Traditional Chinese Medicinal Tonic Soups!

TRADITIONAL CHINESE HEALING TONIC SOUPS

The saying goes “drinking soup before meals makes you slim and healthy, drinking soups after meals makes you grow fatter!”

Last month we looked at why healing broths are so important in healing the gut.  They nourish the digestive system, heal leaky gut and are a natural anti-inflammatory.  This month we take it up a notch... a BIG notch and include Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in making traditional healing tonic soups. 

TCM is thousands of years old and today Chinese Medical Doctors are still trained in TCM as part of their Medical Doctorial.  TCM equates to more than 40% of all health care in China.  Thought to be over 2,000 years old, TCM has truly stood the test of time.  Based on balancing the energy system in the body by ensuring energy (Qi, pronounced Chi) flows easily throughout the body’s meridians (energy flow lines).  Each meridian governs a key organ in the body.  

When we are unwell blockages in the meridians prevent energy from flowing easily throughout the body, which causes physical dis-ease.  Acupuncture needles are placed along meridians which draw Qi (life-force energy, chi, energy) to the needle.  When done correctly, this will unblock the meridians and enable health to restore. 

TCM also seeks to balance the five elements, wood, fire earth, metal and water.   The Qi of the elements waxes and wanes in daily and seasonal cycles, therefore we change from season to season.  Each person has a unique and characteristic blend of the influences of all the elements.   

Here you will see a chart of some of what is taken into consideration when you are treated by a TCM practitioner, things get very complicated!  Among many things a practitioner will assess your tongue and even your ear lobes, read your pulses and take your symptoms into account.

Five Elements	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
Seasons	Spring	Summer	Late Summer	Autumn	Winter
Environment	Wind	Heat	Damp	Dry	Cold
Zang	Liver	Heart	Spleen	Lung	Kidney
Fu	Gallbladder	Small Intestine	Stomach	Large Intestine	Bladder
Directions	East	South	Middle	West	North
Tastes	Sour	Bitter	Sweet	Pungent	Salty
Sense Organs	Eye	Tongue	Mouth	Nose	Ear
Tissues	Tendon	Vessel	Muscle	Skin and Hair	Bone
Emotions	Anger	Joy	Worry *	Grief	Fear

When we are healthy we move through the seasons unchanged.  When we are not healthy we see patterns of the above manifesting as symptoms.  E.g. Hayfever in spring, colds and flu in winter, weakness in particular organs etc are all signs the body’s energy system is not flowing!

When the body is balanced we move with the seasons.  If you refer to the chart above and look at the generating cycle below you will see that it too moves with the seasons.  One way to remember this is water is the necessary ingredient for plants to grow, therefore trees grow and you get wood. Wood can be rubbed together to form and transform into fire. Fire burns the wood to ash and what is left is earth. Earth in the form of continents crashes together to create mountains of rock from which metal can be drawn. Then the rain falls on the mountains of rock and from the metal, water flows down the ground to nourish the trees. It's a little bit of a stretch but it may help you remember. 

                                          

To keep the elements in balance however the five phases also have s system of checks and balances.  This Controlling Cycle shown below left ensures that no phase is too long, or too short.  Starting from water, water controls fire, fire controls metal, metal controls wood, wood controls earth, earth controls water.

When the body is out of balance however and cycles are broken, elements may control and take over another element and cause damage to it.  E.g. water controls fire, too much water and the fire goes out!)   One way to remember this is: water can be thrown to dose out fire, fire melts metal, metal in the form of an axe or knife cuts wood, wood cracks through the earth to grow, earth clouds and turns water to mud.  

                                                   

Phew!  So in TCM things can get very technical!  Not only must we balance the five elements, we must also balance our yin (female, cool energy) and yang (male, hot energy) and we must also ensure each of the eight main meridians are flowing ensuring our organs are maintained in perfect health!

You will hear a TCM practitioner say that you may have ‘damp-heat rising’ or you are ‘kidney yin deficient’ or that you lack fire etc.  So as you can tell it is quite involved as everyone is unique!  They may suggest warming foods and limiting cooling foods etc.

Therefore on that note I am going to teach you a strengthening tonic soup that nourishes each element and is suitable for all the family.  If someone is sick however and doesn’t improve on this broth, you could seek the advice from a TCM practitioner as to which herbs would help balance the body’s Qi. However we find that this soup works wonders!  You can literally feel an increase in strength and mental clarity, you feel revitalised yet calm!  It is simple divine in not only taste, but how it makes you feel! 

When to Drink Healing Tonic Soups

Drinking soups and broths before a meal lubricates the digestive tract, allowing the food to be easily ingested by drinking a bit of soup during the meal to help dilute and stir the food, thereby accelerating absorption and digestion.  Consuming soup before meals helps fill the stomach and therefore reduces food main meal portion sizes.    Therefore healing soups should be consumed throughout the year.  This is an entire cooking course to itself however!  Next year I do hope to film my friend who has studied TCM with the Masters and has a passion for healing soups!  Stay tuned for this series! 

Tips for cooking your soups:

1)  Use cold water not hot when you are adding your ingredients to the pot.  This will ensure they will cook evenly and the nutrients are released gradually to achieve good results.

    2)  Do not add cold water half way through cooking because the heated meat will contract when mixed with cold water and it will be difficult for the proteins to dissolve and the soup will lose its fresh and original flavour.

    3)  Do not add salt too early as the protein in the meat will be solidified and not dissolve easily causing the soup to become dark in colour and not thick enough.

    4)  It is best not to add too many seasonings such as spring onions, ginger etc or the delicate flavour will be lost.

    5)  Do not add tamari (fermented soy sauce) early or the soup will become sour and dark.

    6)  Meat soups should be slow cooked over a long period of time.  Overheating and vigorous boiling of meat proteins cause the coup to become murky.    

    7)  Fresh vegetables should be added just before serving to preserve nutrients like vitamin c.

    8)  Do not to use metal pots as some herbs interact with metal, such as stainless steel and iron pots.

9)  In TCM, the older chickens are considered to have more energy than younger birds and slower cooking means more tonification.  In other words, the older your chook and the slower you cook, the more potent it the medicine!

  

Healthy Kitchen Medicinal Soup

Traditional chicken style medicinal soups are slow cooked chicken with the Chinese herbs.  To clarify in Chinese Medicine ‘herbs’ refer to roots, bark, nuts, fungi, bulbs, flowers, greens, fruit, grains, seeds, berries and even animal parts and sea creatures and sea vegetables.

Chinese chicken soups are traditionally made with black chickens.  The skin is black and the head and feet are usually still attached!  Your broths turn black too.  I have not found these in our country however I am sure they are available through Asian food markets, although I am not that keen to try one. Black chickens are considered very potent healers, so if I am dying, I’ll consider it, otherwise a good free-range/organic chicken will do thank you!

Chinese soups are also usually slow cooked over 2 hours, although I don’t consider that truly slow cooked.  With what we understand about traditional bone broths, I cook mine a lot longer than this to extract maximum minerals from the bones.  So I have made modifications to traditional methods to increase the nutrient level.

By slow cooking chickens over 6-10 hours or even 24 hours, the cartilage around the joints melt and the bones begin to break down extracting minerals from the bones. 

Traditional methods also call for pre-boiling the chicken for a few minutes to remove scum and some of the fat from the bird.  This step can be skipped. If you would like to make a traditional soup, serve as a broth with the herbs and whole pieces of chicken.  I prefer this method as it creates a thicker nourishing meal.  Remember that in China these broths are served before main meals, I prefer to make a meal out of it.

1 free-range happy-when-alive chicken
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Salt to taste

Chinese Herbs:
2-3 Black fungus  (blood)
Lotus Nut (Lotus seed, Lian Zi)  (Blood)
Dang Shen (Condonopsis) (Chi)
Logan Berries (blood)
Astragalus (Huang Qi) (Chi)
American Ginseng (blood and chi)
Solomons Seal (Polygonatum, Huang Jing, Yu Shu) (Blood chi)
Chinese Yam (Chi)
Dried Lily Bulb (Bai He)

I Onion, Diced

Place the onion in the bottom of you clay pot or ceramic slow cooker.  Remember not to use metal pots as some herbs interact with metal, such as stainless steel and iron pots.

Place your washed chicken on top of the onion.

Place your herbs into the pots (around three pieces of each of the larger herbs and 6 of the smaller herbs).  Cover chicken with COLD water.  Do not use boiling water.   Add the apple cider vinegar.

Slow cook for several hours 6-24 hours.  Top up with boiling water if required.  Cold water will cause the muscle to contract causing the chicken to become though. 

Remove the chicken from the pot carefully and remove the meat from the bones.  Discard bones.

Remove any tough and fibrous herbs that haven’t softened.

Using a hand blender whiz the remaining herbs and add the chicken meat and sweet corn if using. 

Season to taste and serve hot!

Menstrual Soup

This is a tonic soup that is traditionally consumed at the end of your period.  It is also known to be highly beneficial for menstrual cramps and pains, PMS, and regulating menses, it lessons hormonal headaches, bloating and painful breasts.   A great one to teach your teenage daughters and granddaughters!

Dang Gui is one of the most popular Chinese herbs for women. It is often prescribed for gynaelogical problems - menstrual irregularities and fertility issues - as well as poor blood circulation resulting in dizziness, paleness, fatigue and dry skin.

As a root, Dang Gui's efficacy depends on which part of the root you use. The bottom part is said to move blood most strongly while the head of the root is a stronger tonic. You must ask your herbalist whether what you're getting is the head or bottom!

As a Warm herb, Dang Gui affects the liver, heart and spleen meridians. It is also rich in Vitamin B12 and folic acid besides being a liver tonic.

In Chinese TCM, deficient blood is normally associated with the liver which is believed to store blood and the heart which helps it circulate.

As blood in a Yin substance, a blood deficiency is a Yin deficiency.

It's not only Dang Gui which helps with blood deficiency.  Other herbs such as Dang Shen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), Shu Di Huang (Rehmania glutinosa), Bai Shao Yao (Paeonia lactiflora), Chuan Xiong (Ligusticum wallichii) and Gan Cao (Glycyrrhiza uralensis) are also used. 

Note that Dang Gui is NOT recommended if you are pregnant, have diarrhoea or have abdominal fullness.

Serves 1

Chicken Thigh, but into 2 pieces
5 pieces of Dang Gui (Angelica Root)
pinch salt

Place the chicken and Dang Gui into a slow cooker and cook for 2 hours.

Add salt to taste and drink the broth.

The chicken may be eaten with a little splash of Tamari to taste.

DOSE: Dang Gui is best taken a few days after your period.  Once a month will make a difference, 1-3 times is recommended.   After a few months you should notice the difference!