(Confinement) Black Bean, Rice and Ginger Water
Soup Name:
(Confinement) Black Bean, Rice and Ginger Water – sometimes called Teas
Traditional Chinese Name:
黑豆姜水 (Hēi dòu jiāng shuǐ)
This tea is very warming in nature and slightly sweet to taste.
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This is a traditional confinement drink that is said to help reduce “wind” in the body and “warm” it up to help with the healing process after giving birth. These are common ingredients found in various confinement soups, teas and recipes (especially ginger). Some people make a large batch of the black bean and ginger mixture and steep it like teas for drinking everyday throughout their confinement.
For more information on what confinement is and the Chinese ingredients associated with confinement, please see our Confinement Soups page.
Ginger is to drive away the wind from the body and heal and warm. I prefer to use ginger juice, but some will also use ginger flesh and the skin. This is a key ingredient to this tea. You can add as little or as much ginger as you like depending on how spicy you’d like it.
Black beans help dispel water from the body, but also activates blood circulation and detoxification. They are naturally sweet and when pan fried, are warmed and compliment the heaty tea needed for confinement.
Rice in Traditional Chinese Medicine is used to strengthen the qi and blood. Interestingly enough, the word qi (in Traditional Chinese) is derived from the words air and rice. Rice holds significant meaning in this regard and is used as one of the key recipes for this tea!
You can optionally add some rock sugar for taste.
What’s involved?
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: 4 cups of tea
Ingredients
1 teaspoon of oil
2 tablespoons of ginger juice, pulp optional
1 cup of black beans, rinsed
1 cup of white rice, rinsed
1/2 cup of water, to cook rice
- optional rock sugar
Cooking Instructions
- In a frying pan, heat up oil on medium heat.
- When oil is hot, add black beans, white rice and ginger juice and cook for 2 minutes, constantly stirring
- Add 1/2 cup of water and continue to stir and mixture until all the water evaporates. Be sure to adjust the heat accordingly to prevent burning.
- Once mixture is dry and golden brown (see picture below) and cooked, set aside and cool.
- In a cup, scoop 1 tablespoon of mixture and add hot water to it. Steep for 10 minutes and drink hot.
Any benefits?
- Effective drink in removing “wind” from the body
- Helps warm the body
- Assists in helping those in confinement get lots of fluid into the body and to help flush the system
- Also helps to improve water levels in the body (especially for those mothers who are breastfeeding)
For videos, visit us on YouTube.
A selection of confinement Chinese Soups
What is confinement and confinement stories
Baby 5 & 6 Confinement story
Some confinement foods for your tummy!
The DO’s and DON’T’s of confinement
i remembered this tea-the confinement lady would boiled and filled it in a flask for my wife to drink.
Hi I would like to ask that I only add in the white rice together with the rest for frying after i have cooked the rice or? Just to make sure haha. :)
Dear Jessica, yes add all the ingredients together once the oil is hot and gently stir. Hope this helps! Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Can i continue to drink this tea after my milk came in, during the whole confinement together with other soup consume? Will it be too much?
Thanks – fionn
Hi Fionn, you can stop this after the first 2-3 days, but there’s no harm of drinking this throughout the whole confinement either. I would probably move to soups that have more nutritional value (ie: with vegetables and/or meat) and consider this Black Bean, Rice & Ginger like “water”. Hope this helps – congratulations! Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for your reply & valuable advice!
My EDD is coming end-may, provided no early surprise! *finger crossed*
Stumble upon your website while looking for information on confinement food because I am comtemplating to DIY my confinement, with my mum’s help of course. :-)
I find your receipe wholesome and easy to follow, not forgeting valuable advices along with it.
Thank you for sharing!! – Fionn
Hi!
I would like to make this but I’m not sure if I still can. I had my daughter 2 months ago and I’m exclusively breastfeeding her. Can I still drink it? And if do, how often? And for how long? Thanks.
Dear Pamela,
According to Chinese confinement rules, the window of opportunity in which to “heal” the body is 30 days. This particular drink is usually drank in the first few days of confinement. But it doesn’t hurt to drink it, as it’s a “warm” drink and dispels wind, so either you or your baby may be just passing lots of gas (that’s the effect of the ginger). Actually, if you’re breastfeeding, why not consider vegetable soups? That way, your baby will also get all the nutrients of the vegetables? Hope this helps and do let me know if you have any more questions. Thanks! Lisa
I would like to make this for a friend. How long would I cook the rice/bean mixture? Because it is only cooked with a 1/2 cup water, I imagine it may be enough time to cook the rice but not enough to cook the beans — 15-20 mins? Thank you in advance!
Hi, should the rice cooked before frying or use uncooked rice to fry? Thanks