Herbal Soup or Tea
keeps you
Bright-Eyed and Youthful
My friend Prudy Tang, raised in Hongkong where Chinese healing herbs are essential part of everyday cooking, continues to be enthusiastic about their use for preservation of youthfulness and perfect health. The following tea recipe is her contribution. Morning Herbal Eye Tea Function: To cleanse and build a stronger liver which eventually benefits your eyesight. Herbs used:
1) Gougizi (Gogi berries) 15 pieces
2) Juhua (Chysanthemum flowers) 3-4 pieces Method: Use hot water to rinse the herbs. Steep herbs in half a cup of hot boiling water for 10 minutes. Disregard Juhua and take the juice and gogi berries. One cup a day will improve your eye sight.You can obtain the herbs from a Health Food Store, or a Chinese or Western Herbalist.
Halfway down this page and you'll find a super Chinese Herbal Recipe I want to share with you. But first I want to ask you a question.
Do you have a Great Soup Recipe?
Share your favorite recipe! Let other people enjoy its taste and benefits.
Join in to comment on ideas how to improve health by using herbs in cooking.
For instance you may have a story on how your grandmother cooked with herbs from her own garden, or how a friend uses Healing Herbs in soup recipes, which he/she learned from a family member or another friend
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Stinging Nettle Soup
Not rated yet
Tasty and healthy and cooked in the microwave oven
makes approx 1 pint
1 cup young nettle heads rinsed
1 medium potato
1 medium onion
3/4 pint ...
Here is my herbal soup recipe, which you can use 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 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.
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