnosis, well, it is so common and obvious, that it does not even need a doctor to diagnose it.

What is body heat ? In Chinese, it is originally called "growing fire", in some other regional languages or dialects, these exact words might be understood as "anger" :). Despite the different words, the definition of this symptom is always the same: the "heat" generated from inner body, which shows in various ways, for example, (the most common symptoms) spots (those spots with big hard roots, can grow bigger and contain white liquid), constipation, often tired and sweat a lot (not because of the hot temperature), dizziness or nausea (specially) in the summer etc.

Body Heat Imbalance

According to Chinese medicine , every body has fire - body heat which keeps your body having a smooth flow cycle, and is believed to influence the functions of inner organs, for instance, liver, kidney, heart. Normally, it is well-balanced, but once it is imbalanced, you will have uncomfortable symptoms.

One of the most common causes of body heat imbalance is stress. Others include some food intake which the body doesn’t take it very well, for example, too much spicy food, or some environmental influence, for example, too hot weather. Different causes might trigger body heat and show different symptoms, the fire might be from different parts of the inner body depending on the "immune" strength.

Although no such medical term exists in the West, this theory has been passed on generation after generation, and it is well-documented in many Chinese medicine books . So, you can say it is a cultural thing.

Most of the symptoms only cause discomfort, do not bother you much, and nothing is very serious. And if the symptoms develop, they are normally treated according its individual problems, at the same time, if you want, "cooling down" the body heat.

For example, years ago, I had one of those spots growing between my shoulder and upper chest, because of its particular location, it eventually caused my upper shoulder area swallow badly, so I had to go to doctor to get treated.

If left untreated, the body can normally balance the heat out by itself after some time, but if you have some other illness like heart problem, it is better to be careful.

Balancing the Body Heat

There are a few kinds of Chinese teas or herbs called Niu huang jie du wan for treating body heat imbalance . These normally have very few side effects (sometime mild diarrhea), more like detox. The medicine can be very bitter, well, like most Chinese medicines . :)

Otherwise, you can have some particular food for helping it. Phew… We come back to food again. :)) Mung beans are the most common food for this, especially if the "fire" comes from the stomach. But since mung beans are not medicine, a diet rich on mung beans takes some time to work. Mung beans are good in any form. I prefer to make them into congee. It is very simple to make, but takes some time.

Before making mung bean congee, it is better to soak the beans for a few hours or overnight, then just add more water (around double or triple then you would make for boiled rice), slow boil it for around 1 1/2 hours. I like to have it with sugar, it is good to go with Chinese "ice sugar", (it is a crystal like sugar chunk, they can be broken into smaller pieces before putting into the congee), or just have it as it it. My husband prefers it with a pinch of salt. :) Mix mung beans with boiled rice is also good.


Anyway, I am talking about this is also because summer is here, it is good to have mung beans time to time to have a natural balance of your body heat. I love its taste as well.

Chinese ‘health theory’, heathy eating and recipes

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养生菜谱

It has been widely documented that, for the past five thousand years,  Chinese people have been looking for the secrets of health  and medical cure in food.

This is not an exaggeration. If we look back in Chinese history,  we will see that in the royal kitchen of all Chinese emperors, there was a medical consultant assisting the chef.

The theory is quite similar to Chinese herbal medicine and, of course, this kind of "food-based treatment" is not suitable for medical emergencies.  However, it goes a long way in providing long term benefits. For example, although some mild stomach problems can be cured through medication, they can also be effectively treated through appropriate eating habits and by avoiding certain kinds of food. So, if you can find an alternative, try to avoid taking medications.

Nowadays, it is trendy in China to recover the ‘healthy eating’ from the past. The meaning of ‘healthy eating’ here is different from the usual one in English. It is not about eating healthy food or having healthy eating habits, but it rather refers to ‘giving the body nutritious boost’, or to eat certain dishes to help easing health problems,. (It is so difficult to translate from one language to another.)

People started looking at all these valuable ‘healthy recipes’ from the past, trace back thousands years ago. Nowadays, there are in China restaurants that specialize in this kind of special dishes, and other more standard restaurants have started including some of them in their menus.

If you go to book stores or online, the word ‘Yang Sheng’ is everywhere. It is commonly understood as ‘maintain healthy life, enhance the strength of the body, prevent the illness in order to have a healthy long life. ‘Yang’ means ‘maintenance, nursing problems, and nourishing body’; ‘Sheng’ means ‘life, existence, and growth’.

This food trend is understandable, if go back to 50 years ago, (for example), people were living a much poorer life, having enough food everyday was the most important thing. Now, the situation is completely different, all types of food are so rich in the markets, and throughout all the seasons, also those ‘royal’ recipes of the emperors are no longer ‘unreachable’. The food culture has definitely been ‘renovated’.

These special recipes can be different to what we would prepare on daily basis. The way of combining ingredients is different, and so is the way of combining different dishes in one meal. Sometimes some of the ingredients can be very expensive, and not easy to find, others can be just those food at very reasonable price sold in the markets.

Even expensive ingredients, like some rare wild mushrooms, need to have a particular way of cooking and combination (with other ingredients), otherwise, they may not have the expected benefits. And the cheaper ingredients, if cooked in the right way with right combination,  might have equal nutritious value to the more expensive ones. And if the combination is wrong, then you might not get the ideal result. For example, it is said that lamb or beef is good for nourishing the blood in the body, but if we have fresh reddish or watermelon afterwards, then the benefit from the lamb or beef can be lessened.

Again, I am not an expert, but since last year, I joined the ‘trendy group’, started reading these rediscovered thousand years old books, (they have been translated in modern language :). So in my forthcoming postings in this section, I will try to blog some of these ‘special recipes’, hope it can help you understand more about Chinese culture and food. :))