四神湯 Si Shen Tang, help your digestion system

四神湯 Si Shen Tang, Four spirit soup, or sometimes neamed 四臣湯Si Chen Tang, is very good for strengthening the digestion system, improving appetite. This soup is very mild and can be taken for long term (but not suitable for people with chronic constipation).

Traditionally the pig intestine is used as to emphasize the digestion function of this soup. However, for people who can't find or don't want to eat pig intestine, we can also use pork to cook this soup.

Ingredient:

1.伏苓Fu Ling, 30g

2.淮山Huai Shan/ Shan Yao, 30g

3.蓮子Lian Zi, 30g

4.芡實Qian Shi, 30g

5.薏仁Yi Yi Ren, 30g

6.當歸Dang Gui, 2 piece

7. 8cups of Stock(the original stock was made from pig bones, can be substituted by vegetable stock or chicken stock, or water).

8.Pig’s small intestine 300g(Intestine is used for helping with digestion, I sometimes use pork to substitute intestines.

9.Salt.

10.Rice wine.

Cooking method:

1. Boiled water, put the intestine/pork in boiled water, remove the turbid on the surface. Change water if needed. This step is to clean the blood from the intestine/pork, so don’t leave the intestine/pork in the water too long.

2.Bring the stock to boiled, put all the herbs and the intestine/pork, bring up to big fire until boiled again. When boiled, turn to small fire, cook for another 45 minutes, until the ingredients become tender.

3.Seasoning with some salt and a few drops of rice wine.

Function:

1.伏苓Fu Ling: Promotes urination and drains damp. Strengthen the spleen, harmonizes the middle jiao. Transforms phlegm. Quiets the heart and calms the spirit.

2.淮山Huai Shan/ Shan Yao:Spleen & Stomach tonic, Kidney tonic, Lung qi and Lung yin tonic.

3.蓮子Lian Zi: Strengthen the spleen, nourishes the heart, calms the shen and Kidney tonic.

4.芡實Qian Shi: Strengthen the spleen, stops diarrhea. Stabilizes Kidney, secures essence. Expels damp, stops discharge.

5.薏仁Yi Yi Ren: Resolves dampness. Strengthen the spleen. Eliminates painful obstruction. Clears the Heart and expel pus. Clears damp-heat.

6.當歸Dang Gui: Nourishes blood/regulates menses. Invigorates and harmonizes blood. Disperses cold. Moisten Intestines/unblocks bowels. Treats cough.

Comfort Food - Tonification Congee

Here's a simple recipe I toyed around with for a little while after listening to one of Nam Singh's seminars. It's an herbal congee/porridge with a few tonification herbs, but the best part is that it's pretty tasty.

1 cup white rice or jasmine rice
4 cups water
4 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
10-15 pcs lian zi (lotus seeds)
15-20 pcs gou qi zi (wolfberries)
10 pcs yu zhu (jade bamboo)
1 slice of ginger
2-3 pcs duck kidneys or 2 pcs dried scallops or both

Let dried scallops sit in a bowl of water for 30 min - 1 hr.

In a rice cooker or large pot, wash the rice thoroughly (about 3 washes) and then add water and stock. Add all remaining ingredients and let cook in rice cooker for about 1 hour. If in a pot, bring to a boil and then let simmer for about an hour. Pork meat can also be added into this recipe for meat lovers.

Lian zi - invigorates SP, nourishes HT, stringes intestines to preserve vital essence
Gou Qi Zi - nourishes and tonifies LV & KD (for yin/blood deficiency), benefits essence and brightens the eyes, enriches yin and moistens the lungs
Yu Zhu - nourishes LU & ST yin, good for dry cough and loss of appetite due to overworked ST

Another Chicken Soup

This is another Chicken Soup recipe with a few more herbs. It is from a class, but the recipe originates from the An Hao Clinic in China. The following herbs are used:

Qi Tonics - improve digestion and absorption of nutrients, enhance immunity functions, and overcome lethargy:
Huang Qi Astragalus 20g
Dang Shen Codonopsis 20
Shan Yao Dioscorea 20
Blood Tonics - improve mental and sensory functions:
Long Yan Rou Longdan 15
Gou Qi Zi Lycium fruit 15
Yin and Qi Tonic - benefits the stomach function
Huang Jing Polygonatum 20
Nutrient rich tonics - Black fungus has been shown to reduce excessive clotting of blood, seaweeds regulate the thyroid function, and lotus seeds have a mild sedative action.
Ling Shi Black fungus 10
Lian Zi Lotus seed 15
Kun Bu Seaweed 10

In Chinese medicine terms this soup is a tonic for Qi, Yin, Xue, and post-natal Jing.

Recipe:
Place 1 to 2 pounds of chicken with skin removed in a medium sized pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and skim any residue which floats to the top. Add in the all of the herbs, two cloves of crushed or grated garlic, two thin slices of fresh ginger, and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a slow boil, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.

Add sliced fresh vegetables, such as carrots and celery and simmer for an additional 10 minutes to soften them. Then add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon red wine (optional). Remove from heat. All the herb materials are edible except astragalus which is too fibrous.

For individuals recovering from serious illness or other debilitating experience, the soup can be taken daily for about one week to restore strength. Others may wish to enjoy this dish about once a week for a great energy boost.

Three tonifying herbs Chicken soup

This is my favorite nourishing herbal chicken soup that my mom taught me how to make. It’s so simple and easy, and almost can have it in any season. 

I often use  枸杞Gou Qi Zi, 紅棗Hong Zao, 黃芪 Huang Qi as basic tonifying herbs, because they tonify Yin, Qi and blood, and most important of all, the combination taste so good!  

Sometimes I add other things according to season or what other aspect I want to tonify. In today’s recipe, I put some 當歸 Dang Gui because I want to tonify blood.

Ingredients:

1.枸杞Gou Qi Zi: 2-3 Qian(5-10g)

2.紅棗Hong Zao: 2-3 Qian(5-10g)

3.黃芪 Huang Qi: 2-3 Qian(5-10g)

4.當歸Dang Gui: 1-2 Qian(3-5g)(this herb is a little bitter and has special aroma, so don’t put too when you first time making this soup. If the soup still turn out too bitter, you can put some more 枸杞 or 紅棗 to balance the bitterness)

5.Chicken or other meat (better with bones), these herbs should go with a mid-size chicken or 4 chicken leg. If you are a vegetarian, you can put some shitaki mushrooms or Japanese yam. 

How to cook:

Just throw everything together in a big pot, add water until everything gets covered. And heat up until boiled. Turn into small fire for another half hour or so. 

Try the soup, add some salt if needed. 

See, it’s super easy, and if the soup is too thick, you can always add more water. I add some Pok choi(cook in another pot, better not cook with the herbs together, can add in the last 5 min though) 

Note: 

枸杞Gou Qi Zi, 紅棗Hong Zao, 黃芪 Huang Qi are really 

good basic tonifying herbs, so I sometimes just cook these 3 herbs as herbal tea.

Where to get herbs?-I. Asia Natural

It's really easy to get herbs in San Francisco, there are so many herb stores in China Town, but most people would worry that they don't speak English. So if you can get the herbs' names and quantity written in a piece of paper(in Chinese, of course), then you can get your herbs just right. Or, you can try to practice your medical Chinese there, remember to make sure that they understand Mandarin because most of them speak Cantonese ......

Luckily, there is an easier way to get herbs, here in San Francisco. "Asia Natural", so close to ACTCM, and their stuff are really nice. They have a huge warehouse and the price is good too. You can find the catalog from their website. I think it would be better if you already know what you want to buy, and email them or call telling them what you want, then once your herbs are ready, they will ship them to you, or you can go picking up. The only disadvantage is that everything has to be at least one pound, which could be a little too much if you are just getting something very light, for example, 紫蘇葉Zi su ye Purple Perilla Leaf. In that case, maybe several people can share one pound.

Asia Natural Product Inc.

509 Townsend St (Between 6th and 7th St)

San Francisco, CA 94103-4918

(415)522-1668

Contributed by Yuhsuan(aka Kaya)

Clear eyes tea

Studying TCM is hard work, sometimes we get dry eyes, it would be helpful to take some herbal tea that helps our eyes. Here is a very simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1.決明子 Jue Ming Zi(Classia Seeds, Semen Cassiae)

2.菊花 Ju Hua(Chrysanthemum, Flos Chrysanthemi)

3.枸杞子Gou Qi Zi (Wolfberry, Fructus Lycii)

Methods: 

Wash all the herbs. For a pot(300~400cc), put 5g for each of the herbs, better boiled for more than 1 minutes. It doesn't take long to get the flavor. You may also brew using boiled water for at least 5 minutes. The 枸杞wolfberry should be able to add some sweetness, if not enough, you can always put more! And of course you can adjust the amount of water/herbs as you like!

Functions:

1.決明子 Jue Ming Zi clears Heat, drain fire. It clears vision, expels wind-heat, benefits eyes and liver, anchors the errant yang, also moistens intestines. 

2.菊花 Ju Hua is spicy and cool, it releases exterior. Clears Liver and eyes, disperses wind and heat.

 3.枸杞子Gou Qi Zi tonifies Yin. Nourishes Liver and Kidney, benefits essences and brightens eyes, also moisten the lungs.

Get ready to cook!

Hi, welcome everyone! 

We've been talking about cooking with herbs for months, and sometimes we'd like to share recipes we love, this is a place we can share our ideas of cooking, eat healthier, eat better!

Any kind of recipes(TCM or non-TCM) or health, TCM related message/information you'd like to share with everyone, here you are. Let's have fun cooking! Get ready, get healthy!