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Mushrooms – Part One
emointhekitchen In China and Japan, some types of edible mushrooms have been used and worshipped for over 3,000 years. They are used both in medicine and in the kitchen for their extraordinary properties. In this post, I would like to mention at least three of them. I have chosen these particular mushrooms because they belong to my favourites and are available outside Asia in fresh or dried form for culinary purposes not just as Dietary Supplements. It is noteworthy that mushrooms, unlike most other ingredients commonly used in cooking, have strong effects. To me, they were always more medicine than food. In other words, it is always necessary to consider…
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Wheat Congee
emointhekitchen While rice is the cornerstone of diet in the East. In the West, wheat grains are considered the staff of life. However, by this, we typically mean wheat bread and other baked products. Overconsumption is at least partly responsible for western obesity epidemy. Compared to rice, wheat is more difficult to digest. Negative aspects of wheat are more obvious when eaten as refined flour. We should therefore only consume it in the form of whole grains. However, a person with weak spleen function and a tendency to dampness should avoid even that. Wheat in TCM Of course, even wheat has its use in Chinese medicine and has its own…
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Chinese Medicine Treatment of Feline Leukaemia (FeLV)
emointhekitchen I’m a cats lover and I would like to share a recent experience with you. It is said that cats have 9 lives. However, my good friend owns a tomcat named Loop who, unfortunately, suffers from feline leukaemia (FeLV). Although he is quite young (approx.5 years old), the prognosis is poor. Cat leukaemia infection (FeLV) is a virus that spreads among felines and has possibly deadly impacts. FeLV is transmitted between cats by close contact, via saliva and by sharing water or food. In the initial stage, the disease can only be diagnosed by blood tests. As it progresses, it may lead to neurologic disorders, kidney failure, arthritis and…
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Congee – Health, Comfort & Simplicity
emointhekitchen All over Asia, rice is not just a foodstuff but it has also its fixed place in religious symbolism and rituals, festivals, weddings etc. Rice is perceived as a gift of the gods and a meal without rice is not considered a full meal. Rice is not considered to be just an ingredient or a side dish. There are various one-dish meals of rice soup or porridge cooked with plenty of water or broth (roughly 6 cups of water per 1 cup of rice), called congee. Congee or in mandarin zhōu (jook in Cantonese) is proof that some of the best-tasting things in life are at the same time the…
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Job’s-tears
emointhekitchen “Job’s tears” is an important part of Chinese dietetics. The home of this plant is China and India. It grows at higher altitudes, where rice and corn growing is not too successful. The name “Job’s tears” refers to the drip-like shape of seeds and the biblical figure of Job, a representative of great sorrow. The oldest story tied to this plant comes from China. Approximately in the year 41 AD, the Chinese emperor sent General Ma Yuan to suppress the rebellion on the southwest border. In these areas, there was a hot and humid climate that encouraged the spread of various contagious diseases. The local population prevented the infections…
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Kuzu (Kudzu)
emointhekitchen Pueraria lobata, widely known as kudzu or kuzu is (at least in my opinion) a very strange and wicked plant. It reminds me of the tale of Sleeping Beauty in which a prince must overcome a wall of roses to get to his lovely one. However, the reward is worth the effort and obstacles. To North America, it was probably brought from its native homeland Asia or South America. While in China and Japan, as well as in Peru, it is highly valued for its curative effects and a wide range of uses in gastronomy and agriculture, for the United States it means something like a plague. The plant…
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Goji Berry (Wolfberries)
emointhekitchen In the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD), the use of the plant as a tonic increased after a poet said: “it tastes like sweet dew and promotes longevity with a spoon’s chew.” In the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD), commoners made it a tribute food and they sent it to the Imperial Court frequently. In China circulates some short funny stories about goji: “The simple traveller walked through the village of Si-che when his attention was caught by a special scene. A twenty-one-year-old girl was beating an old grey man with a stick. The wanderer wanted to stand up for him because he thought he was about 80 years old. So he asked…
