Chrysanthemum Soup/Soft Drink Recipe

This chrysanthemum soup or soft drink is great when you are feeling a bit under the weather. When you are having a nasty feeling in your throat or that you are having a cough, this helps you feel better and recover quicker. This drink has the ability to help clear your throat, enhance your skin elasticity, has vitamin C, and most importantly for my kids it tastes good. I make this drink sometimes not because I feel under the weather but just because it taste good too.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup of dried chrysanthemum
1 tbsp of honey
1/4 cup of rock sugar (more or less depending on your taste)
8 cups of water

Preparation:

Boil 8 cups of water in a pot.  Add all ingredients into the boiling water and let it boil for 15 minutes turn down the stove and let it cook for another half an hour on low.  Then serve cold or hot.

Ginger, Sweet Vinegar and Pig Feet Soup

This is one of my favorite soup.  I don't know why hated it when I was little.  Probably the same reason why my kids hate it now.  I have grown a taste for this soup and to know that it's very good for me it's a good thing.  It is also a good thing the kids don't like this soup, as this soup is not really that good for kids to drink.  The ginger and the sweet vinegar might be too much for the kids to handle.  Ginger also has a bit of a strong smell and taste where kids and some adults don't like.  This soup is traditional made for post natal (after preganancy) for the mothers to eat and drink to help them get their strength back and to help circulate the blood. 


Ingredients:
Ginger (8 big ones)
Sweet Vinegar ( One huge jug)
One whole pig foot
Black Rice Vinegar (optional)
Salt
Hard boiled eggs (optional)
Preparation:
Wash, cut and stir fry ginger in a big pan.  Put pig feet in a huge pot of boiling water.  After ten minutes take pig feet out and wash and clean.  Place ginger, pig feet and enough sweet vinegar to cover the pig foot and ginger add a pinch of salt then cover the ceramic pot and let it cook on high till it boils then turn down heat to low or medium and let it cook for serveral hours.  I usually let it cook for about 8 to ten hours.  Then, add some hard boil eggs into it if you like.  ***Note here don't use any other kind of pot to cook the last step but a ceramic pot.  I found the slow cooker to be the best option for me. 

Snow Ear, Red Dates and Apple Dessert

I love eating apples.  They do say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I don't just like eating apples plan but I also like to cook with them.  Apples are known to be very good for you.  It may reduce the risk of certain cancer, help with digestion, has vitamin C, rich in antioxidant, help lose weight, and many other benefits.  Red dates  and snow ear you can read the benefits from the older posts on here.  This dessert with the three combo can help you keep fit (controlling weight), help with fatigue, balancing your complexion, and help nourish your skin.  This dessert is good for everyone in your family to eat.


Ingredients:
  1 to 2 apples sliced
small handful of red dates
one big snow ear
1/2 cup of rock sugar (more or less depending how sweet you like your dessert)

Preparation:
Boil 8 cups of water, place all ingredients into the boiling water.  Let it boil for ten minutes then turn down the heat and let it cook for an hour then turn off heat. Serve hot or place it into the fridge and serve as a cold drink.

Dried Seabed Coconut (Hoy Dai Yeh)

Dried seabed coconut (hoy dai yeh) is sweet and very good for you.  It can benefit you when you have a cough by moistening your lungs, removing heat and toxins from your body.  It can also help you naturally nourish your skin to give you that youthful glow like complexion.

I have used this herb to make my sweet herbal soup.  The ingredients calls for lean pork, apples and some other yummy herbs.  Have to say that this is one of my kids favorite soup.

Job's Tears-yì mí

Job's Tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), Coixseed, Tear Grass, adlay, or adlai, is a tall grain-bearing tropical plant of the family Poaceae (grass family) native to Southeast Asia but elsewhere cultivated in gardens as an annual. It has been naturalized in the southern United States and the New World tropics. In its native environment it is grown in higher areas where rice and corn do not grow well. Vyjanti beads is also commonly, but misleadingly, sold as Chinese pearl barley in Asian supermarkets, despite the fact that C. lacryma-jobi are not of the same genus as barley (Hordeum vulgare).

There are two main varieties of the species. (1)Wild type Coix lacryma-jobi var. stenocarpa and var. monilifer has hard shelled pseudocarps which are very hard, pearly white, oval structures used as beads for making rosaries, necklaces, and other objects. (2)Cultivated type Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen is harvested as a cereal crop, has soft shell, and is used medicinally in parts of Asia.

Uses

Besides the use for ornamental purposes, Job's tears grains are useful as source of food (cereals) and folk medicine.

Throughout East Asia, Vyjanti beads are available in dried form and cooked as a grain. The grains are generally spherical, with a groove on one end, and polished white in color, though in Japan unpolished yuuki hatomugi, which is unpolished and brown in color, is also available.

In Korea, a thick drink called yulmu cha (율무차, literally "Job's tears tea") is made from powdered Job's tears. A similar drink, called yì mí shǔi (薏米水), also appears in Chinese cuisine, and is made by simmering whole polished Job's Tears in water and sweetening the resulting thin, cloudy liquid with sugar. The grains are usually strained from the liquid but may also be consumed separately or together.

In both Korea and China, distilled liquors are also made from the grain. One such example is the South Korean liquor called okroju (옥로주; hanja: 玉露酒), which is made from rice and Job's tears. In Japan, an aged vinegar is made from the grain.

In southern Vietnam, a sweet, cold soup called sâm bổ lượng has Job's Tears as one of its ingredients. This dish derives from the southern Chinese tong sui called qīng bǔ liáng (清補涼; Cantonese: ching1 bou2 leung4).

In Thailand, it is often consumed in teas and other drinks, such as soy milk.

It is also used alongside other herbs in traditional Chinese medicine.
(source from wiki)

Author's Input:
 My mom uses this to make herbal soup, congee, and sweet dessert.  I love making the dessert kind.  Like most of my family members, I too have a sweet tooth.  Usually, I boil this with rock sugar or cane sugar, foo chuk, lotus seed, and dried longans.
 

Kumquat

Cumquats or kumquats are a group of small fruit-bearing trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, either forming the genus Fortunella, or placed within Citrus sensu lato. The edible fruit closely resembles that of the orange (Citrus sinensis), but it is much smaller and ovular, being approximately the size and shape of an olive.
Uses
Koum Quat liqueurs from Corfu, Greece

Kumquats are often eaten raw. As the rind is sweet and the juicy centre is sour, the raw fruit is usually consumed either whole—to savour the contrast—or only the rind is eaten. The fruit is considered ripe when it reaches a yellowish-orange stage and has just shed the last tint of green.

Culinary uses include candying and kumquat preserves, marmalade, and jelly. Kumquats can also be sliced and added to salads. In recent years kumquats have gained popularity as a garnish for cocktail beverages, including the martini as a replacement for the more familiar olive. A kumquat liqueur mixes the fruit with vodka or other clear spirit. Kumquats are also being used by chefs to create a niche for their desserts and are common in European countries.
Potted kumquat trees at a kumquat liqueur distillery in Corfu.

The Cantonese often preserve kumquats in salt or sugar. A batch of the fruit is buried in dry salt inside a glass jar. Over time, all the juice from the fruit is diffused into the salt. The fruit in the jar becomes shrunken, wrinkled, and dark brown in colour, and the salt combines with the juice to become a dark brown brine. A few salted kumquats with a few teaspoons of the brine/juice may be mixed with hot water to make a remedy for sore throats.[citation needed] A jar of such preserved kumquats can last several years and still keep its taste.[citation needed]

In the Philippines and Taiwan, kumquats are a popular addition to green tea and black tea, either hot or iced.

In Vietnam, kumquat bonsai trees (round kumquat plant) are used as a decoration for the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. Kumquat fruits are also boiled or dried to make a candied snack called mứt quất.

Variants of the kumquat are grown specially in India. (source from wiki)

Author's Input:
My mom has five of these fruit trees planted in her back yard and it's a treat to see the tree when it's covered with little tiny bright orange fruits.  You can eat these fresh off the tree.  When we have a cough, this little fruit was our friend.  My mom usually drieds some of the fruits and stores it for future use in teas or just eaten like prunes.  Personally, I don't like the prune way of eating it but I do like making a soft drink with it.  I would add about two of these salted kumquats in a cup of boiling water with rock sugar. 

luo han guo (monk's fruit) -Siraitia grosvenorii

Siraitia grosvenorii is an herbaceous perennial vine native to southern China and Northern Thailand. The plant is best known for its fruit, commonly called luo han guo or luo han kuo (from the Chinese luóhàn guǒ, 羅漢果, 罗汉果, sometimes printed lohoguo in Hong Kong), la han qua (from Vietnamese la hán quả), arhat fruit, Buddha fruit, or monk fruit. Botanical synonyms include Momordica grosvenorii and Thladiantha grosvenorii. The fruit is one of several that have been called longevity fruit. The species was named in honor of Gilbert Grosvenor.

The plant is cultivated for its fruit, used for cooling drinks and in traditional Chinese medicine. The fruit extract is nearly 300 times sweeter than sugar and has been used as a natural low-calorie sweetener in China for nearly a millennium to treat diabetes and obesity.

Traditional uses
The plant is most prized for its sweet fruits, which are used for medicinal purposes, and as a sweetener.The fruits are generally sold in dried form, and traditionally used in herbal tea or soup. They are used for heat stroke, sore throat, chronic cough, and constipation, and are reputed to aid longevity. The fruit is also used as a natural sweetener in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. (source from wiki)

Author's Input:
When someone in the house had a cough, my mom would make a cup of luo han guo, salted plum or kumquat tea for the coughing patient.  These teas usually help calm down the cough and help soothe the throat.  It was way better than taking western cough medicines.  I like the salted plum with rock sugar tea the best. 

Dried Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus (Chrysanthemum) constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.

Medicinal uses
Extracts of Chrysanthemum plants (stem and flower) have been shown to have a wide variety of potential medicinal properties, including anti-HIV-1,antibacterial and antimycotic.
(source wiki)

Author's Input:

I love chrysanthemum tea, it's great when I feel like my throat is getting raw or that a cough is going to develop.  To make my tea, I would boil eight cups of water, then add a small handful of these dried flowers, two slice of lemon, along with 1/4 cup of rock sugar.  My little babies love this tea too!  They love how beautiful it looks in a bowl.  

I use chrysanthemum broth to flavor some of my desserts. There is a frozen red bean pudding dessert that calls for this broth. I also add this to some sponge cakes and other treats.

Snow Ear Dessert Soup Recipe

Snow Ear Dessert
Ingredients:
3 dried snow ears (pre-soak this herb for an hour or more then turn it up side down and cut out the center and throw away)
1/4 cup of ginkgo nuts
1/4 cup of dried longans
6 dried red dates
12 cups of water
cup of rock sugar (add more or less for  your own taste bud)

Preparation:

 Boil the water, then add all the ingredients into the boiling pot.  Turn down the heat and let it cook for about an hour. 

Snow Ear :Soup
Ingredients:
half a lb of  lean pork
2 snow ear
 small handful dried logan
small handful dried lily bulb
small handful lotus seed
small handful wolfberries
3 carrots
salt ( add 2 tsp more or less depending on your taste bud)

Preparation:

 Boil about 12 cups of water then add all the ingredients into pot and let it boil and slow cook for three to four hours then serve.


Author's Inpug:

You can add papaya, brown sugar or mix it up any way you want to make the dessert. I personally, love making this dessert  so I would try adding other fruits such as papaya or Asian pear to it.  You can also add almond seed or dried lily bulbs to the mix as well.  My family loves trying sweet desserts out for me.  Love my taste testers :D  !

Snow Fungus aka Snow Ear (Tremella fuciformis)

Tremella fuciformis is a species of fungus producing white, frond-like, gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies). It is widespread, especially in the tropics, and is parasitic on other fungi (Hypoxylon species), that grow on dead attached and recently fallen branches of broadleaf trees. Fruitbodies are commercially cultivated for use in Chinese cuisine and Chinese medicine. Tremella fuciformis has been given the common names snow fungus or silver ear fungus.

In Chinese cuisine, Tremella fuciformis is traditionally used in sweet dishes. While tasteless, it is valued for its gelatinous texture as well as its supposed medicinal benefits. Most commonly, it is used to make a dessert soup called luk mei (六味), often in combination with jujubes, dried longans, and other ingredients. It is also used as a component of a drink and as an ice cream. Since cultivation has made it less expensive, it is now additionally used in some savoury dishes.

In Chinese, it is called 银耳 (pinyin: yín ěr; literally "silver ear"), 雪耳 (pinyin: xuě ěr; literally "snow ear"); or 白木耳 (pinyin: bái mù ěr, literally "white wood ear")[citation needed], and in Japanese it is called shiro kikurage (シロキクラゲ, lit. "white tree jellyfish") . In Vietnam, it is called nấm tuyết or ngân nhĩ.

Author's Input:
The snow ear is an herb full of collagen, and this helps with firming up and adding moisture to your skin from within.  I love making this refreshing dessert all  year round.   I remember when I was young, I would never eat the snow fungus at all.  As I matured, I developed a taste for this herb or more like the texture of the herb because snow fungus is kind bland.

Lotus seeds

Dried Lotus Seeds:

Lotus seeds or lotus nuts are the seeds of plants in the genus Nelumbo, particularly the species Nelumbo nucifera. The seeds are of great importance to East Asian cuisine and are used extensively in traditional Chinese medicine and in Chinese desserts. The seeds are most commonly sold in the shelled and dried form. Fresh lotus seeds are relatively uncommon in the market except in areas of lotus root and seed production, where they are sometimes sold as a raw snack.

When cooked in clear soups, lotus seeds are believed in Chinese medicine to "clear heat" (清熱) and be particularly nutritious and restorative to one's health, which may explain the prevalence of their use in Chinese cuisine.

Other ingredients that are considered "cooling" or restorative in Chinese medicines, which are often cooked in a sweetened soup with lotus seeds include:

    * Azuki beans (紅豆)
    * Job's Tears (薏仁)
    * Dried jujubes (紅棗)
    * Mung beans (绿豆)
    * Asian pear (雪梨)
    * Snow fungus (银耳 or 白木耳)
(source from wiki)

Author's Input:
I remember taking these out of the bag and using them to bead a  necklace.  My mommy came home and one time scream at the sight because I used them all up and she needed them for a dessert she was going to make for my grandma.  I love adding these little guys into my snow fungus and Asian pear dessert or papaya.  I will post some yummy dessert recipes later. 

Tong Yuan Recipe (mochi ball veggie soup) Part 2

Ingredients: 

• about 8 cups full of mochi balls (more or less depending how much you want to eat)
• 1/4 lb of lean pork
• 1/4 lb of shrimp
• 2 Chinese sausage (cut up in slices)
• 1 tbsp of rice wine 
• 1 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon of oyster sauce 
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1 tbsp of sesame oil
• 1/2 corn starch
• 1 stalk of green onion and 1 bunch of cilantros (cut into 1 inch sticks) 
• 2 small slice of ginger
• 6 leaves of napa cabbage (cut into small strips) 
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 2 carrots and 1 medium size daikon 
• 4 shitaki mushroom (presoaked from the night before)

Preparation: 

Mix pork, wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, corn starch,sugar and salt in a bowl and set aside.  Boil a pot of water and place mochi balls into the pot.  Once the mochi balls are ready, drain and set aside.  Heat up a pan with a three table spoon of oil, 2 clove of garlic and 1/4 and stir fry the pork, sausage, napa cabbage, carrots, daikon and set aside.  In a pot of boiling water, add chicken broth, stir fried mixture, ginger slices, mushrooms and shrimps.  When the soup is done add the green onion (and or cilantros) to garnish the soup.

Author's Input:
I love this soup because it warms you up from the inside.  This soup is very healthy to eat because it's packed with veggies.  This is also my daddy's favorite soup.  When my mommy makes this soup for us he acts like a kid.  He usually is the first to get a hearty bowl of this soup. 

Tong Yuan Recipe (mochi ball veggie soup) Part 1

This is one of my favorite soup of all times.  These mochi balls are glutinous rice balls.  Easy to make and fun to eat.  You can buy the glutinous rice ball flour from any asian store.

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
• 4 ounces water

Preparation: 

Boil some water, pour glutinous rice flour into a bowl and the water slowly to the flour and mix.  Keep mixing and adding water till it can form into dough.  Then, pinch about a table spoon full of dough and put it in the palm of  your hands and mold it into a ball.

Astragalus Root Soup Recipe

Dang Shen Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of lean pork or pork ribs
3 to 4 pieces of Astragalus Roots
6 medium size Dang Shen  (or if cut up about 1/2 cup)
5 pieces of Huai San
1/4 cup of wolfberries
1/4 cup of dried logans

Preparation:
Boil the pork/ribs first and drain.  Place all ingredients a pot of boiling water.  Let the soup cook about an hour or two add a tsp of salt more if you like for taste.

Astragalus Root (huáng qí)

Astragalus propinquus (syn. Astragalus membranaceus[clarification needed]) also known as huáng qí (yellow leader) (simplified Chinese: 黄芪; traditional Chinese: 黃芪) or běi qí (Chinese: 北芪), huáng hua huáng qí (Chinese: 黄花黄耆), is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine.  It is a perennial plant and it is not listed as being threatened.

Herbalism
A. propinquus is used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it is used to speed healing and treat diabetes.  In western herbal medicine, Astragalus is primarily considered a tonic for enhancing metabolism and digestion and is consumed as a tea or soup made from the (usually dried) roots of the plant, often in combination with other medicinal herbs. It is also traditionally used to strengthen the immune system and in the healing of wounds and injuries. Extracts of A. propinquus are used in Australia as part of a commercially available pharmaceutical MC-S to stimulate production of peripheral blood lymphocytes.

A. propinquus has been asserted to be a tonic that can improve the functioning of the lungs, adrenal glands and the gastrointestinal tract, increase metabolism, sweating, promote healing and reduce fatigue.  A mix of Astragali Radix and Salviae Radix, has been used to treat patients with chronic fatigue.

There is a report in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology that Astragalus membranaceus can show "immunomodulating and immunorestorative effects.",  The herbal extract supplementation in drinking water can induce an immune stimulation response in immunosuppressed chickens.  It has been shown to increase the production of interferon and to activate immune cells such as macrophages.

There is a report in the journal Rejuvenation Research claims that an extract of Astragalus propinquus called TA-65 can activate telomerase, extending the lengths of the shortest telomeres which protect the terminal DNA at the ends of all chromosomes.  Telomere loss is associated with errors in cell division and is thought to be the primary cause of aging. In October of 2010 Intertek/AAC Labs, an ISO 17025 internationally recognized lab, found the largest component of TA-65 to be Cycloastragenol. (source wiki)

Author's Input:
I used this root in my soup mix come winter season.  It can help speed the process in recovering from the common cold.  This root can help boost your immune system to give you more energy, strengthens your upper respiratory organs, increase your production of red blood cell, helps your body defend and destroy viruses and harmful microbes.  

Hawthorn Fruit (Shan Zha)

Crataegus monogyna, known as common hawthorn or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of hawthorn native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world where it is an invasive weed. Other common names include may, mayblossom, maythorn, quickthorn, whitethorn, motherdie, and haw. This species is one of several that have been referred to as Crataegus oxyacantha, a name that has been rejected by the botanical community as too ambiguous.
Medicinal use

Crataegus monogyna is one of the most common species used as the "hawthorn" of traditional herbalism, which is of considerable interest for treating cardiac insufficiency by evidence-based medicine. The plant parts used medicinally are usually sprigs with both leaves and flowers, or alternatively the fruit. Several species of Crataegus have both traditional and modern medicinal uses. It is a good source of antioxidant phytochemicals,especially extracts of hawthorn leaves with flowers. (source wiki)

Author's Input:
The herbalist informed me that Shan Zha has been clinically shown to be a cardio-tonic, such as lowering of cholesterol, lowering of blood pressure, and widens the coronary arteries.  Chinese use these berries to make sweets such as jams and candies.  Actually, a friend of mine is taking a diet tea that is made from Shan Zha and she said it's been helping her visit the bathroom more often.  I assume that it means that she is pooping out all the bad stuff :D.  I was curious, I tried the tea it has a faint sweet flavor.  The tea was not over powering, it was kind of bland to say the least.

Qian shi (fox nut)

Euryale ferox (also known as fox nut, foxnut, makhana, or gorgon plant) is the only species in the genus Euryale. It is a flowering plant classified in the water lily family, Nymphaeaceae, although it is occasionally regarded as a distinct family Euryalaceae. Unlike other water lilies, the pollen grains of Euryale have three nuclei.



Medicinal uses

In Chinese, the plant is called qiàn shí (simplified Chinese: 芡实; traditional Chinese: 芡實). Its edible seeds are used in traditional Chinese medicine, where they are often cooked in soups along with other ingredients. (source wiki)

Dang Shen Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of lean pork or pork ribs
6 medium size Dang Shen  (or if cut up about 1/2 cup)
5 pieces of Huai San
a small handful  of Yu Zhu
1/4 cup of wolfberries
3 dried dates
1/4 cup of dried logans

Preparation:
Boil the pork/ribs first and drain.  Place all ingredients a pot of boiling water.  Let the soup cook about an hour or two add a tsp of salt more if you like for taste.

Dang Shen (Codonopsis Root)

Codonopsis pilosula (Chinese: 党参; pinyin: dǎngshēn), also known as dang shen or poor man's ginseng, is a perennial species of flowering plant native to Northeast Asia and Korea and usually found growing around streambanks and forest openings under the shade of trees. (source wiki)

Author's Input:
It was told to me that this root helps to reinforce your spleen, tonify lungs, nourishes your blood and promotes the production of the body fluid. I like using this root in my soup mix, because it has similar properties as ginseng or a weaker strength of ginseng.  The taste of your soup is a bit sweeter using this than ginseng as well. 

Dried longans

The fruit is known as longan or longyan in English. It is also known as, in simplified Chinese: 龙眼; traditional Chinese: 龍眼; Mandarin Pinyin: lóngyǎn; Jyutping: lung4 ngaan5; literally "dragon eye", in Lao: ລໍາໄຍ Lam Yai, in Vietnamese: Long Nhãn/Nhãn, in Malaysian: mata kucing, literally "cat's eye", in Indonesian: Kelengkeng, in Sinhala: Mora or Lengkeng, in Thai: ลำไย Lam Yai, in Filipino: Longan, in Bangladesh : Ashfal, Tamil: முதலிப் பழம் (Muthali Pazham)


The longan (translated literally as "dragon eye") is so named (from its transliteration from Amoy) [liong-gan] because its fruit, when it is shelled, resembles an eyeball (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris). The seed is small, round and hard, and of an enamel-like, lacquered black. The fully ripened, freshly harvested shell is bark-like, thin, and firm, making the fruit easy to shell by squeezing the fruit out as if one is "cracking" a sunflower seed. When the shell has more moisture content and is more tender, the fruit becomes less convenient to shell. The tenderness of the shell varies due to either premature harvest, variety, weather conditions, or transport/storage conditions.
Culinary uses

The fruit is edible, extremely sweet, juicy and succulent in superior agricultural varieties, and apart from being eaten fresh, is also often used in East Asian soups, snacks, desserts, and sweet-and-sour foods, either fresh or dried, sometimes canned with syrup in supermarkets.

Dried longan, called guìyuán (桂圆) in Chinese, are often used in Chinese cuisine and Chinese sweet dessert soups. In Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine, it is believed to have an effect on relaxation. In contrast with the fresh fruit, which is juicy and white, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black. In Chinese medicine the longan, much like the lychee, is thought to give internal "heat" (上火). (source wiki)


Author's Input:

I use dried fruit as a natural sweetener for my soups.  I love eating the fresh fruit as well.

Glehnia Root (Sha Shen)

Glehnia littoralis (in the monotypic genus Glehnia) is a species of plant in the "carrot family", Apiaceae, known by several common names including beach silvertop and American silvertop in English, and bei sha shen (Chinese: 北沙參) and shan hu cai (Chinese: 珊瑚菜) in Chinese. The genus was named after Russian botanist Peter von Glehn.

Medicinal uses

The plant is perhaps best known as a Chinese herbal remedy for cough. (source wiki)

Author's Input:
When the Fall and Winter season comes, this is one of the herbs I pick for my soups.  It helps with nourishing your stomach to generate fluids to moisten and clearing your lungs to stop coughs.  It helps moisten dry skin, mouth and throat.

Black Chicken (Silkie)

Silkie (Black Chicken)

The Silkie (sometimes incorrectly spelled Silky) is a breed of chicken named for its atypically fluffy plumage, which is said to feel like silk. The breed has several other unusual qualities, such as dark blue flesh and bones, blue earlobes, and five toes on each foot (most chickens only have four). They are often exhibited in poultry shows, and come in several colors (red, buff, blue, black, white, and partridge).

In addition to their distinctive physical characteristics, Silkies are well known for their calm, friendly temperament. Among the most docile of poultry, Silkies are considered an ideal pet. Hens are also exceptionally broody, and make good mothers. Though they are fair layers themselves, laying about three eggs a week, they are commonly used to hatch eggs from other breeds and bird species.

Silkies most likely originated in China, but Southeast Asia is also sometimes proposed. The first western account of the breed comes from Marco Polo, who mentioned chickens with fur-like plumage in his Asian travelogues in the 13th century. The Renaissance author Ulisse Aldrovandi also spoke of chickens akin to Silkies. Today, the breed is recognized for exhibition, and is fairly common in the poultry world.


The black meat of a Silkie is generally considered an unusual or unpalatable attribute in European and American cuisines.  In contrast, several Asian cuisines consider Silkie meat a gourmet food. Chinese cuisine especially values the breed, but it is also a common ingredient in some Japanese, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Korean dishes. Areas where Chinese cuisine has been a strong influence, such as Malaysia, may also cook Silkie. As early as the 7th century, traditional Chinese medicine has held that chicken soup made with Silkie meat is a curative food.  The usual methods of cooking include using Silkie to make broth, braising, and in curries. Traditional Chinese soup made with Silkie also uses ingredients such as wolfberries, Dioscorea opposita (white yam), orange peel, and fresh ginger.  A few fusion restaurants in metropolitan areas of the West have also cooked it as a part of traditional American or French cuisine, such as in confit. It was featured on the third season of Bravo's Top Chef during the elimination challenge on the first episode.


Author's Input:

This is the co-star in my ginseng soup recipe from the earlier post.

Dates (Jujube)

Fresh dates

Dried dates

Ziziphus zizyphus (from Greek ζίζυφον, zizyfon[1]), commonly called jujube (sometimes jujuba), red date, Chinese date, Korean date, or Indian date is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily as a fruiting shade tree.
Medicinal use

The fruits are used in Chinese and Korean traditional medicine, where they are believed to alleviate stress, and traditionally for antifungal, antibacterial, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, sedative, antispastic, antifertility/contraception, hypotensive and Antinephritic, cardiotonic, antioxidant, immunostimulant, and wound healing properties. "The jujube-based Australian drink 1-bil avoids making specific stress-related claims, but does suggest drinking 1-bil "when you feel yourself becoming distressed".  The plant may help prevent impairment of hippocampal memory. A controlled clinical trial found the fruits helpful for chronic constipation. In another clinical trial, Zizyphus jujuba was proved to be effective against neonatal jaundie. A leaf extract showed anti-obese activity in rats.  In Persian traditional medicine it is used to treat colds and Flu in combination with other herbal medicine.

Ziziphin, a compound in the leaves of the jujube, suppresses the ability to perceive sweet taste in humans.  The fruit, being mucilaginous, is very soothing to the throat and decoctions of jujube have often been used in pharmacy to treat sore throats.

Culinary use
Dried jujube fruits, which naturally turn red upon drying.

The freshly harvested as well as the candied dried fruits are often eaten as a snack, or with tea. They are available in either red or black (called hóng zǎo or hēi zǎo, respectively, in Chinese), the latter being smoked to enhance their flavor. In China and Korea, a sweetened tea syrup containing jujube fruits is available in glass jars, and canned jujube tea or jujube tea in the form of teabags is also available. Although not widely available, jujube juice and jujube vinegar (called 枣醋 or 红枣醋 in Chinese) are also produced; they are used for making pickles (কুলের আচার) in West Bengal and Bangladesh.

In China, a wine made from jujubes, called hong zao jiu (红枣酒) is also produced. Jujubes are sometimes preserved by storing in a jar filled with baijiu (Chinese liquor), which allows them to be kept fresh for a long time, especially through the winter. Such jujubes are called jiu zao (酒枣; literally "spirited jujube"). These fruits, often stoned, are also a significant ingredient in a wide variety of Chinese delicacies. In Korea, jujubes are called daechu (대추) and are used in teas and samgyetang. (source wiki)

Author's Input:
My mom has a six of these trees in her garden.  The are huge trees all cover with these dates.  I love the smell of the blooms.  The flower has a very sweet smell to it.  I remember how all our family members have to plan a day to pick these fruits, it's an all day event LOL.  My family loves putting these into our soup recipes.  We would sun dry them, then after they are dried up like prunes, we would place them in the oven to cook for five to ten more minutes.  My mom would store them in glass containers or in paper bags and placed into the fridge.

Goji (wolfberries)

It is also known as Chinese wolfberry, mede berry, barbary matrimony vine, bocksdorn, Duke of Argyll's tea tree, Murali (in India), red medlar, or matrimony vine. Unrelated to the plant's geographic origin, the names Tibetan goji and Himalayan goji are in common use in the health food market for products from this plant.

These species produce a bright orange-red, ellipsoid berry 1–2-cm deep. The number of seeds in each berry varies widely based on cultivar and fruit size, containing anywhere between 10–60 tiny yellow seeds that are compressed with a curved embryo. The berries ripen from July to October in the northern hemisphere.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lycium leaves may be used in a tea, together with the root bark (called dìgǔpí; 地 骨 皮). A glucopyranoside (namely (+)-Lyoniresinol-3α-O-β-d-glucopyranoside) and phenolic amides (dihydro-N-caffeoyltyramine, trans-N-feruloyloctopamine, trans-N-caffeoyltyramine and cis-N-caffeoyltyramine) isolated from wolfberry root bark have inhibitory activity in vitro against human pathogenic bacteria and fungi. (source wiki)

Author's Input:
I add this to my soup and dessert recipes all the time.

Ginkgo Biloba Congee Recipe

Ingredients:
handful (1/4 cup) of gingko biloba seeds.
1/2 lb of lean pork chopped up in small pieces
1/2 lb of chicken chopped up in small pieces
1/4 cup of scallops
12 cups water
1 chopped up carrot
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp of rice wine
2 slices of ginger (small slices like a size of a quarter)
(add scallions or cilantro for flavor *** mom usually put that on the dish on the side for those who wants these, which by the way kids don't like :D)
1 tsp of salt  (more or less depends on your taste)
1 cup of rice

Preparation:
Boil pork and chicken drain, add oyster sauce, rice wine, soy sauce and a pinch of salt, and set aside.  Place rice and 12 cups of water into a pot and bring to a boil.  Add all the ingredients into the pot of boiling rice.  Once the congee is cooked to the thickness you prefer then turn off the stove and serve.  **Add the chopped scallions and cilantros now.

Ginkgo biloba 銀杏

Ginkgoes are large trees, normally reaching a height of 20–35 m (66–115 feet), with some specimens in China being over 50 m (164 feet). The tree has an angular crown and long, somewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep rooted and resistant to wind and snow damage. Young trees are often tall and slender, and sparsely branched; the crown becomes broader as the tree ages. During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall, sometimes within a short space of time (1–15 days). A combination of resistance to disease, insect-resistant wood and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos long-lived, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old.


Ginkgo is a relatively shade-intolerant species that (at least in cultivation) grows best in environments that are well-watered and well-drained. The species shows a preference for disturbed sites; in the "semi-wild" stands at Tian Mu Shan, many specimens are found along stream banks, rocky slopes, and cliff edges. Accordingly, Ginkgo retains a prodigious capacity for vegetative growth. It is capable of sprouting from embedded buds near the base of the trunk (lignotubers, or basal chi chi) in response to disturbances, such as soil erosion. Old individuals are also capable of producing aerial roots (chi chi) on the undersides of large branches in response to disturbances such as crown damage; these roots can lead to successful clonal reproduction upon contacting the soil. These strategies are evidently important in the persistence of Ginkgo; in a survey of the "semi-wild" stands remaining in Tian Mu Shan, 40% of the Ginkgo specimens surveyed were multi-stemmed, and few saplings were present.


Ginkgo has long been cultivated in China; some planted trees at temples are believed to be over 1,500 years old. The first record of Europeans encountering it is in 1690 in Japanese temple gardens, where the tree was seen by the German botanist Engelbert Kaempfer. Because of its status in Buddhism and Confucianism, the Ginkgo is also widely planted in Korea and parts of Japan; in both areas, some naturalization has occurred, with Ginkgos seeding into natural forests.

In some areas, most intentionally planted Ginkgos are male cultivars grafted onto plants propagated from seed, because the male trees will not produce the malodorous seeds. The popular cultivar 'Autumn Gold' is a clone of a male plant.


Extracts of Ginkgo leaves contain flavonoid glycosides and terpenoids (ginkgolides, bilobalides) and have been used pharmaceutically. Ginkgo supplements are usually taken in the range of 40–200 mg per day. Recently, careful clinical trials have shown Ginkgo to be effective in treating dementia but not preventing the onset of Alzheimer's Disease in normal people. (source wiki)


Author's Input:

My mom and grandma uses these ginkgo seeds in our congees.  Congee is a rice porridge.  When these seeds are fresh off the tree, they smell as bad as skunk spray.  As kids, we used to gather and clean them for my grandma.  My mom made us wear gloves, and we thought it was because they were so smelly and sticky.  But, now I know it's because the seeds contain urushiol, the same active chemical that is present in poison oak or poison ivy.  Afterwards, we would get our little hammer, break the shell off of them, and put the seeds into our pot for the congee.  My mom told us that the ginkgo seeds will help us have good memories, increase concentration, and reduce or prevent headaches. Therefore, this is a yummy treat for your brain :D.

Huai San (Dioscorea/ wild Chinese yam)

Dioscorea is a genus of over 600 species of flowering plants in the family Dioscoreaceae, native throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. The vast majority of the species are tropical, with only a few species extending into temperate climates. It is named after the ancient Greek physician and botanist Dioscorides.

They are tuberous herbaceous perennial lianas, growing to 2–12 m or more tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, mostly broad heart-shaped. The flowers are individually inconspicuous, greenish-yellow, with six petals; they are mostly dioecious, with separate male and female plants, though a few species are monoecious, with male and female flowers on the same plant. The fruit is a capsule in most species, a soft berry in a few species. (source wiki)

Medical Uses:
Helps promote urination, lowers the blood pressure and sugar level, acts as an antibiotic, help with anti aging and promotes a better digestive system.

Yu Zhu | Yuk Chok (Solomon's Seal)

1. Polygonatum (play /ˌpɒlɨˈɡɒnətəm/),  King Solomon's-seal or Solomon's Seal, is a genus of about 50 species of flowering plants. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae).  It has also been classified in the former family Convallariaceae and, like many lilioid monocots, was formerly classified in the lily family Liliaceae.
   
   Some species of this genus have medicinal properties, and some (in particular P. sibiricum) are used as a tisane in Korea, which is called dungulle.
   
   1. Some Polygonatum shoots are edible, cooked like asparagus, as are the roots - after appropriate treatment  -being a good source of starch. 
   2.  "Solomon's Seal" , especially the root, is traditionally used in a range of afflictions from menopause to broken bones. As a topical application, the root are said to expedite the healing of cuts and bruises, skin irritations and inflammations, and as a face wash is good for acne, blemishes and all kinds of imperfections of the skin. When consumed as a tea, it is said to alleviate a range of symptoms associated with menopause, indigestion, diabetes, broken bones, insomnia, kidney pains, and even infertility.
      
      Its use to fight diabetes was first observed in 1930 by Hedwig Langecker. After experiments, she concluded that it was effective in fighting nutritional hyperglycemia, though not that caused by adrenaline release, probably due to its content in glucokinin. (Source Wiki)

Requests: For package of the herbal ingredients

I been told that it's rather intimidating going into an herbal pharmacy.  I myself, have gotten into a position where I went into a herbal shop and didn't know what the heck I was looking at or for.  The Herbalist and others would look at me funny.  They would keep asking me if I needed help and what not.  I am friends with an herbalist, who owns his own herbal shop.  So, if you need  help in gathering the herbs andwhat not send me a comment.   I can have these herbal soup ingredients put into packages for you and sent to you from the herbal pharmacy.  More herbal soup recipes are coming up soon.  If there is a certain herb you would like to order leave me a comment.  If there is an herbal soup you know of and need packages set up let me know.  If you have some great herbal soup recipes leave me a comment as well :) I love to learn more and create more great soups!

Ginseng Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
One cut up medium sized ginseng (you can have the  herbalist cut these up for you)
About a handful (1/4 cup) of Goji (wolfberries)
3 pieces of Huai San ( Chinese wild yam)
8 large dried dates (fresh dried dates)
2 dried sweet dates (these are brownish covered with sugar)
1/4 cup of Dried longans
2 tbsp salt (add more or less for your own taste buds)

One whole black chicken

My mom uses a clay pot to make this soup.  She would first boil a pot of hot water (don't just get hot water from the sink).  Put all the ingredients into the clay pot, add the boiling water and set the clay pot to cook.  Let it cook for about five hours, although my mother might let it cook longer.

Ginseng

Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae.

Ginseng is found only in the Northern Hemisphere, in North America and in eastern Asia (mostly Korea, northern China (Manchuria), and eastern Siberia), typically in cooler climates. Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng known. This article focuses on the Series Panax ginsengs, which are the adaptogenic herbs, principally Panax ginseng and P. quinquefolius. Ginseng is characterized by the presence of ginsenosides.
Siberian Ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is in the same family, but not genus, as true Ginseng. Like Ginseng, it is considered to be an adaptogenic herb. The active compounds in Siberian Ginseng are eleutherosides, not ginsenosides. Instead of a fleshy root, Siberian Ginseng has a woody root.
The English word ginseng derives from the Chinese term rénshēn (simplified: 人参; traditional: 人蔘), literally "man root" (referring to the root's characteristic forked shape, resembling the legs of a man). The English pronunciation derives from a southern Chinese reading, similar to Cantonese jên shên (Jyutping: jan4sam1) and the Hokkien pronunciation "jîn-sim".

The botanical/genus name Panax means "all-heal" in Greek, sharing the same origin as "panacea", and was applied to this genus because Linnaeus was aware of its wide use in Chinese medicine as a muscle relaxant.
 Traditional Uses:
Both American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) roots are taken orally as adaptogens, aphrodisiacs, nourishing stimulants, and in the treatment of type II diabetes, as well as for sexual dysfunction in men. The root is most often available in dried form, either whole or sliced. Ginseng leaf, although not as highly prized, is sometimes also used; as with the root, it is most often available in dried form.

This ingredient may also be found in some energy drinks, often the "tea" varieties; in these products, ginseng is usually present in subclinical doses and does not have measurable medicinal effects.
It can be found in cosmetic preparations as well, but has not been shown to have clinically effective results. 
(source wiki)

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Author Perspective:
I love ginseng soup, but I do have to say that it's an acquired taste.  My mom would make this soup for us three to six times a year.  One reason being that it's costly, second it's time-consuming.  My mom would slow cook this soup for about five hours or more.  Mommy always told us this particular soup has many health and beauty benefits.  For example, it helps with skin improvements, evening out skin tones, flushing rosy cheeks, moistens skin. anti aging and so on.  Helps you to stay energized, reduces migraines, and aids your digestive system, overall helping to improve all your internal organ functions.  I must admit, my mom may have exaggerated some of them, but it made us more willing to drink this soup.  As I said, this soup is an acquired taste because it's a bit bitter.

Soup Recipe will be up soon.

Introduction to the world of Chinese Herbs that will lead us to the road of beauty

Welcome to my blog.  I will have a list filled with herbs and their benefits.  Hopefully, we can jump on the herbal bandwagon to get ourselves on the road to better health as well as beauty.

When I was a little girl, I always watched my mom make these wonderful and delicious herbal soups.  Like most Asian families, our meals always included a bowl of soup.  The soups we drank are not simply to quench our thirst, but to help lead us to a better life, health, and beauty.  Some of the soups are easy and simple to make some are trying.  All are yummy in the tummy.

The recipes here are from my mom, my grandmother, and some from yours truly.  For several years now, I have used my husband and our kids as guinea pigs to taste test the many varieties of Asian herbal soups cooked in our kitchen.  After some trial and error, I was able to make my soup as yummy as the ones my mother made for us when we were young.

***If pregnant or have other medical issues please seek professional advice before trying the recipes.  Majority of the pictures seen on this blog are found on the web.  Thank you for reading my blog.