Let’s
have a bowl of nourishing tonic soup
Chinese herbal
soup is good for replenishing certain nutrients needed by our bodies;
stimulating appetite and especially good for women either during pregnancy or post
delivery. For post delivery, one of the key herbs to be added in is Dang Gui (当归), a common
ingredient used during
confinement period to speed up after birth recovery.
However, this
nourishing tonic soup is not restricted to women only but it is also good as a
supplement source of nutrients and energy in addition to boosting the immune
system. The following simple chicken
herbal soup Auntie Lan used to prepare for us does not include Dang Gui. The
herbs she used were general purposed Chinese chicken herbal soup combination
for daily consumption. Apologies again for not giving the exact measurement of
the ingredients used, however the portion I estimated she used for following
was about: 1:0.5:0.5:0.25:0.25:0.125:0.125
Nowadays you can
easily find this pre-packaged dry herbal soup ingredients at any Asian Grocery
shop. All you need to do is just to add in water to cook and salt to taste. For
working moms, even this may still be too much a hassle. Here’s a way to further
make life easier. Read on.
The secret is to
have a 24 hour timer switch device and
a slow cooker (Crock-Pot). Instead of
cooking over stove and watching over the heat, all you need to do is to plug
the slow cooker to the timer, add in boiling water to slow cooker, dump in the
packaged herbals and chicken (you can wash chicken a night before) and set the
timer on to cook it at high heat for 1.5 hours before you leave your house in
the morning. With the timer, you can also set to warm the soup again by setting
the timer to automatically switch on half an hour before you come back from
work.
I bet when you come
back from work, as soon as you open the door you will be overwhelmed by the
nice strong tonic aroma coming from your kitchen! What you need to do next is
to have another 30 minutes for you to cook the rice and you and your family will
get to enjoy a healthy chicken herbal soup dinner. Now who said working moms do
not have time to prepare healthy and nutritious meals for her family? J
 |
| Chicken Herbal Soup 药材鸡汤 |
I extracted explanation
of the herbs and medical effects from this site Complementary
and Alternative Healing University:
Item
|
Herbs Name/药材名
|
Medical Functions/功效
|
1
|
|
Treats weakness, shortness of breath, lassitude, lack of
appetite, loose stools due to spleen deficient.
强筋壮骨，补血行气，滋颐润颜。
|
2
|
Nourishes
and tonifies the liver and kidney, helps eyesight, improves blurred vision,
alleviates sore back, strengthens the leg and stomach, improves circulation,
boosts immune function, promotes longevity.
养肝，补肾，滋阴，明目，益气。
|
|
3
|
|
Corrects blood deficiency, invigorates Qi (lack of appetite,
fatigue, thirst, diarrhea, vomiting, polapse of uterus, stomach, rectum due
to spleen deficient), improves digestive system.
补中益气，养血补肺。
|
4
|
|
Nourishes
Yin, promotes the production of body fluids and relieves dryness syndrome.
养阴，润燥，除烦，止渴。治热病阴伤，咳嗽烦渴，虚劳发热，消谷易饥，小便频数。
|
5
|
|
Invigorates Qi, nourishes Yin, controls spermatorrhea and
reduces urination.
补脾养胃，生津益肺，补肾涩精。
|
6
|
sweet
and cooling
in properties. The herb is also associated to the lung and heart meridians
and help to relieve coughs, dry throats, clear heat, and moisten the lung.
Dried lily bulb is also used as an herb to calm the spirit, promote restful
sleep, and lessen irritability.
养阴润肺；清心安神。主阴虚久嗽；痰中带血；热病后期；余热未清，或情志不遂所致的虚烦惊悸、失眠多梦、精神恍惚；痈肿；湿疮
|
|
7
|
for
arresting coughing and asthma, expelling phlegm, help bowel movements.
降氣止咳平喘，潤腸通便。用於咳嗽氣喘，胸滿痰多，血虛津枯，腸燥便秘。 |
