Lü Dou Tang 绿豆汤 - Cooling Mung Bean Soup

In the hot time of the year, Lü Dou Tang is a sweet and light soup made with green mung beans that is popular all over China. It helps you to cool down from summer heat, and has a high nutritional value.

Mung beans were first noted in one of the Ming dynasty classics of the TCM Materia Medica, Ben Cao Gang Mu 本草纲目, by the famous doctor, Li Shizhen 李时珍. Mung beans are cooling, relieve heat stroke and thirst, clear toxins and internal heat, promote urination and relieve edema, calm the Shen 神 (spirit and mind), reinforce Original Yuan Qi 元氣, harmonize the organs and nourish the skin.

Ingredients.

100g mung beans, washed 

1 liter water

1 teaspoon rock sugar (or white granulated sugar)

Preparation.

Bring 1 liter water to boil. Add washed mung beans and sugar, turn off heat, cover and let the beans soak in the hot water for 20 minutes. 

Turn the heat on and bring to boil once more, turn off heat and leave the soup to cool.

You can, of course, eat the soup warm. Normally it is left to cool to room temperature. 

Keep the remaining soup in the refrigerator for up to three days, and eat it cool or at room temperature. For those who prefer it warm, simply reheat it for a few minutes over a low heat.

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.

Kerry’s Medicinal Kimchi Recipe

This is my recipe for a non-spicy Kimchi, to really boost the immune system! It is not traditional Korean Kimchi; what I have devised is a highly effective “food medicine” recipe using Chinese medicine knowledge of the action of the qi of plants, and how the dosage, combination and preparation of specific food substances synergize to have a specific set of actions on the qi of the body. It is easy to make and works to strengthen and activate the qi in the middle jiao, and to resolve “phlegm damp” throughout the body. It is balanced in temperature, so as not to add excessive heat or cold to the body. Through a combination of ingredients and fermentation,  all of the 5 Flavors associated with each organ - sweet, salty, acrid/pungent, sour and bitter - are represented here, and work together to make this a real “superfood” for our health. It is a calling together of all the various qi aspects of the immune system, and deploys them to our front lines of defense. 

To get this medicinal effect, you need to eat about a tablespoon per day. As in all traditional Chinese methods that work with the qi – whether it is food medicine, medical prescriptions, qigong, taijiquan, acupuncture, massage, meditation – every daily dosage (or daily practice, or treatment) builds on the last, increasing the beneficial effect exponentially. To put it simply, eating a spoonful of this food medicine and doing a few minutes of qigong practice, every day, fortifies your defenses, and regulates your body and mind in a way that builds on the foundation of what you did the day before, the weeks before, and so on.

A few words on ingredient and possible substitutions: 

Any kind of green or white cabbage would work in this recipe if you cannot get the Chinese cabbage, also known as Napa cabbage. The Chinese cabbage is traditionally used because it ferments quickly and, in terms of qi, is slightly more yang in that has a more “floating” action that helps lift the action of the recipe to the lungs.

Any kind of pear will do, but if you can get the Asian white pears (called nashi pears), they are less sweet than other pears, and have a different texture, making them ideal for this recipe. If you cannot get any kind of pear, you can substitute a whole apple instead of only half. 

These optional additions to the recipe have the following effect:

When you add a little sweet red pepper and/or carrot to the kimchi, you not only boost the sweet taste as the kimchi ferments, but you ensure the qi effect of the kimchi goes more into the blood, nourishing  the qi aspect of the heart and liver.

When you add a little of the long, white Chinese radish, you slightly boost the pungent taste of the kimchi, and strengthen the effect of clearing phlegm from the lungs as you open the qi of the middle. If you cannot get the Chinese radish, you can substitute a little white turnip.



Recipe Ingredients:

1 small Chinese cabbage (about 300 to 400 grams)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 teaspoon minced ginger
2 scallions, sliced
½  apple, peeled and chopped
½ pear, peeled and chopped
½ yellow or white onion, peeled and chopped
sea salt
water

(Optional) - 1/2 sweet, red pepper, thinly sliced, or 1 carrot, grated, or small piece of Chinese white radish, sliced



Preparation:

Separate cabbage leaves and chop into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl.

Dissolve 2 tablespoons sea salt in a bowl of warm water then pour salt water over cabbage leaves. Give cabbage a gentle toss to distribute salt water.  Allow salted cabbage to sit for at least four hours.

Give cabbage a good rinse to remove excess salt, drain and return the cabbage to a bowl, adding  
minced garlic, minced ginger, and green onions.

Blend the chopped onions, apple, and pear with one cup of water, (with a stick blender, normal blender, or just chop very fine and make a mash of the mixture with a fork), then add this natural sweetener to the cabbage.

Give everything a thorough toss and rubdown. You want to massage together the flavors, and evenly distribute all ingredients.

Transfer seasoned cabbage leaves into one or two large glass jars (such as pickle jars) or ceramic containers that you can put a plate over as a lid. Be sure to use firm pressure with your hands to push down on cabbage leaves as they stack up inside the jar. 

Transfer any liquid that accumulated during the mixing process into the jar as well - this liquid will become kimchi brine. Some liquid will also come out of the cabbage leaves as you press down on them.

Be sure to leave about 2 inches of room at the top of the jar before capping it tightly with a lid (you can use clingfilm to put over the lid of any other type of container you use, then place a plate over it). Allow kimchi to sit at room temperature for at least 24 - 48 hours. This will allow the fermentation process to begin.

Refrigerate and take out portions as needed. The kimchi will continue to ferment, slowly, in the refrigerator over time. So long as you use clean utensils to take out small portions, it will keep for up to a month in your refrigerator.

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.