Watermelon is a blessing for hot summer. Its red flesh is sweet, juicy, hydrating, and cold in nature, making it excellent to quench thirst and help us cool summer heat. More than often, we waste the white portion of a watermelon: the part between the dark skin and the red flesh. In some part of China, it is called the "watermelon frost 西瓜霜". According to TCM, watermelon rind: is sweet, bland in flavor is cold in nature enters Heart and Stomach meridian cools summer heat and quenches thirst calms agitation promotes urination and helps with dark urine and edema helps treat...
This is the ultimate sweet-tart-savor quick pickle for the summer! It can be eaten as a snack alone, accompany a savory meal, or go with a sweet beverage or dessert! It is truly a delicious and versatile dish to hydrate our body. Although peach is slightly warming, it is often used to reduce heat caused by overworking. It also serves to hydrate our body, moisten our intestines, and invigorate blood. Shiso and ginger, on the other hand, are great at releasing the exterior, moving qi, and helping with nausea and food poisoning that is more common in the summer. Courtersy to...
Purslane, ma chi xian (馬齒莧), is a cold veggie fantastic for cooling heat and treating skin conditions (caused by heat), hemorrhoids, red/white/smelly vaginal discharge, and inflammation. It is both common in southern China and also in Europe I believe. In this recipe, fresh purslane is quickly blanched and paired with boiled lotus root to nourish Yin (the fluid aspect of our bodies) and cool summer heat. A tart-savory goji vinaigrette is used to bring the two vegetables together. You can also choose to mix them with your own dressing of choice: If you want the cooling effect, do not use too...
I was shopping in Chinatown the other day and spotted some banana flowers (unusual find!). I’ve never had them before, as they are not a common ingredient in Shanghainese cuisine at all (I’m from shanghai!). So I knew that I had to get them. I got home and the question became: how do I eat this? They look, although very stunning, completely “inedible” and remind me of an artichoke. I did some research and thanks to this YouTube video, I was able to process it successfully to reveal its edible parts. Note that soaking it in lime water to get...
In TCM, root vegetables are known for their Qi-replenishing, spleen-strengthening functions. This recipe uses a combination of three root vegetables: beet, daikon radish, and carrot. Nothing is wasted; a savory coconut sauce is made from the green root tops and creamy coconut milk. It brings everything together into a light yet nourishing dish. Beet 甜菜根 TCM Energetics: sweet, slightly cooling, neutral Organ-Meridian Affinity: Heart, Small Intestine, Large Intestine, Liver TCM Functions: benefits the spleen and removes food stagnation; organizes Qi and help with urination; cools heat and detoxifies the liver; tonifies blood Daikon Radish 白萝卜 TCM Energetics: aromatic, sweet, cooling Organ-Meridian...
Winter melon is a staple at my family's dinner table. We are from Shanghai, where the summer climate is very hot and humid. My grandparents will cook winter melon often because it is able to clears summer heat, promote urination, and reduce phlegm. They add sliced winter melon to broths or braise them in soy sauce and scallion. The texture of winter melon is very unique. When it's raw, it is pretty firm and white; when it's cooked through, it becomes super tender and transparent! You can easily find them in Chinatown or Chinese grocers. Hope you enjoy cooking with...
