How food flavours affect your health from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective

How food flavours affect your health from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective

HOW FOOD FLAVOURS AFFECT YOUR HEALTH

(A TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE)

There is a Chinese Medicine phrase that states “Food and Medicine come from the same source”.   If you think about it, it totally does!  All of the ingredients found within Traditional Chinese Medicine are from organic sources and you can literally “eat” any of them, whether it’s from an animal (or an animal by-product), plant source (including roots and beans), or anything from the ocean (even coral and seaweed)!

One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory.  In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet, they also exist in each other.  Our bodies, minds, and souls are designed the same way in that to be healthy, we need to be in harmony between these 2 bipolar states.  Yin is receptive and passive, calm and slow, embodying cold and damp qualities (when we are sleeping).  Yang is its exact opposite in aggressive and active, embodying heat, dryness, and movement (when we are awake).

One of our mission at The Chinese Soup Lady is to bring these principles into the foods and drinks we consume in order to support harmony.  

Some principles of diet from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective:

  • Foods are also classified in physical temperature.  The literal measurement of temperature of the food in degrees Celcius of Fahrenheit.  
  • Foods also carry taste categories (they usually have two):  bitter, sweet, salty (or savory), pungent, or sour.  Spicy isn’t a taste category, but can be classified in nature.
  • Time of consumption based on our meridian cycle (or flow of energy depending on the time of day).  This can usually be classified as morning, noon, or night.

Why does taste matter (from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective)?

In the end, TCM is about finding balance in the person as a whole.  While I know primarily it addresses more the physical construct of the body, it also does support the mental portion in some ways such as calming the spirit and calming the mind.

Paying attention to temperature, nature, and flavour will help you on your journey to a healthy body and mind.  It just makes things easier and can help you make informed choices about what to eat, how to cook, and how much to eat, targeting specific opportunities or challenges in your well being. 

For example:

  • I want to cover temperature first (even though I know this article is about flavour).  As the stomach is the first place where food is received for true processing (in which it’s converted to a vital nutrient), cold foods will put a strain on the stomach as it will then need additional energy to heat it as the digestion process needs warmth.  This then means this energy is pulled from other organs and parts of the body that could have otherwise be used for something more useful.  And, we have control of what temperature the food goes into our body!  You can check out this video on why I drink warm water (all day long) and especially first thing in the morning when I wake!  Honestly, I even drink warm water on a run or ride… it’s weird, but did take some getting used to!

Examples:

  • Bitter foods are known to be cooling in TCM.  That means, they are more yin (instead of yang) and help with excess yang or yin deficiency.  Examples of bitter foods that have strong cooling effects include bitter melon, which is known as a super cooling good, especially if used in soups.  This also includes turnips, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, broccoli, celery, radishes (you know the white radishes are also super cooling!).  You can taste the slight bitterness in these foods, especially when they are raw and reduce in bitterness once cooked, but they still do retain their cooling effect.
  • From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, bitter herbs mirror bitter foods in that they are cooling and can clear heat, while sour herbs and foods are astringent (in that they can shrink or tighten cells or skin, can remove oils, and are antibacterial.  

Sour, bitter, and salty ingredients and  Chinese herbs increase yin in the body, focusing on having more internal effect and having a downward movement.

Sweet, pungent, and neutral ingredients and Chinese herbs increase yang in the body, focusing on outward movement and having more external effects.

 

  • Pungent foods and herbs such as cinnamon, peppermint, garlic, ginger, chili, black or white pepper, help disperse and remove obstruction of the Qi and blood in our bodies.  They help push the Qi and blood through the body and are particularly good for clearing colds, flus, and infections our bodies by opening the pores and promoting sweat, which helps eliminate the unwanted pathogens from the body.  This is why if you eat a lot of ginger, you’ll definitely start feeling warm and sweating. 
  • This spicy sweet ginger tea can be quite pungent and punchy if you have enough ginger!  Depending on how spicy and strong you’d like it, add more ginger (either grated or sliced makes it even more potent!).  This tea is a combination of sweet and pungent in taste, but definitely gets the blood flowing and warm!  
  • Sweet foods from a Chinese medicine perspective is different from that of a Western view of sweet.  It’s not the same chocolate or white sugar sweet that you taste.  The taste of these “sweet” ingredients are more subtle, gentle, and lingering in the mouth and throat.   Sweet includes ingredients such as red dates, ginseng, carrots, lamb, licorice, sweet potatoes, fruits and meats also fall into this category.  And the key is that this sweet is consumed in small, controlled amounts and small quantities.  In moderation really!  Small amounts of sweetness in our diets and in Chinese medicine help tonify the body, but too much sweet will dampen the body
  • This red and blue dates tea is a great example if a tea that tonifies the blood and Qi and is slightly sweet (and a bit sour) to taste!
  • Salty foods from a Chinese medicine perspective provide a diuretic effect, eliminating water from the body, and reducing swelling and lumps in the body.  Salty ingredients can include meats (remember foods can have 2 flavours, so meats can be both sweet and salty), seaweed, all seafood, and even salt itself.
  • Sour ingredients are function opposite to pungent ingredients in their support to the body, which can include reducing excess sweating, slowing down flow of blood and Qi, especially if it comes to bleeding or diarrhoea.  Sour ingredients include lemons, vinegar (both black and white), unripe fruit, crab apples, or dried hawthorn are some examples. 

The great thing about understanding how yin and yang is balanced is that this also pairs with the cooking styles of Chinese soups!

You can follow this post on “How Different Styles of Chinese Soups are Made“.

 

For more videos, visit us on YouTube.

For further reading, I’ve found some more scientific and published articles.  Here are some to read up on: 

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Papaya and Snow Fungus in a Pork Herbal Soup

Papaya and Snow Fungus in a Pork Herbal Soup

Papaya and Snow Fungus in a Pork Herbal Soup

Tea Name:

Papaya and Snow Fungus in a Pork Herbal Soup

Chinese Name: 

木瓜雪耳豬骨湯 (mù gua xuě ěr zhū tāng)

Nature:  Warm and ideal for moisturizing the body and lungs, supporting digestion and soothing the stomach.

Taste:  Sweet

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

I simply love snow fungus!  And this combination is a beautiful one in that at times, you’ll find this a dessert and other times, a soup!  I know, super strange.  But the combination of papaya + snow fungus can swing both sweet and savory! Which makes it so amazingly diverse!

What makes this combination so amazing?  It’s a combination of nourishing and lubricating the lung, stomach, and spleen with the papaya and the snow fungus.  This soup can soothe and aid in digestion, heal the stomach and stomachaches, and support lung treatment in coughs and dryness.  And of course, the added benefits of the plant collagen that is found in snow fungus (which, by the way can hold 500 times its weight in water!).  Reference this interesting article in the National Library of Medicine regarding snow fungus and its composition of collagen.

This is an easy to make, nutritious soup that is packed full of Vitamin C and beta-carotene. It is deliciously sweet and refreshing and ideal for autumn or winter days. You can use chicken to make it more warm and also add a variety of other ingredients to make it a meal.

Regardless of weather, this soup is designed to be moisturizing (from the inside) and perfect if you’ve got dry skin, dry lips, dry tongue (this is one key indicator from a TCM perspective).  In fact, some Chinese people claim that it’s part of their skin care regime to be consuming foods of this nature.  Bird’s nest is another one of those delicacies that call into this category of “self care”.  And you will often here Chinese ladies (and mothers) tell you how great this recipe is to stay looking “young”!

 

What’s involved?
Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins

Total time: 1 hour 45 mins

Serves: 8 bowls of soup

Ingredients
Cooking Instructions
  1. Rinse and soak dried snow fungus in a bowl of enough water to immerse it in for about an hour (or until soft)
  2. In a separate pot of boiling water, blanch pork bones for 5 minutes, set aside and cool
  3. Boil your soup water
  4. Wash and cut papaya into large edible cubes
  5. Using scissors, cut out the middle of the snow fungus (the hardest part) and cut the other portions into edibles pieces
  6. When your soup water boils, add in the pork bones, papaya and Chinese herbs.  I made this soup in the morning and set it into the thermal pot for the whole day, coming back to the soup in the afternoon and then dropping in the snow fungus to cook for another 2 hours.  Depending on how soft you want the snow fungus, I’d say at least an hour.
  7. Boil on high for 30 minutes and reduce to medium heat for another hour
  8. Serve and enjoy!
Tips and tricks:

  • Here’s a quick video on how to prepare snow fungus for Chinese soups
  • Be sure to cut out the hard middle, or buy snow fungus that doesn’t have the middle and is broken up
  • I like to use red papaya instead of green papaya for this version (green is more traditionally known to support milk production in post partum Chinese soups)
  • You can opt to keep the skin on the papaya during soup boil so it doesn’t disintegrate and break down into the soup
  • Snow fungus cooks and softens quite quickly.  Depending on how soft you’d like it, you can drop it in about 30 minutes before you serve, although I like it super soft and some of it dissolved into the soup (for that collagen benefit), so I drop it along with all the other ingredients.

 

EQUIPMENT USED

To answer your questions on what equipment I'm using, I've built a section here where you can find and explore what I'm using to make soups.  Ingredients are a little harder, but I will do my best as I source them around.  However, you can always message me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook, and I will reply and try to point you in some direction!  

A great help for fish or small bones in soups, including small ingredients such as barley, fox nuts, spices just to keep everything together.

A MUST HAVE in the kitchen!  Energy saving, cost effective, and perfect for busy chefs!  Check out my article here that explains it.

Another MUST HAVE in the kitchen for soups!  It's so fine that it will scoop off the top oil and foam layer when using meats in your soup!

I use these types of stove top safe tea pots to make most of my herbal teas!

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GIVE YOUR LOVE OF SOUP.

FOLLOW US AND SHARE.

ON YOUTUBE

ON INSTAGRAM

ON FACEBOOK

Chinese-Styled Cream of Corn Egg Drop Soup

Chinese-Styled Cream of Corn Egg Drop Soup

Chinese-Styled Cream of Corn Egg Drop Soup

Tea Name:

Chinese-Styled Cream of Corn and Egg Drop Soup

Chinese Name: 

玉米湯 (yù mǐ tāng)  

Nature:  Warm

Taste:  Sweet, Salty

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

There are as many versions of a Chinese-styled corn and egg drop soup as there are likely ABC soups!  This is a staple in lots of Cantonese cuisines, with a thinner consistency over an American Chinese version (which uses corn starch as a thickener).

It is also known as the “egg flower soup”, which I love!  Because the idea is that the egg drop flowers into the soup as you pour it in, giving it a beautiful non-uniform design inside the soup!

 

This is actually one of my dad’s favourites and you can find the very basic version of the soup, the Corn and Egg Drop Basic Soup here.  I remember having this very often as a kid, especially as it’s super easy to make, the ingredients are readily available, and it is delicious served on rice!!  It’s almost like a sauce, but not quite!

With this version, I’ve gone a bit Chinese with some of the herbal additives just because I wanted a slightly warmer take on it and definitely a heartier version with the potatoes because I know my kids love potatoes!  Honestly, I would recommend you tweak, build, or create whatever inspires you!  This is the beauty of cooking (versus baking… but we can save that debate for another day!). 

What’s involved?

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 8 bowls of soup

Ingredients
Cooking Instructions
  1. You can prepare all your ingredients first, primarily the onions, garlic, potatoes, and fresh corn on the cob
  2. Chop your onions quite finely into cubes
  3. Dice up your garlic
  4. Remove the ears from the corn and shuck the corn, taking only the kernels.  I tend to snap the corn in half first so that it stands on the flat side so I can just shuck it down (see video)
  5. Wash, peel, and cube your potatoes into bite-sized pieces
  6. In your soup pot, with a bit of oil and on low heat, fry the onions on low heat to cook and slightly caramelize 
  7. Once the onions are soft, throw in the diced garlic to fry for 5 minutes on low heat
  8. Add in all the shucked corn kernels and stir for 5 minutes
  9. Turn up the heat to high now and add 2L water (or chicken broth)
  10. Allow this to come to a boil
  11. Once it boils, add in your Chinese herbs and the cubed potatoes
  12. Add in the canned cream of corn at this point
  13. Cover the soup
  14. Be sure to stir this soup once in awhile to prevent any of the ingredients from sticking to the bottom
  15. Once that boils again, you can reduce the boil to a low heat, keeping it covered for 10 minutes to allow the potatoes to fully soften
  16. In a bowl, crack your eggs and scramble
  17. Gently stir the soup in circles as you drizzle the egg drop into the soup, allow the eggs to cook as it enters the soup and not in clumps
  18. Serve, garnish, and enjoy!

Tips:

  • This is designed as a quick boil soup which means that the ingredients are cut up quite small (so they cook quicker)
  • For a true warm soup, consider adding sliced ginger, sliced tangerine peels, and even sesame oil (which is delicious and fragrant!)
  • I tend not to use a corn starch thickener here, but this really quite personal.  If you do use corn starch, be sure to dissolve the corn starch in cold water first and gently pour into the soup and stir
  • You can use frozen corn as well (although it doesn’t taste as yummy, but still works!)
  • Be sure to continuously stir as this soup cooks as to avoid any ingredients sticking to the bottom and burning
  • SERVE WITH RICE!!  SO YUMMY!

CHECK OUT OTHER SIMILAR SOUPS

EQUIPMENT USED

To answer your questions on what equipment I'm using, I've built a section here where you can find and explore what I'm using to make soups.  Ingredients are a little harder, but I will do my best as I source them around.  However, you can always message me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook, and I will reply and try to point you in some direction!  

A great help for fish or small bones in soups, including small ingredients such as barley, fox nuts, spices just to keep everything together.

A MUST HAVE in the kitchen!  Energy saving, cost effective, and perfect for busy chefs!  Check out my article here that explains it.

Another MUST HAVE in the kitchen for soups!  It's so fine that it will scoop off the top oil and foam layer when using meats in your soup!

I use these types of stove top safe tea pots to make most of my herbal teas!

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Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea

Tea Name: Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 雪梨蘋果菊花清熱茶 (xuě lí píng guǒ jú huā qīng rè chá)  Nature:  Cooling Taste: Sweet and sour (You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!) For more...

Japanese Inspired Vinaigrette (for Beef Carpaccio or Salad)

Sauce Name: Japanese inspired vinaigrette (for beef carpaccio or salads or as an appetizers) Nature:  Warm (which is primarily the vinegar) Taste:  Sour and bitter and slightly sweet Targets: Liver and stomach   For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.Yes! ...

6 Practical Applications of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Every Day Life

6 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE IN EVERY DAY LIFE(A TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE)Practicing and living in Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts isn't hard!  It's actually all about what you consume, when you consume it, your...

Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea

Tea Name: Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 雪梨蘋果菊花清熱茶 (xuě lí píng guǒ jú huā qīng rè chá)  Nature:  Cooling Taste: Sweet and sour (You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!) For more...

Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese herbal pork broth

Soup Name: Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese Herbal Pork Broth Traditional Chinese Name: 紅青蘿蔔湯 (hóng qing luóbo tang) Nature:  Cooling Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.My parents came home last night from a cruise...

Hot and slightly spicy Korean Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (soup)

Soup Name: Korean  Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (Soup) Nature:  Cool (although could be warmer depending on how spicy you make it, but this is driven by the cooling white radish and tofu) Taste:  Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.I know there's a...

GIVE YOUR LOVE OF SOUP.

FOLLOW US AND SHARE.

ON YOUTUBE

ON INSTAGRAM

ON FACEBOOK

EXPLORE MORE

Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea

Tea Name: Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 雪梨蘋果菊花清熱茶 (xuě lí píng guǒ jú huā qīng rè chá)  Nature:  Cooling Taste: Sweet and sour (You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!) For more...

Japanese Inspired Vinaigrette (for Beef Carpaccio or Salad)

Sauce Name: Japanese inspired vinaigrette (for beef carpaccio or salads or as an appetizers) Nature:  Warm (which is primarily the vinegar) Taste:  Sour and bitter and slightly sweet Targets: Liver and stomach   For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.Yes! ...

6 Practical Applications of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Every Day Life

6 PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE IN EVERY DAY LIFE(A TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE PERSPECTIVE)Practicing and living in Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts isn't hard!  It's actually all about what you consume, when you consume it, your...

Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese herbal pork broth

Soup Name: Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese Herbal Pork Broth Traditional Chinese Name: 紅青蘿蔔湯 (hóng qing luóbo tang) Nature:  Cooling Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.My parents came home last night from a cruise...

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Soup Name: Korean  Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (Soup) Nature:  Cool (although could be warmer depending on how spicy you make it, but this is driven by the cooling white radish and tofu) Taste:  Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.I know there's a...

Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea

Tea Name: Cooling Snow Pears and Apples in a Chrysanthemum Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 雪梨蘋果菊花清熱茶 (xuě lí píng guǒ jú huā qīng rè chá)  Nature:  Cooling Taste: Sweet and sour (You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!) For more...

Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese herbal pork broth

Soup Name: Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese Herbal Pork Broth Traditional Chinese Name: 紅青蘿蔔湯 (hóng qing luóbo tang) Nature:  Cooling Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.My parents came home last night from a cruise...

Hot and slightly spicy Korean Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (soup)

Soup Name: Korean  Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (Soup) Nature:  Cool (although could be warmer depending on how spicy you make it, but this is driven by the cooling white radish and tofu) Taste:  Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.I know there's a...

Chinese-Styled Cream of Corn Egg Drop Soup

Tea Name: Chinese-Styled Cream of Corn and Egg Drop Soup Chinese Name:  玉米湯 (yù mǐ tāng)   Nature:  Warm Taste:  Sweet, Salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.There are as many versions of a Chinese-styled corn and egg drop soup as there are likely ABC...

Oh how I love thee, my salted orange! Let me count the ways…

Tea Name: The Salted Orange Traditional Chinese Name: 鹽蒸橙子 (yán zhēng chéngzi) Nature:  warm Taste:  sweet, salty For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.What?  Salted oranges? Let's start by saying that if you see a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor (and even...

Korean dashi soup (base) for making any soups!

Korean dashi soup (base) for making any soups!

Korean dashi soup (base) for making any soups!

Tea Name:

Korean dashi soup (base) 

Nature:  Cool

Taste:  Sweet, Salty

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

I learned this from a Korean Auntie that I have in Toronto, which has a huge and beautiful Korean community in the area I live in.  And even if you go to the Korean supermarkets nearby, you’ll find a lot of these aunties combing the fresh goodies and meats and ask them!!  The knowledge in there is amazing!

I actually learned this because I wanted to learn how to make a Tofu Kimchi soup and Koreans will start with a soup base first and then span out to the various types of Korean soups available such as: spicy beef soup with vegetables, any kimchi soup, kimchi tofu soup, any tofu soups, rice soup cake, and more!

 

There are also a few variations of this Korean dashi, but the key really is the anchovies and seaweed.  Some will add fresh onions, fresh white radish, fresh garlic, fresh scallions, or fresh ginger or dried shiitake mushrooms.  Dashi is actually a Japanese name for soup broth and is also recognized in Korean cuisine as dashi.  It’s so commonplace that it’s the equivalent to chicken broth in powdered and canned form.  You can also buy dashi in both prepared powdered and liquid form so you don’t have to prepare it yourself and have readily available soup at your disposal!

What’s involved?

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 10 bowls of dashi (soup broth)

Ingredients
  • 5 L of fresh water
  • 25-30 dried anchovies, heads removed
  • 1 large sheet of dried kelp 
  • half fresh white radish, with skin peeled and thinly sliced
  • optional, 2-3 fresh slices of ginger (which can help remove some of the fishy flavours and scents from the soups – this is a Chinese trick that we use for fish soups, too!)

     

    Cooking Instructions
    1. Remove the heads from your dried anchovies and put them into your soup pot.  No washing or cleaning is needed, just simply remove from the bag.
    2. Remove the dried seaweed sheet from the packaging and snap into pieces to fit into the pot and put into the pot
    3. Peel your white radish (enough to remove all the skin if you plan to eat it, as the skin can be quite tough and unpleasant to eat) and slice into 1 cm thick slices (or any thickness you’d like)
    4. Put everything into your soup pot
    5. Add in the water
    6. Boil on high for 10 minutes, covered
    7. Reduce boil to another 20 minutes
    8. Strain all the ingredients, separating the liquid from the soup goodies 
    9. This strained soup is your dashi!  You can use directly as is into your soup of choice or put into mason jars and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.

    I made this kimchi and soft tofu soup served on rice for dinner after making my dashi and it was amazing! 

    There are so many soups now that you can extend from your dashi soup base, changing up the protein or vegetables or spice levels!

    The great thing with the dashi is that I made a small pot of this kimchi and soft tofu soup for 1 person (using this super cute ceramic pot) and customized the level of spicy, kimchi, and other ingredients.  So I basically made 3 of these little portions for the family to pick and choose from!

    For example, the kids didn’t want that much spice or cabbage, so I added some bak choy (OK, my Chinese fusion again), slice sausages, and some instant noodles!  You can totally get creative with these little pots!! 

     

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    Oh how I love thee, my salted orange!  Let me count the ways…

    Oh how I love thee, my salted orange! Let me count the ways…

    Oh how I love thee, my salted orange! Let me count the ways…

    Tea Name:

    The Salted Orange

    Traditional Chinese Name:

    鹽蒸橙子 (yán zhēng chéngzi)

    Nature:  warm

    Taste:  sweet, salty

    For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

    What?  Salted oranges?

    Let’s start by saying that if you see a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor (and even all the old ladies at the wet mart that I meet), that if you’ve got a cough, you SHOULD NOT be consuming oranges.  Especially, if they are cold and super sweet.  From a TCM perspective, this exasperates the cough even more because it’s sweet and the cold creates excess yin, which makes you cough even more.

    However, there are ways to modify the nature of the orange!  Almost magic, but not quite.  You literally have to increase the temperature of the orange by simply steaming it!  It’s the same principle in how lettuce is a cooling ingredient, but once fried with ginger and garlic, it becomes neutral or even warming. 

    Similarly, you expose the orange to some heat and shift its nature from cool to warm and then add salt to it.  Salt itself, is also a warming ingredient that is salty to taste and softens hardness, eliminates accumulations and dissolves abscesses.  It is amazing for reducing toxic heat, which is normally found with sore throats, and helps reduce swelling, which is also a symptom that sore throats often bring.

    From a western perspective, fresh oranges have ample amounts of vitamin C, but does begin to denature and breakdown at temperatures of 86 degrees Celsius.  However, you can still benefit from these benefits if you soak it in warm water (below 86C) and add salt to it as well.  But the Chinese do love their warm healing tonics and teas!

     

    What’s involved?

    Prep time: 2 mins

    Cook time: 10 mins

    Total time: 12 mins

    Serves: 1 person

    Ingredients

       

      Cooking Instructions
      1. Cut the orange with the flatter side of the orange down so it can sit properly in a shallow bowl
      2. I will use a chopstick to break up some of the orange so the juices can be released prior to steaming, this is optional
      3. Generously sprinkle the salt on top of the orange.  Again, optionally, you can poke the salt directly into the orange.
      4. Begin to boil your steamer or pot
      5. Once your steamer is ready, put your orange into the pot, ensuring it’s not submerged into the water
      6. Cover and steam on medium for 10 minutes
      7. Once done, remove from the steamer and allow it to cool slightly
      8. Using a spoon, break up the orange inside, mixing up the salt and juices and enjoy!

      Alternatively, you can use the microwave to do it, heating it at 2 minute intervals at a time, covered, until your desired internal temperature.  Be sure to mix it around at the end of every cycle to check.  The microwave is a just a bit more inconsistent in its cooking.

      The other option is that you can directly half the orange and share with someone!  My mom’s done this with me and my sisters and have made 4 halves and the whole family could enjoy this.

      The best thing about this is that it’s such a portable recipe!  You can bring it with you camping, you could take it with you on vacation, and the ingredients are so readily available!  It’s literally, a tonic on the go!!

      Try it and let me know how it goes!

      The Q&A (from TikTok)

      A huge thanks to my TikTok community for the engagement on this video.  I’m now answering some of these common questions and answers here.

      Can I also add honey?

      From a TCM perspective, honey is also sweet and may exasperate the cough further and the point of this particular recipe is to really add salt (see above benefits of salt) to neutralize the sweet and really work to soften the sore throat.  If you really want to add honey, do it in small amounts (orange itself is quite sweet already) and do it once it’s cooled to around 60C as any benefits of honey and the degradation of the product.  I don’t add this to boiling teas at all.

      Will it help relieve the sinuses?

      This is not a recipe to help clear sinuses or relieve phlegm and dispel moisture from the body.  Ingredients that will do this include dried tangerine peels, apricot kernals, or barley, to name a few.  A few like this Snow Pears and Chen Pi (Tangerine Peels) for Coughs and Congestion, will also do the trick.  This recipe is really for soothing and healing the sore throat and some cough relief, albeit quite topical.  

      Can I drink this every day?

      Yes, if you’re feeling the sore throat and cough for a few days, you can definitely consume this daily.  The key is that it’s not completely cooling and is warmed enough it doesn’t create excess yin or yang in the body.  The only thing I would caution is the sugar consumption because an orange still does contain sugar, except we’ve neutralized it with salt, but the calories are still there.

      How do I know if it’s working?

      This is the age old question of Traditional Chinese Medicine (and even for any holistic approach to wellness).  Trust.  LOL.  Western medicine is usually more symptom based whereas Traditional Chinese Medicine takes a Confucianism (source: Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine: encouraging the twain to meet).  So long as you keep to the understanding and practice of achieving and restoring balance in the body, mind, and spirit and that everything is connected, it’s working.  You can read up on “Getting Started with TCM in Soups“.

      What’s the best salt for this?

      I’m using kosher salt here, but you can use table salt or Himalayan salt as well.  The point is to be using any type of natural salt to neutralize the sweet taste (and nature), but the calories as the same. 

       

      CHECK OUT OTHER SIMILAR HEALING HERBAL SOUPS

      Learn more about how these types of teas and soups can help improve your overall blood circulation and how you actually know that it's working?

      It's not a perfect science (still working to perfect it), but I'd say the methodology and thinking is sound 🙂

      Would love to hear your thoughts!

       

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