Red Dates Tea

by LadyTong | Jan 4, 2014 | Confinement Soups, Postpartum Soups, Speciality Teas | 18 comments

Soup Name: Red Dates Tea

Traditional Chinese Name: 红枣茶 (Hóng zǎo chá)

Introduction:

My herbalist suggested I drink a simple tea made of red dates during my period. It’s super easy to make, as the dates are already sitting in the fridge and you just add hot water. Some people will boil it with a few other ingredients, such as wolfberries and fresh ginger slices. This is also an ideal confinement drink if you’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth – replace this in place of coffee or tea to avoid the caffeine, but get the benefits of the blood replenishment.

Amount serves: 1 cup for 1 person (you!)

What Ingredients are required?

6 dried red dates, sliced

1 cup of boiling water

How do I prepare it?

Slice your red dates thinly
Add to a mug and add boiling water
Steep for 2 minutes. It will get sweeter over time as the tea steeps further.

Any benefits?

Helps rejuvenate the body after a period and restore blood loss
Excellent for maintaining healthy blood pressure
Excellent source of Vitamin C

Any precautions?

Make sure you remove the seeds of dried red dates as the seeds are known to create “fire” in the body

Chicken Soup with Red Dates

by LadyTong | Nov 20, 2013 | Winter Soups | 3 comments

Soup Name: Chicken Soup with Red Dates

Traditional Chinese Name: 红枣雞湯 (hóng zǎo jī tāng)

Introduction:

This soup is an easy and sweet soup that is perfect to warm you up on a chilly autumn or winter’s day. Chicken is considered to be very nourishing (補) and can give your body a good kick of healthy heartiness (this is similarly recognized by Westerners who drink chicken noodle soup when sick). To sweeten the soup, red dates are added. We also suggest adding a palmful of wolfberries to boost the qi or “chi” which is ideal for cool weather. Carrots round out this simple yet delicious soup. You can see from the photo that this recipe results in a rich, deeply-colored broth and I can assure you, it’s tasty, too! (Yes, I’m drinking as I type this post.) Depending on whether you use a fresh, whole chicken or alternatives, the difficulty of creating this soup can vary from 1-star (from pre-washed and cut chicken with minimal preparation) to 4-star (whole chicken from scratch).

Amount serves: 6 to 8 soup bowls

What Ingredients are required?

1 fresh whole chicken, quartered
5 large, dried red dates (to taste depending on how sweet you like your soup to be)
10 g of dried wolfberries (small palm-ful)
2 large fresh carrots, sliced
2L of water

How do I prepare it?

Prepare the chicken
Wash and soak the dried wolfberries
Add red dates to your soup water and bring to a boil
When the water boils, combine all the ingredients together
Boil on medium-high for at least 1 hour

Any benefits?

A warm soup that is perfect for autumn or winter
Chicken is very nourishing (補) and creates a healthful soup
Red dates are an excellent source of Vitamin C
Red dates are also used in throat-soothing drinks
Wolfberries are high in antioxidants and contain 6 essential vitamins, Beta-Carotene, Calcium, Potassium, Iron and Zinc
Wolfberries are also known to enhance the qi or “chi” in your body

Any tips or precautions?

Whenever using real, whole chicken, it’s useful to have an oil scooper on hand to help scoop out the fat and any large or small particles that float to the top of your soup. I usually need to use the scoop two or three times — once after the soup is fully boiled and still hot and there is an abundance of oil floating on the top, then once again after the soup has cooled slightly and you have additional oil and particles that have had time to float to the surface, and usually once again upon re-heating (possibly the next day).
Feel free to drink the same soup the next day after re-boiling. I like to make an extra big pot and any that isn’t finished can be drank and finished off the next day.

Red Dates Hawthorn Tea

by LadyTong | May 26, 2013 | Speciality Teas | 5 comments

Red Dates Hawthorn Tea

Soup Name:

Traditional Chinese Name:

山楂红枣茶 (shān zhā hóng zǎo chá)

This nice slightly sweet and very tart tea was introduced by my herbalist who suggested I make it for my dad (while he was visiting HK). The tea is designed for people who would like to lose weight, reduce the fat content in their bodies, reduce blood pressure, reduce cholesterol and help clear the blood of the impurities that come with a not so healthy diet. That’s not to say my dad’s not healthy, but he does enjoy all foods – so this tea will help balance out a delicious, heavy meal and aid in digestion. The tea is super tart, so you can add either apples or a sprinkle of sugar to sweeten it up. It’s best drank either at room temperature or hot.

What’s involved?

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Serves: 4 cups of tea

Ingredients

50 g of pitted red dates
50 g of dried wood ear
80 g of dried hawthorn
2 fresh apples (optional)
2 teaspoons of brown sugar (optional)
10 cups of water

Cooking Instructions

Soak all the ingredients in warm water for about 5 minutes and rinse clean
Boil your tea water
When the water boils, add all the ingredients together (except the sugar)
Keep covered on a small boil (medium heat) for about 1 hour
Serve hot or warm and add sugar (as needed)

Benefits

Helps reduce the fat content in the body
This red date and hawthorn tea will also help reduce blood pressure and bad cholesterol
It helps clear the blood of toxins
This tea is especially helpful after a meal and helps in digestion

Precautions

The hawthorn is especially tart and sour, so not everyone will like it like that
Take caution when adding sugar (as not to add too much)
Be sure to pit the dates (or use pitted dates). The pits are said to be “CHO” – which is very heaty, but not in a good way

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