“Qi wei xue zhi shuai, xue wei qi zhi mu 气为血之帅血为气之母”, which translates as “Qi is the Commander of Blood, Blood is the Mother of Qi”, and is one of the most fundamental lessons a TCM doctor must learn in order to understand the interconnected relationship of the qi and the blood. On the face of it, this is a simple concept that means that in order to move or circulate the blood, you must first move the qi and, in order to nourish the qi, you must first nourish the blood. In practice, it requires a sophisticated understanding of what aspect of a person's health must first be addressed in order to bring about balance. Is it the case that something first needs to be moved, unblocked or dispersed in order to then build up their resources? Or, do they first require more nourishment and tonification in order to be able to then activate their life processes?
These are the types of questions a TCM doctor must be able to answer when diagnosing a patient's state of health, and then determine an effective treatment strategy to restore balance. In our everyday lives, as we try to stay healthy and balanced, it is always a good idea to realize that movement and nourishment go hand in hand, just like activity and rest, whether physical or mental.
In traditional Chinese medicine, in order to tonify the kidney yang qi, you must have a strategy that nourishes the essential yin aspect of the body, which means it must enter the qi system of the blood. You cannot simply boost the yang qi – you must balance the warming and activating aspects of a kidney yang qi prescription with tonics for the blood and the yin qi. These two food medicine recipes (one vegetarian, one with beef) are based on that strategy. Through a combination of blood nourishing and qi moving ingredients that have a special emphasis on the qi of the kidneys, these recipes are suitable for all ages and all conditions of health.
The is a traditional recipe is made with beef because it is seen as the most efficient “blood building” ingredient to tonify the kidney yang qi. However, for qigong practitioners and, in TCM terms in general, it is considered more balanced to eat less meat than those who eat a normal western diet. This is a recipe for two portions, so only 100g meat per portion.
For those who are strict vegetarians, a dish that includes black beans, kale, tofu, fresh ginger, sesame oil, fresh coriander, goji berries, soya sauce and shaoxing wine would approximate this recipe (although spring onions would not be included). I am currently working on just such a recipe, but have not had the time to test it. However, if you have some experience using the traditional stir-fry technique, do try your own hand at cooking up your own kidney yang qi tonic!
Stir-fried Beef, Green Onion and Ginger
Ingredients.
200g beef steak (any lean cut), sliced across the grain into very thin strips
5 spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths (white and green parts)
30g fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thin
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon goji berries (pre-soaked in cold water for 5 minutes)
2 teaspoons black sesame seeds (or white, if you cannot get the black ones)
oil for cooking (any cooking oil like rapeseed or canola)
Marinade for the beef.
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon soya sauce
½ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1 tablespoon Chinese shaoxing wine (or dry sherry, or white wine)
1 teaspoon cornflour starch
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (rapeseed, canola, peanut, sunflower)
Seasoning.
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Chinese shaoxing wine (or dry sherry, or white wine)
Preparation.
1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl, and add the beef. Let sit for 15 minutes.
2. Heat a wok or frying pan over high heat, and when warm, add 2 teaspoons of oil until it begins to smoke. Quickly add the beef (but not the marinade), and stir-fry briskly for 30 seconds. Remove beef from pan and set aside on a plate. Drain off the excess cooking oil.
3. Reheat pan (or wok) with 1 tablespoon oil, and when smoking again, quickly add the spring onions, garlic ginger and the seasoning ingredients. Briskly fry while stirring for about 1 minute.
4. Add the beef back into the wok, plus the goji berries and black sesame seeds, and continue to fry and stir for 30 seconds over a high heat.
5. Turn off heat and serve immediately.
This dish is best served with a grain, such as brown rice, millet, amaranth or buckwheat. Also, a side dish of a dark green vegetable, such as simple steamed kale, chard (mangold), or broccoli. These dishes should be prepared before starting to cook the stir-fry.
Also, black sesame seeds and goji berries are special medicinal substances in TCM, and are commonly added to food medicine recipes that are tonics for the jing, or essence qi. If you do not have, or cannot easily get these two ingredients, it is fine to leave them out. Also, you could replace black sesame seeds with normal sesame seeds, which are a good tonifying ingredient for the qi.