Ba Bao Cha 八宝茶 - Eight Treasures Tea

This recipe is based on a 13th century tradition of the Hui people in the Northwestern part of China, who would serve a special drink with eight ingredients composed of tea, fruits, flowers and sugar to guests and older relatives in order to nourish and revive them. It became famous throughout China during the Qing dynasty when the Empress Dowager Ci Xi ordered her physicians to make her a formula of tea that would keep her body youthful and her mind clear and calm.

There are many adaptations of this royal tea, and I have written one specific to our pandemic times that is safe for all ages and conditions.

The combination and amounts of the ingredients in this tea have the TCM actions of calming the spirit and mind (shen 神), promoting circulation of blood and qi, nourishing and protecting the lung qi, clearing wind heat pathogens from the lungs, nourishing and harmonizing the liver and spleen qi, and quelling fire from heat exhaustion and stress in order to brighten the eyes.

While Ba Bao Cha is not a medical prescription, it is very supportive to the practice of “yangsheng” (literally “nourish life”), for those who wish to improve and protect their health through qigong, self-massage, breathing, healthy eating and a moderate lifestyle. Enjoy!


Ingredients.

2g chopped almonds (blanched, or without skin)

2 slices of pear

2g ju hua (Chrysanthemi Flos, chrysanthemum flower tea, Chrysanthementee)

2g gou qi zi (Lycii Fructus, goji berries, Gojibeere)

1 hong zao (Jujubae Fructus, Chinese red date, Chinesische rote Datteln)

2g mei gui hua (Rosae rugosae Flos, rosebud tea, Rosenknospe)

½ g chen pi (Citrii reticulatae Pericarpium, dried Mandarin tangerine peel, getrocknete Mandarinenschale)

1-2g white granulated/rock sugar (Kristallzucker/Kandiszucker)


Pre-preparation.

Soak the Chinese red dates (hong zao), and dried tangerine peel (chen pi) in a small bowl of cold water for about half an hour.


Preparation.

Place all eight ingredients in a teapot, pour freshly boiled water over it (about half a liter) and let steep for 10 minutes. You can leave the ingredients in the pot, and refresh the tea one more time.


Note: Organic goji berries and rosebuds can usually be bought in stores that sell organic food or specialty tea shops, and hong zao and chen pi from reputable TCM herbal medicine suppliers or better Asian grocery stores.

养生蘑菇汤 Yangsheng Mogu Tang - Mushroom Soup to Nourish Life

Mushrooms, of all sorts, are an important ingredient in “yangsheng“ recipes to nourish life. One of the most commonly known in the west is the shiitake mushroom, because of the rich flavor it adds to soups, stews and stirfry dishes. However, it also has very powerful medicinal properties for the qi and, in modern times, is recognized for its anti-cancer properties.

This recipe uses a combination of whatever fresh mushrooms you can find, but is best to include shiitake. If fresh shiitake mushrooms are not available, I would suggest using one or two of the dried black shiitake mushrooms.

The special combination of pork, tofu, green onion, white pepper, goji berries and Chinese red dates is not only delicious, but has the medicinal action of tonifying the qi, blood and yin essence, clearing phlegm heat, strengthening the kidney qi, harmonizing the liver qi and motivating the lung qi.

It is, of course, possible to make this recipe without the pork, for those who are vegetarians. This will change the qi action of the recipe, mainly in that it is less nourishing for the blood, and does not harmonize the liver qi. However, this is still a very potent food medicine recipe to nourish life, with all the positive effects for the qi and essence!

The amounts are for two portions, as a whole meal.

Ingredients.

For the tofu-pork meatballs:

130g lean minced pork

130g tofu

2 spring onions, green part only, finely chopped

½ teaspoon salt 

½ teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon soy sauce

¼ teaspoon sugar

For the soup:

1-2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 liter boiling water

½ teaspoon salt 

8g goji berries

4 Chinese red dates

250g of mixed fresh mushrooms, sliced or chopped 

*eg. 50g shiitake mushrooms, 50g white or brown button mushrooms, 50g Japanese enoki mushrooms, 50g oyster mushrooms, 50g Japanese matsutake mushrooms - the japanese mushrooms are commonly found in good organic shops or asian shops, but you could easily substitute any kind of mushroom you like...porcini, portobello, or whatever your store carries. If you cannot find fresh shiitake, try to get the dried variety, and soak about 2 or three of them for at least ten minutes before using.

Preparation.

Place the minced pork in a bowl. Crumble up the tofu with your hands and thoroughly mix with the pork, squeezing and pressing the pork and tofu to blend it. Add the chopped green parts of the spring onion and the rest of the seasonings (salt, white pepper soy sauce, sugar). Using your hand, with the fingers separated like a claw, stir the mixture in one direction only until it is sticky (this creates a special texture so that the meatball mixture stays together while cooking, and the texture is light and fluffy).

Press the mixture into a flat sphere in your mixing bowl, and then divide the sphere in half. Next, divide each half into three equal portions. Grabbing one portion of the meatball mixture in your hand, lightly press and roll it in the palm of your hand to form a ball. Repeat to make 6 meatballs.

Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan, gently add the meatballs to the pan and on a medium heat, brown the meatballs, gently turning them until the surface of the meatball is sealed and slightly brown. This only takes 2 or 3 minutes...the meatballs do not have to be fully cooked. This step ensures the meatballs will not fall apart as you cook the soup.

Add the boiling water to the pan, and the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. Also add the Chinese red dates. Cover and cook on medium heat for 10 / 15 minutes.

Uncover pan, and skim away any excess oil that has risen to the surface before adding the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms, and continue to cook, uncovered, until the mushrooms are done (around 5 / 10 minutes). In the end, add the goji berries.

Immediately serve and enjoy!

Nuts, Beans and Barley Porridge

This is a nutrient rich porridge, and a real boost for the blood, the liver yin, the kidney qi and the spleen qi. For the elderly, young children, or people recovering from a serious illness, a small bowl (about 1½ cups) of this can be eaten most days as a breakfast. Otherwise, for healthy adults, 1½ - 2 cups of porridge eaten once per week is enough to get the medicinal benefit. 

You can also make this recipe as a dessert soup by adding more water - the taste is quite sweet, even with almost no sugar or other sweetener added. Eaten in this way, the portion is smaller, only about one cup.

Ingredients.

150g dried kidney beans 

50g peanuts (raw, or roasted without salt)

50g cashews (raw, or roasted without salt)

50g barley (uncooked)

1 teaspoons soft brown sugar 

1.5 liters water

Preparation.

Soak the dried kidney beans. To do this, bring dry beans to a boil, then turn off the heat and let them soak for about 2-3 hours. Discard the soaking water. Alternatively, you can soak the beans in a pot full of cool water overnight at room temperature.

Rinse the nuts and barley before cooking.

Bring 1½ liters water to a boil. Add nuts, barley and pre-soaked kidney beans and bring back to a boil.

Lower heat, cover and continue to cook on a low boil for 30 minutes. Stir, lower the heat and cover, continuing to cook for at least another hour, or until the beans and barley are completely softened. You will need to check the porridge as it cooks and stir as needed.

Once the beans and barley are softened, mash the mixture a little in the pan, to meld all the flavors. Add the brown sugar, stir and cook on low for another 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Note.

If dried kidney beans are not available, you can use canned. In this case, you first cook the barley with the nuts, about 45 minutes, until the barley is soft. Then add the rinsed, canned beans. Canned beans do not require cooking, so add them to the barley and nut mixture, mash the ingredients, add the sugar, and then cook for 20 minutes. This is not as “Qi nutritious” as cooking with the dried beans, but it is still a nutritious meal.

If soft brown sugar is not available, you can substitute it with maple syrup, barley malt, or white sugar. 

When making this recipe as a thinner, sweet dessert soup, add more water to reach your preferred consistency, and add a bit more of whatever sweetener you use.

Gouqi Fried Two Slices - 枸杞炒两片 Gouqi Chao Liang Pian

This is a traditional recipe, given to people convalescing from illness, elderly people who are feeling weak and tire easily from mental strain, women in the middle stages of pregnancy who find it difficult to concentrate, and anyone who feels mental strain from using their eyes too much for work or study - especially reading or writing on computers, smartphones, notebooks, etc.

All the ingredients in this food recipe, plus the style of preparation, make this simple recipe a home style food version of a classical Chinese medicine prescription to tonify the yang aspect of the Original/Source Qi (元氣 yuan qi) by supplementing the yin aspect of qi and blood.

The only herbal medicine substance in the recipe is Gouqi zi 枸杞子 (Lycii Fructus), known in the west as goji berries. It is one of the very few substances in the materia medica that is said to “tonify primal yin as a support to primal yang” - in other words, it is what we call an Essence Qi (Jing 精) tonic.

The rest of the ingredients in the recipe support this action, balancing yin and yang, nourishing the qi and blood, restoring the Original Qi and Essence. The gouji berries ensure that the action of the recipe will enter the qi channels of the kidneys, liver and lungs.



Ingredients.
200g boneless chicken breast (without the skin), sliced thin

200g white fish (such as cod, haddock, sole, halibut, Seelachs, Dorsch - it can be frozen if fresh fish is not easily available), sliced thin

100g spinach (frozen, if fresh is not available), chopped

50g goji berries, soaked in water for 5 minutes

1 spring onion, cut into 3cm lengths

4 slices fresh ginger (peeled)

2 tablespoons rapeseed or other cooking oil



Marinade for the chicken.
½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon soya sauce

1 tablespoon white wine, (or Sherry, or Chinese Shaoxing, if you have some at home)

1 tablespoon rapeseed or other cooking oil

1 tablespoon cornflour



Marinade for the fish.
½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon soya sauce

1 tablespoon rapeseed or other cooking oil

A dash of ground pepper, white or black



Preparation.
Mix the marinades in two bowls, and marinate the chicken and fish in their respective marinades for about 5 minutes.

Heat wok or frying pan until hot, add 1 tablespoon cooking oil and, when very hot and starting to smoke, fry the ginger and spring onion for about 10 seconds, just until fragrant.

Add the chicken (just the meat, not the marinade) and quickly stirfry for about 3 minutes. Then add the fish and continue to stirfry for another 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate.

Reheat wok or frying pan with 1 tablespoon oil, until it starts to smoke, then fry the remaining ginger and spring onion until fragrant. Add the spinach (if frozen, it does not have to be defrosted first - just throw it in the pan) and stirfry for about 2 minutes, then add the goji berries and a few drops of soya sauce and a pinch of salt to season, stir frying another minute or so, until the spinach is done. Finally, add in the fish and chicken and fry another few seconds.

Serve immediately.


This can be eaten with congee (white rice soup), plain boiled or steamed rice (traditionally white basmati rice, but brown rice is also good).

The stir-fry method of cooking is very fast, using high heat and oil to seal in the flavors and other properties of the food. Therefore, it is best to have all your ingredients prepared and ready to quickly add to the pan, once the oil is hot.

Stir-fried Beef, Green Onion and Ginger to Nourish the Kidney Qi and the Blood

“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.

Congee

Congee (or Zhou 粥) is a simple and plain dish of white rice cooked in water, much like a soupy porridge. It is a staple of the Chinese diet, eaten by young and old, alike, as a breakfast soup, a medicinal remedy, a tonic, or a late night snack after an evening of talking and drinking alcohol with friends.

As food medicine, it is a dish of prime importance because being bland in taste, neutral in temperature, soft yet firm in texture, it nourishes both the yin fluids and tonifies the yang qi function of the transformation of “grains and fluids”. In other words, it has a very definite medical action called “Harmonizing the Middle”, “Tonifying” the stomach qi and the spleen qi, and “Regulating” the qi of the digestive system. These medical actions are key to restoring and maintaining health.

Congee can be added to other food medicine recipes in order to moderate or support the actions of those recipes, it can be eaten on its own to moderate excessive conditions of the body (whether from the side effects of medical treatment such as chemo/radiation therapy, or self induced effects of drinking or eating excessively). It can also be used as the main part of any meal, and how you use its harmonizing and balancing properties as the center of a meal depends on your own healthy make-up, or condition of imbalance.

As a breakfast porridge, it is commonly eaten with a few small side dishes, such as kimchi or other pickles, perhaps a boiled or fried egg, some fried greens or other leftovers...much like a breakfast array of “tapas”!

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
10 cups water

Preparation.

1. Wash the rice thoroughly, rinsing in plain water until the water is clear.

2. Place water and rice in a large cooking pan, cover and bring to boil over a high heat.

3. Immediately after it begins to boil, uncover and turn the heat down very low. Lay two chopsticks or knives on the rim of the pan, so that you can rest the lid of the pan on the. This creates a gap between the pan and the lid, allowing enough steam to escape so that the rice does not boil over, yet keeping it covered enough that the water does not evaporate.

4. Cook for at least 45 minutes or longer (depending on the type of rice you use...it is important to have the rice “break down” to achieve a creamy consistency, yet remain firm enough to have some texture). Stir occasionally, and, if it absorbs to much of the liquid while cooking, add more water.

Chinese Food Medicine: Mungbean & Barley-Soup

Special soup to eat once per week

Mung Bean and Barley Soup 

Ingredients:

barley: half a cup 
mung beans: half a cup 
water: 6 cups

Just soak them first (overnight, in cold water), cook with quite some water (the ratio should be at least 6 parts water to 1 part beans and barley), until everything is soft, about 3/4 of an hour. 

It can stick to the pan, so after bringing it to a boil, cook it on low, with lid on, but stir regularly. 

You only need to eat a small amount, but can also eat it more often. This clears Damp Heat while supporting the Spleen Qi and regulating the bowels.

If you have made barley water, you can always use the cooked barley in this recipe. Simply cook the mung beans until they are soft, then add the cooked barley and cook another 15 or 20 minutes.

White Radish Soup to Clear the Lungs and Relieve Cough

Here's a Chinese food medicine recipe: White Radish Soup  

White radish is a traditional Chinese food medicine used to clear the lungs to resolve phlegm, control cough, and “release exterior” from pathogenic heat that enters the body. Garlic is an important food medicine to ward off disease in all traditions, and in this recipe, it also supports the action of the radish to relieve cough. White pepper has a particular association with the qi of the lungs, immediately and strongly activating the qi to expel phlegm, and it ensures the medical effect of the recipe is brought directly to the lungs. Olives and olive oil act to protect the yin aspect of the lung qi, and in this recipe is used to moderate the yang and somewhat drying action of the pepper.

As a preventative food medicine recipe, this soup can be eaten once or twice per week to keep the lungs clear and improve breathing, in general, thus strengthening the qi of the lungs and guarding against viral infection.

As a recipe to relieve the symptoms of a viral attack of an external heat pathogen, with excessive phlegm that blocks the nose and throat, restricts breathing and causes hard, persistent coughing, it can be eaten daily.

Ingredients:

300 gm white radish (if not available, use white turnip), sliced thin

2 pinches salt

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced very fine

½ teaspoon white (or black) pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 finely chopped spring onion

Preparation:

Place radish, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper in one liter water, bring to boil over high heat, then turn heat to low, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until radish is very soft.

Sprinkle cooked soup with freshly chopped spring onion.

Covid 19 - Chinese Medicine Information & Food Advice

The Covid-19 virus is classified in TCM as a “warm/febrile, damp disease” - a kind of “hot toxin” that quickly enters the lungs. It lodges there, creating a condition of Fire that disrupts the moistening and descending function of the Lung Qi, immediately leading to disruption of breathing, thickening of sputum, and in worse cases, irreversible damage to the tissue of the lungs and death. It also disrupts the aspect of the Qi that forms and refines the combination of breath and blood, and its circulation throughout the body’s system, a crucial function of both Lung Qi and Heart Qi. 

What that means for us is that first, and foremost, we need to strengthen our defenses. Secondly, we should avoid anything that internally overheats our body’s organs through inappropriate or excessive eating or drinking, or anything that inhibits the lungs and digestion through lack of circulation of the Qi and blood - such as sitting too much, over concentrating, obsessive thinking or anxiety, frustration, anger, sadness. All of these can create an internal environment in the lungs and digestion that will burden your immune system, making you vulnerable to contagion, and making things worse if you have already been exposed to the virus. As we know, in the worst case scenario, this virus can turn your lungs to glue in a very short time.

Things you can positively do for yourself

First, the best prevention to protect ourselves, our community, our elders and vulnerable fellow citizens is for everyone to stay at home. Do regular, daily exercising in your home. It is vitally important with this virus to stimulate the body’s immune system, activate the digestion, and strengthen the lungs and breathing. Ideally this should include regular qigong and tai chi practice, at least 20 minutes, twice per day. But also, all exercise that is coordinated with the breathing is good - yoga, even dancing, singing!

The important food medicines from a TCM point of view are:Barley water - drink half a cup, 3 x per day. That helps to drain phlegm and cools and clears the digestion. To prepare, simply cook 1 cup barley in 10 cups water. Bring it to a boil, then cover and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes. Strain and drink the liquid. It can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. (The leftover barley grain can be used in salads, or in soups, or other cooked dishes.)


Drink at least 2 liters water per day. This is crucial, and it means just plain water. This will help to moderate any disruption of the defenses of the Lung Qi.

Additionally, these teas are especially helpful if you can easily and safely get them (order online). The best is Chrysanthemum tea, 1 cup morning and evening. If this is not available to you, then other teas that are especially good at this time include peppermint, nettle, Käsepappel, hibiscus. All help the lungs to kick out any pathogen in it’s early stages.

Eat bland things for breakfast, like plain oatmeal or rice soup (congee). In general, eat little meat, more green vegetables, beans, whole grains (rice, buckwheat, oats, bulgur, barley, etc). All of these regulate and activate the digestion.If possible, have tofu, and/or soya milk a few times per week. Soya beans have antibacterial properties in TCM, as it cools Damp Heat.

Radishes! These support the lungs to Clear Phlegm and Cool Heat. Turnips are also effective.

Cabbage - any kind, cooked, raw, as a juice, as Sauerkraut.

Things to avoid

The main things to avoid are:

Any type of alcohol, heavy fatty foods, very spicy foods or chili, cheese, milk products, butter, too many sweets, biscuits, etc, and over-eating.

Irregular eating or inappropriate eating (skipping breakfast, eating late, having sweets instead of a meal).

Sitting too much! Activate the Qi, the breath and the body every morning, every evening, and throughout the day.

Obsessive thinking or behaviour, concentrating too much, allowing the emotions to disrupt internal harmony on all levels.


JIAYOU! 加油！We can do this!



With much love and best wishes to you all, Kerry