Chinese Herbal Soup
is a
Powerful Health Tonic
Use the following Herbal Soup recipe to add bounce to your steps and years to your life! Through the years I have used it successfully for myself, recommended to my patients and have planned to have it as one of my pages. Finally it's here because a Chinese friend after reviewing my website emailed me, "Our diet includes herbs, they are used as ingredients of dishes. The purpose of our herbal soups, which we eat regularly, is to prevent us from getting sick and keep us healthy."
If you're a vegetarian, the following Chicken Herbal Soup can be made with vegetable stock, tofu and veggies. Any Chinese herbalist can provide the herbal ingredients. Have the herbs on hand, since they are dried they keep their potency in a dry place for at least two years. Use about 6-9gr of each for one batch of soup you make.
The Herbs.
Milk-vetch root or Astragalus - Huang Qi
Relative root or Codonopsis - Dang Shen
Chinese yam root or Dioscorea - Shan Yao
Flesh of the Longan fruit - Long Yan Rou
Lotus seed - Lian Zi
Fruit of the matrimony vine or Lycium fruit - Gou Qi Zi
Rhizoma Polygonatum or Yellow Essence - Huang Jing
Herba Sargassii or Seaweed
Licorice or Radix Glycyrrhizae - Gan Cao
Herbalists in China classify Astragalus, Codonopsis and Dioscorea as Chi tonics. They enhance energy, aid digestion and absorption of foods. Astragalus strengthens the immune system, codonopsis helps improve blood and dioscorea supports pancreas in regulating blood sugar. Lycium and longan fruits are considered as blood tonics, they are used in anemia, are relaxing, therefore they benefit sleep. Lycium is considered a liver tonic. As you know seaweed provides minerals, and licorice helps the other herbs go to right places. Polygonatum, a yin tonic, adds moisture and Lotus seed is calming and protein rich, nourishing the kidneys. Also, the last two add 'texture' to the soup.
Chicken Herbal Soup
Chinese herbal tonic recipes recommend chicken as the base, since it is considered to bring out the Chi and Blood tonic qualities. Also, flavorful aspect of the soup is enhanced by using tonic herbs.
To prepare this herbal soup for 4-5 people remove the skin and fat from 1-2 pounds of chicken, cover it with water in medium-sized pot. Bring it to boil, then remove the residue from the top.
Add
The herbs
Two cloves of crushed garlic
Two slices of fresh ginger
One teaspoon of salt
Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Add
Sliced carrots and celery, simmer for five minutes.
Add
1 Tbs of soy sauce
1 tsp of sesame oil
1 tsp of wine (optional) Remove from heat. Everything is edible except astragalus which is too fibrous. In order to regain strength during or after a serious illness, it can be taken daily for about a week. As a continued immune system support for you and your family you may want to make and enjoy it once a week.In the past I have had problems in pronouncing Chinese names of herbs. You may want print this page or copy the names to show them to the herbalist. If it's not possible for you to make the soup and you'd like to strengthen your immune system, you may order a similar combination of herbs in a pill form. For it please click:
Complete Tonic Uplifter.
Click for the Chinese Healing Herbs page.
Click for the Ancient Chinese Medicine page.
Go from this Chinese Herbal Soup page to Aha Chi! home.
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