The Soup Queen

I've been schooled to replenish my blood each month after my menses. This is something drilled into me since I was young, about 12 or 13. It also helped that my sisters and I were often fed with soups and tonics since young so making blood tonics isn't something new at all.

Wonderful and nourishing Dang Gui tonic for women.
Recommended to be taken often.

When I went away to study in university, I rarely had chance to make these nourishing soups for myself. We couldn't cook in our dorm rooms - the hazard of fire was very real.

When I moved out of the dorm and into a student house (located out of campus), my dad bought me a Pensonic slow cooker so I could make soups on my own. That was about 15 years ago. That Pensonic slow cooker is still with me and yes, it still works!

The slow cooker is rather small and only makes up to 2 bowls of soup. But back then it was sufficient. After all I was only making soups for myself.

The best thing about using a slow cooker is that you pop in all the herbs, add boiling water, close the lid, switch it on to Auto and let it simmer till done (about 3-4 hours). I usually put on the slow cooker in the evening and by 10pm or so, my tonic is ready to drink. If you are in a hurry, you can use the fast setting that allows your tonic to be ready in 2 hours or less.

I don't know if I told you this but sometimes I get rather lazy and go to Eu Yan Sang for blood tonic in the form of tiny black pills. You can read all about this in this previous post. I won't repeat myself.

This time around, I found some Dang Gui in my fridge. Decided to make some Dang Gui herbal tonic. It was just the day my menses finished.

Dang Gui slices (top) and dried red dates

How To Make Dang Gui Tonic

Here's what you need for a Dang Gui tonic for one person. This tonic is highly recommended for women. Many men shy away from drinking Dang Gui so don't attempt to feed your husband or spouse this tonic. ;-)

3-5 pieces of Dang Gui root, sliced
1 chicken thigh, remove all visible fat and skin (wash, pat dry and chop into 2 pieces)
2 large pieces dried red dates, stones removed
1 bowl of boiling water (250 ml)

Ensure the water covers the chicken sufficiently

1. Place Dang Gui slices and red dates in the inner ceramic pot.
2. Place chicken pieces on top of the herbs.
3. Pour over hot boiling water.
4. Put on the glass lid of the slow cooker.
5. Turn the setting to AUTO. Let this simmer for 4 hours at least.
6. Before dishing up, add half a teaspoon of salt to taste.

The tonic must be drunk warm.

Even if you remove the chicken skin, you will see a layer of oil floating atop your tonic. You may skim this off before you serve the tonic.

After drinking this tonic, you must not drink Chinese tea or any sort of tea for the next 12 hours. You should avoid taking cold drinks too.

You can eat the chicken too as it is very tender and infused with the flavour of Dang Gui. Add a little soya sauce if the chicken meat is too bland.

All About Dang Gui

Dang Gui or angelica polymorpha var. sinensis 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 diarrhea or have abdominal fullness.

Finally.....When To Take This?

Apparently, regular consumption of Dang Gui will prevent menstrual cramps and PMS.(I can vouch for this. If I take Dang Gui regularly each month, my PMS - bloating, tender breasts, headaches - are considerably lessened. Also when my period comes, I do not suffer interminable cramps.)

What is regular? Once a month is good enough (in my opinion). It should be taken one or two days after your period is finished. I have read that drinking Dang Gui tonic is ONLY recommended for the few days after your period. Dang Gui is contraindicated for women who are pregnant.

However, if you take the Bak Foong pills, it is recommended that you take 1 bottle per week. I have never done that so I cannot say if that's good or not. Please ask your herbalist or TCM practitioner if you are in doubt.

I got this question today in my email. A reader emailed me to ask for the "wan tan" or "won ton" soup.

Please help me with the recipe for the broth (only) for won ton soup. Every Chinese reataurant makes it and has the same taste which I am addicted to. Tried with plain chicken broth and added garlic powder, celery, some soy sauce and green onion, perhaps some white wine and sesame oil but not the same. Can you help?

Here's my answer:

I've tasted the Malaysian versions of wan tan soup, not the American Chinese restaurant version. So my answer and reply to this reader is based on what I have tasted.

I recently watched a TV programme where I learnt how wan tan soup is made.

They used "ikan bilis" or dried anchovies as well as dried red dates. I am not sure if they added chicken bones or meat bones but it is OK to do so as this adds to the 'sweetness' of the soup. Please do not be mistaken about 'sweetness'. Sweetness usually means a clear tastiness to the soup and has nothing to do with it being sugary sweet.

We don't add garlic powder to soups. Neither do we add white wine.

If you're good with making won ton soups, please share your version of this soup. I would really appreciate it!

I tend to poke about the kitchen a lot more on weekends.

Sweet red bean dessert with dried longan and rock sugar

Cooking is my therapy. It gets me away from computers and the Internet for two days.

Today, I made some red bean dessert for tea. Yes, for tea.

We Chinese like our desserts for those in-between meal times.

Actually you could drink/slurp this dessert any time of the day. For me, it just so happened that the dessert was ready around 4pm and tea it was.

Red beans or adzuki beans are commonly used in Asian food. In Chinese cuisine, red beans are normally eaten in sweet form, but I have eaten it as a soup, a savoury version when my Mom-in-law boiled it as a soup with pork bones. Nic was aghast at the taste but like a dutiful son, he drank up the soup though he did tell me privately that it was rather weird to have a savoury red bean soup. I thought so too. All my life, I've grown up drinking a sweet red bean dessert so savoury red beans do taste odd!

Red bean dessert is simple to make. You do need, however, to soak the beans in water for a few hours before you cook them. I heard this soaking reduces flatulence (they are beans anyway) but mostly it helps 'soften' the red beans.

I used my claypot for this recipe because I was only cooking a small cup of red beans, enough for two people. But then again, I will caution you - it depends on how watery or how thick you want your red bean dessert to be. Some people like a thick, gooey porridge-like red bean dessert. I like a more watered down version. It's more of a drink than a porridge.

Put your soaked red beans (100 gm), rock sugar (50gm or adjust to your taste) and a handful of dried longan into a pot of water (1 liter). Bring the pot to a boil and then cover and simmer for an hour. After an hour, you need to test if the red beans are soft. If they are not soft yet, let it simmer for another hour. Once ready, serve warm.

The good thing about using a claypot is its heat retention. It softens the beans in an hour. If you do not have a claypot, you can use a slow cooker or crockpot too.

I found this recipe for adzuki bean tea where one drinks it like a tea! You can try this version of red bean soup by author Letha Hadady (whose book - Asian Health Secrets - was one of the earliest books I had on Chinese herbs).

Why Eat Red Beans?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, aduki or adzuki or red beans are known for their “strengthening” qualities and yang energy. Red beans are good for blood-building as they're full of iron. Its high iron content also makes them a good choice for women’s health. In Japan, adzuki bean soups are often consumed after menstruation to replenish red blood cells.

Red beans are also used to support kidney and bladder function.

Besides, red beans are a good source of magnesium, potassium, zinc copper, manganese and B vitamins. They are a high-potassium, low-sodium food which means they can help reduce blood pressure and act as a natural diuretic.

Like all beans, they are a good protein substitute and contain lots of soluble fibre, which binds to toxins and cholesterol, eliminating these from your body.

Adzuki beans are also used in some TCM fertility treatments.

However, I have also read that you cannot overconsume red beans as they will make you emaciated and dry (as it promotes urination).

In my recipe above, I added dried longan because it adds a different texture to the dessert plus it contributes a delicate sweetness. Dried longans are also useful in preventing hair loss and hair greying so all the better!

Introduction to Chinese Herbs published by herbal company, Eu Yan Sang

While shopping for herbs for my Mom-in-Law a few weeks ago at the Eu Yan Sang outlet near my home, I saw this book on Chinese herbs. Priced at RM38, the book is published by Eu Yan Sang and contains an introduction to Chinese herbs and their origins, pinpointing their location in China.

I told myself that I was there to buy herbs for my Mom-in-Law so I thought I'd buy this book the next time.

I have quite a few books on Chinese TCM herbs but I still love collecting these books. Even in today's Internet age where I can easily google and find out about a specific herb, nothing beats browsing a real book.

I also realized why I need to quickly learn how to read in Chinese - many books on TCM herbs are still largely in Chinese (as I found out when I was at Popular Bookstore). I found myself annoyed that I could not understand 80% of what was written in these Taiwanese and Chinese books.

(In case you are keen to learn Chinese, let me point you to Skritter which I am using. It helps me a lot and at US$9.95 per month, quite an affordable deal for self-motivated Mandarin learners like me. I like to be able to login any time to learn.)

In the end, I did buy the book above, no thanks to the fact that the sales promoter told me I would qualify for their lucky draw if I spent another couple more ringgit to make it a total of RM160. (Packets of herbs in Eu Yan Sang are not cheap - a packet of herbs for soup costs about RM16 to RM18. Compare this to my market herbalist who sells similar packet herbs for RM5 to RM8. So Eu Yan Sang is a little more expensive than your no-brand herbalist.)

However, I do believe the herb selection and processing should be much better at Eu Yan Sang. After all they have their brand to protect.

The book caters to both English and Chinese readers. It's not a recipe book but a book which informs how you should select herbs, what to look for, what region or province in China it comes from and what are the distinguishing features. It does have recipes but without the photo of the dish. The pages are in full colour.

The best part is they do inform you how many grammes of the herb to be used, which makes it a lot easier than going by guesswork.

Many of the featured herbs are familiar but they get the in-depth treatment for each page. It's always interesting to know the regions they come from and how the herb is processed. Things like these fascinate me to no end.

Over the next few weeks, I shall share more from this book. Anyway I am pleased I bought this book. Another herbal book to add to my TCM book collection!

I got an email from Leslie this week who wrote:

Hi! I wrote you a message last week about a Chinese Women's health soup with adzuki beans, black sugar, red wild rice, dates, peanuts and goji berries. Do you know this recipe and the amounts and when is the best time to eat it?

Personally I have not come across this recipe before. Anyone here has heard about this soup or even eaten or cooked this before?

Although I have not cooked it before, the rule about eating or drinking Chinese soups is that you MUST drink them warm and on the day you cook/brew it.

Freshness is paramount in Chinese cooking (hence, fish must still be alive and jumping in aquariums before it is cooked etc. though I feel that is a terrible fate for the poor fish!).

That idiosyncrasy of the Chinese aside, soups can be drunk any time of the day though if it is a nourishing soup, it may be drunk an hour or two before you go to bed (such as Dang Gui soup).

If you have encountered this soup before, I would appreciate if you could let Leslie know what the true recipe calls for and its ingredient amounts.

Happy New Year folks!

I have been so busy with business in between planning out stuff for this year that I've been quite guilty of not updating fast enough. Anyway, since this is the week before Chinese New Year, I'm going to be good and share some interesting dessert soup recipes.

OK, onwards to this dessert made with two nourishing ingredients, pumpkin and barley.

I had this as a drink recently when I was lunching with a good friend at a macrobiotic cafe. I enjoyed the taste very much and decided to replicate it at home.

Pumpkin barley dessert - so nutritious and easy to make

Pumpkin is one of my favourite vegetables but Nic doesn't like it much (especially cooked as a dish for dinner). But I do know that pumpkin is good for health and I try to incorporate it as much as I can into our food.

Buying pumpkin whole is always better than buying halves but how else can you have pumpkin besides stir-fried with garlic? Hence this recipe! (Also I make pumpkin man-tou too with leftover pumpkin. I also roast pumpkin when I am roasting chicken - my pumpkin man-tau is a true keeper I tell you! Soft, fluffy goodness! Will share that here soon so come back.)

If you make this pumpkin barley dessert, even those die-hard haters of pumpkin will eat it. Once it is simmered, the pumpkin pieces taste like sweet potato (just make sure you do not over simmer or the pumpkin will be mushy).

Pumpkin and barley

Pumpkin Barley Dessert
(Makes 6 servings)

You need only 4 ingredients:

1/2 pumpkin, remove skin and seeds, cubed
50 gm barley (soaked and rinsed)
some rock sugar
2 fresh pandan leaves, cut into pieces

Put these ingredients into a pot of 1 liter water.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Once it is boiling, lower heat and simmer covered for another 45 minutes.
Taste to adjust sweetness. Serve warm as a dessert.

If you are unable to finish this in one sitting, you can refrigerate it (do not freeze). When you wish to drink it, just warm it up lightly on your stove (do not bring to a boil).

Closer look at this soothing dessert

Why Eat Pumpkin?
I am a big fan of pumpkin. I will eat pumpkin even if it is not nutritious! But then again, pumpkin is terribly good for your body.

Pumpkin is good for your eyes as it's loaded with vitamin A and antioxidant carotenoids, particularly alpha and beta-carotenes. It contains vitamins C, K, and E, and lots of minerals, including magnesium, potassium, and iron. According to Chinese medicine, pumpkin seeds - dried and ground up - are good for expelling worms from your intestines! On the Western front, pumpkin seeds are famous for helping with prostate health.

According to TCM sites, pumpkin has a cooling nature and helps to resolve dampness, stabilizes a hyperactive foetus, kills worms, reduces fever and diabetes. It is also (surprise) an antidote for opium addiction!

What's most interesting is that pumpkin seeds helps to build Kidney Yin which is essential for reproduction and fertility.

I came across this post on Persicaria capitata and it seems this weed is really a herb.

In many ways, I have often pondered on the fact- when is a weed a weed and when is it a herb?

Even certain grasses function as herbs for cats. My cat loves to chew on grass when she's feeling a bit under the weather. In the past, we used to bring home grass for her (we used to live in an apartment where grass was scarce!) and she was too scaredy to go down to the park to chew some grass, well at least the kind cats can use for stomach problems.

Now Margaret has all the grass she can chew. We're still living in an apartment but it's on the ground floor and we have a tiny backyard where we grow quite a bit of herbs and stuff. The grass, all types, are plentiful. It's a veritable buffet.

With grass, comes weeds.

What really are weeds anyway?

Weeds are just a name we give to plants which we feel we have no proper use for. To Margaret, grass is a herb. If we humans find a use for a plant, it becomes less of a weed and more of a herb! That's my definition of weed versus herb. Correct me if I am wrong.

Many years ago, my sis had some problem with her urinary tract where she would pee urine stained with blood. Mom got worried and took her to the Chinese sinseh. He recommended that she find this particular herb and boil with brown sugar and drink it as a tea.

Now living as we did in a small town of Banting, mom and dad went searching everywhere for this herb.

They had to peek at drain cracks and little patches of grassy plots to find the all elusive herb. Here's how it looks like.

Anyone knows what this is called?

Actually it is found in most grassy areas. It is a weed. I even have some in my garden (see above photo).

When mom visited me, she pointed out to me that the "weed" growing between crevices and cracks in the cement (near the drain) was the very herb she used to cure my sister's problem! The things I learn!

Anyway, back to the Pink Knotweed or Persicaria capitata. It is also known as Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Smartweed and Pink Bubble Persicaria. I found some growing near my compost pots. I often wondered what kind of plant they were. Thanks to Gardening with Wilson, now I know.

Pink knotweed

Wilson states that this is a herb used in TCM for "for the treatment of a range of urological disorders, such as kidney stones and urinary tract infections." Pink Knotweed also contains antioxidants.

Misai kucing herb

What do you know!

Now besides my misai kucing or Java tea plant, I can use this to treat urinary tract infections.

A Seat on the Aisle, Please!: The Essential Guide to Urinary Tract Problems in Women

Urinary Tract Infections: Detection, Prevention, and Management

Urinary Tract Infections (Library of Sexual Health)

I have this climbing creeper plant called Clitoria Ternetea or Butterfly Pea Flower or Bunga Telang (in Malay) in my garden for many reasons. This blue flower is one of my favourite flowers of all. Its intense indigo makes me happy (I have always loved strongly coloured fruits and flowers...I don't know why).

Clitoria ternetea flowers

One, you add precious nutrients into the soil when you plant this on the ground. Two, the flowers are used to colour food naturally. The blue Nyonya kuih made with glutinous rice was in the olden days coloured with pounded juice from this pea flower (I sometimes wonder if they use blue dye these days!). Even "Nyonya zhang" or the Chinese dumpling can be coloured with this blue flower.

Third, the flower can be made into a drink that's full of antioxidants. Fourth, you can use the blue flowers to dye your hair (haven't tried this yet).

As a drink, I just pluck about 5 to 8 fresh flowers and steep with hot water for about 5 minutes. When it's ready, just add some honey and drink up. It doesn't have much aroma or taste. The flowers do fade to a pale white when the water turns blue! Interesting isn't it? You can do a bit of a magic trick too if you serve this in a glass. Just before serving, squeeze some lime juice into the glass and watch the colour change! It's like litmus paper!

The dried pea pod with seeds

When I was in Thailand, I've seen shampoos which use this clitoria flower as its hair darkening ingredient.

Aren't they just lovely?

The clitoria ternetea is easy to grow. As it is a pea, germinate its seeds and in no time you will have a few plants. It needs to climb though so you may want to plant it near some fence or trellis. The plant flowers regularly and attracts butterflies although the flowers don't last very long (perhaps a day or two before they wilt).

To keep these flowers, just pluck and dry them thoroughly. They'll shrivel as they dry but it's OK. You can then keep them in your fridge (wrap them up in tissue paper and put into an airtight container). When you need some natural blue dye for your food, reconstitute them in hot water again so they release their blue colour.

I was riffling through my recipe book last night when I saw this recipe. I am not sure where I got it from since I normally copy recipes, stick them to my fridge as a reminder to try the recipes out.

Nourishing goodness for the eyes, blood and Qi

I figured I should try this one out as it has a host of benefits. This dessert soup comprising dried longan, dried red dates and kei chi or goji berries helps with:

replenishing vital energy or Qi
promotes blood
improves eye sight

All you need are a handful of dried longan, about 8 dried red dates and a tablespoon of goji berries (soaked in water for a bit). Add these ingredients to a pot of water (about 1 liter). Add enough rock sugar (depends how sweet you like your dessert soup).

Bring to a rolling boil. Then cover and lower fire so that the dessert merely simmers. Simmer it for 35 minutes or so. Serve warm.

Great to be taken just before bed time! Warm of course. Not cold.

This recipe makes about 4 bowls of sweet soup. It has a delicate sweetness from the trio of ingredients plus rock sugar of course.

Chinese people love eating parts of the pig. Apparently each part of the pig corresponds to the parts in us humans. So if you want to strengthen your legs, eating pig trotters are the way to go.

Or if you want to become smarter, you go for the pig's brain (and we all thought pigs are stupid creatures!).

When I was in my teens and studying for major exams, my mom would specially order a whole brain of the pig from the pork butcher. She would then boil the brain with some herbs in a slow cooker and I'd take that, soup, brain and all. This was to ensure my brain got all the nutrients it needed to perform well under stress.

I do know now that consuming the innards and organs and yes, the brain of the poor pig, does increase one's cholesterol level. However, at that age (remember I was in my teens), I'd imbibe the stuff my mom cooked because they were delicious in a morbid way. I'd always feel a bit like Supergirl after taking these soups.

Pig's brain, when cooked, tastes like a rich yet soft tofu. Did the brain soup make me brainier? I don't know but I have been a star student since I was 11 years old. I have gotten enough A's in my exams that my parents have nothing to complain about.....or maybe the pig brains did help!

I consider myself very much Cantonese as I love all parts of the pig - intestines, brain, liver (oooh, especially liver which Nic always cautions me about since we don't know if the liver's healthy or not) and ears (have you eaten crunchy braised pig ears? Yummy!).

Today I'm sharing with you a recipe using pig's tail.

Now if we go by the logic that parts of the pig that you eat benefits the part of your body, then why are we eating pig's tail? We don't have tails, right? I suspect the tail will benefit our lower back. I do love Dang Gui so the addition of this herb in this soup should be reason enough for me to like this soup.

Pig Tail Soup

300 gm spare ribs (blanched)
1 pig tail (blanched and chopped into smaller chunks)*

10 dried red dates (seeded)
2 whole dried scallops
1 tablespoon kei chi or goji berry
10 gm dried longan
10 gm dang gui slices

1.2 liter water

Bring water to boil. Add all ingredients and bring up to a rolling boil for 10 minutes with the pot uncovered. After that, put the lid on the pot, turn fire down to low so that soup simmers. Simmer this for 2 hours. Season to taste with salt. Serve warm.

Let me know if you come across any pig tail herbal soup recipes too!

*If you cannot get pig tail, you can omit it. It tastes all right even if you just used spare ribs. I believe you can even use chicken if you don't consume pork.

This is yet another easy dessert recipe for women.

The combination of these two main ingredients, lotus seeds and dried lily bulbs, is better than any skincare.

Drinking this regularly - say once a week - is touted to improve your skin texture and promote cell regeneration.

It's really easy if you have a slow cooker. Just put the ingredients in, switch the cooker on, let it simmer for an hour and you'll have a deliciously light and sweet dessert to drink before you turn in for the night.

Remember to soak the lotus seeds to soften first, then crack them open and remove the green (bitter) pith beforehand. If you can get fresh lotus seeds (the kind that is sold vacuum-packed), you don't have to soak the seeds.

Lotus Seed & Lily Bulb Dessert

19 gm dried lily bulbs
38 gm dried lotus seeds (soaked and pith removed)
2 cups water
some rock sugar to taste

Place all ingredients into a slow cooker or crockpot. Simmer for an hour. Serve warm.

Here's to beautiful skin!

About Lotus Seeds
Lotus seeds benefits the spleen, heart and kidneys. It also calms because it helps with restlessness and insomnia. It clears heat and therefore highly nutritious to people prone to heatiness.

It's been a rather busy time for me (but hey, that's life, right?) with our new website product for the business as well as going home to Banting to visit my parents in March.

March was also my birthday month where I turned 38. I am 2 years away from the big 40.

One of the things which I love about soups is that if you drink soups regularly, your skin won't age that badly even if chronologically you are ageing! (That and a penchant for foot reflexology - I've been going for foot reflexology sessions twice a month and I believe that helps with preserving good health too!)

Speaking of which, my friends from France who came to visit Nic and I two weeks ago (after their conference in Singapore) were rather intrigued by all this health and wellness they seemed to see everywhere in Penang. When we were going to a restaurant for lunch, we walked past a health and wellness exhibition.

"Health is really a big deal here," Hugh commented.

I never really gave this much thought until Hugh brought it up. He said that it seemed everyone in Penang was very much into longevity and good health.

It's true. Health definitely is wealth to any Chinese. Living a healthy life and ageing well seem to be our main aim in life.

We spoke at length about this too when he pointed to the menu and asked what fish stomach was. This was a dish on the menu ("perut ikan"). Perut ikan is a classic Nyonya dish known as a pickled fish stomach curry.

In fact, he asked good questions because after thinking about it, it all boils down to eating for health, right? I see that a lot among the Chinese (and I am a Cantonese though I have my reservations about eating stuff like birds' nest and such).

"It's all about collagen," I told Hugh.

A healthy (slim) body with a lovely smooth complexion - these are what Chinese women generally wish for.

Then I realized, we do eat a lot of food with collagen - chicken feet, fish maw, fish stomach, birds' nest, pig trotters. The stuff that most foreigners look on with horror, we dig into them with such glee!

Unfortunately for Hugh, we didn't manage to taste fish stomach because the restaurant had run out of this dish that Saturday.

But I wanted to know more too so I started reading up on fish stomach. Is it maw? Is it called "fa kau" (in Cantonese). I've seen the puffed and fried versions in Hatyai markets but I didn't know if they were the same as the flattened and dried versions (the expensive ones sold in Chinese shops!).

Here's the difference: "yue piu" is the fish bladder or swim bladder of the fish and it is not the same as fish maw or "fa kau".

Fish maw is the stomach of the fish that has been cleaned and sun-dried whole. However most people mistake one for the other and refer to them as fish maw/fish stomach.

Fish bladder or fish stomach is often sold fried, looking all golden and puffy. It has to be deep fried and soaked before cooking while fish maw is never deep fried.

Fish maw is sold flat and dried.

Fish maw is usually braised or double-boiled in soups to infuse it with flavour as it is a rather bland ingredient. Apparently, fish maw harvested from the croaker fish is the best as it has thick stomach walls and of a fairly large size compared to other fish maw. (Just in case you are considering, fish maw is supposedly cheaper than birds' nest but does provide the same benefits - smoother skin!)

Fish maw is an excellent source of collagen and it ranks as a luxury food together with abalone, sea cucumber and sharks' fin.

Frankly, I think these types of food are over-rated.

We Chinese love to spend atrocious amounts of money just to eat parts which taste rather rubbery and on its own (without the sauces and braising) rather bland and uninspiring!

I've never liked abalone or sea cucumber and as of this year, I am going sharks' fin- free - meaning I won't be eating any sharks' fin soup during Chinese banquet dinners. I have come of age or maybe turning 38 is making me rethink my food choices.

I was also very surprised that my mom who is 63 years old this year told me that she doesn't want sharks' fin soup on the menu for my dad's 70th birthday dinner (coming up in June).

Now THAT is an eye-opener. My mom has never been much of an environment freak and environmental issues like finning sharks and all that never used to bother her.

So I was pleasantly surprised when she brought up the idea of not having sharks' fin soup. I don't know what prompted her to change but I am very glad she is coming around to saying no to killing sharks for their fins. (Hurray for the sharks!)

Back to fish maw. This ingredient in soups is supposedly good for coughs, asthma, lung problems and blood circulation (even fertility or so I read). It's a tonic for those recovering from illnesses too. When cooked, it tends to become slippery and soft.

I have never cooked fish maw because it takes some effort to clean and cook it while at the same time, ensuring your soups do not taste fishy! That's rather ironic because a dried fish maw will taste and smell fishy right? You'll need to cover fish maw in boiling water and leave to soak for at least 2 days to soften it for cooking. If it is not soft enough, you repeat the process.

Anyway, since I don't cook fish maw or fish stomach, you may want to hop over to this blog and check out this easy recipe for fish stomach soup.

I know it's ridiculous to be so happy about a fruit tree but this tree holds a special place in my heart.

I had this tree grow from some leftover pomegranate seeds while I was still living in my old apartment - I think that was sometime in 2009.

I planted the seeds in a plastic pot and forgot about it. You see, my then balcony didn't have much direct sunlight so I barely had any hope that the seeds would germinate.

Fighting against all odds (and maybe, just maybe I have green fingers!) the seeds grew into a spindly little plant. Pomegranate leaves are long and tapered, as you can see in the photos below.

I brought this pot over when I moved home in November 2009. This new apartment of mine affords me a little bit of backyard. I promptly transplanted the pomegranate plant into a larger pot made of clay. I figured it would have more space to grow. I placed this pot in the garden, with direct sun and rain.

I kept "feeding" it compost every month or so but I believe the plant loved the outdoors. It started growing tentatively but after bouts of really hot sun, it started to really grow tall. I had never hoped for any fruits because I learnt that it takes about 4 to 7 years before any pomegranates will appear and that's also if one's lucky. One cannot hurry Nature. It takes its own time and space.

Pomegranate bud

Early this year, I saw some tiny red buds. Like the one above but a lot smaller. I got excited because this meant that flowers were coming! By this time, the sapling had grown into a tree, about 4 feet in height. Its leaves were much greener and larger and its branches looked sturdier. Its trunk had thickened considerably too. From the bud came the flower - soft little petals which looked so delicate but which attracted butterflies! (Some people cannot stand butterflies because it means there'll be pupa somewhere and that eats up leaves.)

Pomegranate flower

Anyway, when the heavy rains pelted my poor plant, I was terribly worried. Would the flowers fall off in these tropical thunderstorms? Yes, some did fall onto the ground! But most of them stayed happy and tight on the branches.

And from those which stayed put, something magical happens. The flower turns into a fruit! Can you see the lovely bulb-like fruit forming? It's still early so the fruit may not be fully formed until a few weeks later but it's very exciting to know that a few seeds turned into a plant and that plant or tree is now bearing gorgeous carmine coloured fruits!

Pomegranate fruit slowly forming from the flower

Having said that, did you know that Chinese folks love growing pomegranates in their gardens? Usually it is placed in front of the home. It is a symbol of fertility (especially many sons; we Chinese love our male progeny) - the many seeds in each pomegranate is a symbol of this and abundance and prosperity.

It is also used in feng shui where artwork featuring pomegranate are hung in newlywed's homes to encourage and create offspring luck. As you can see, it is a feng shui fertility cure. It also symbolizes happiness in the family, as well as good luck for one's descendants. By the way, it's not just in Chinese culture. This fruit, high in antioxidants, is also mentioned in many ancient religions from Judaism to Islam.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, pomegranates which are of bitter and astringent nature are dried and used to benefit the kidneys, intestines and stomach. It expels worms in the stomach besides treating skin conditions and diarrhoea. If you suffer from coughing, eating pomegranates may help.

I can't wait to taste the fruits when they ripen! Will keep you updated!

First of all, so very sorry for a long hiatus from this blog.

I have been extremely busy with my business and that left me very little time for blogging (and you know I have another blog, right?). The thing about business is, after sometime, you need to re-focus and re-strategize because we're no longer interested in what we were in interested in say 7 or 8 years ago. Our focus has changed. That's got a lot to do with experiencing everything that a business puts you through - both good and bad.

Anyway.

This blog will resume (I found out just this week that a blogger friend had closed her blog for good! Wow. That takes a lot of courage) and I will continue blogging.

I am never at loss for topics - usually it is a lack of time!

So let's see....remember my pomegranate tree? It's still fruiting with wild abandon. Its branches, puny as they look, are heavy with fruits and supporting the rosy orbs.

I was really eager to taste the fruit but this is my first time harvesting a fruit tree so I wasn't too sure when I should pick a pomegranate to try!

I decided to be brave and cut one off the stem.

I read online that a pomegranate can be harvested after 6 months or when the skin turns a rosy pink. The other way of gauging if it's ready is to hold it in your hand. If it feels heavy, it's ready.

There's a secret pleasure in cutting open a fruit that you planted. For me, nothing beat that intense pleasure when I sliced into the fruit which is the size of a lemon. Those ruby red arils were amazingly sweet and astringent at the same time.

Some people will chew the arils and spit the seeds but I ate everything.

This was truly my first time tasting my own homegrown fruit. Now I am itching to see what other fruit trees I can plant (papaya comes to mind because it is so easy!). Of course, I have eaten sweet basil which I've grown but I used it mainly in making pesto for my pasta. Yet nothing beats eating fruits from your own garden.

By the way, pomegranate is also used for Traditional Chinese Medicine as this blog post informs me.

The rind and seeds are useful for a host of ailments from dysentery to sore throat though you're cautioned NOT to overdose on pomegranates. Pomegranates target the Spleen and Stomach and is Warming. It nourishes blood and stops dysentery too.

What fruit trees have you planted? What do you suggest I plant next? ;-)

Whenever I see fresh wai san or shan yao or Chinese yam in the market, I'll buy some. As wai san can keep for a few weeks wrapped in paper in the fridge, it is a worthwhile buy. (And you know how I love making wai san soup and wai san congee).

Sometimes, I forget I have wai san sitting in my vegetable compartment and when I finally dig it out, it has gone all mouldy and icky.

I am not too sure if I mentioned this but I compost all of my organic matter - from cooked stuff to fish bones and meat bones. A lot of people will only compost vegetable and fruit - I am not too sure why they think fish bones or meat bones or chicken bones won't compost. Maybe they fear the smell of rotting animal matter?

As I've been composting using a 10-pot system taught by my friend Don for more than 2 years now, I can tell you that as long as you cover your waste matter with minimum 2 inches of soil, there will be no flies or maggots. Of course bones will not compost easily. It is after all made of calcium. However there is no smell even if I compost stuff like gravy, curry or even cooked stuff.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I found an old piece of wai san in my fridge. Decided to chop it up into smaller chunks and compost it in my compost pot.

I thought that was the end of it.

The wai san was not to be outwitted. My compost pot seemed to be the perfect environment for these chunks of wai san to grow!

When I dug out the compost pot, I saw that the chunks of wai san, left for dead, had grown healthy roots.

It was a surprise indeed.

Since it was growing happily, I decided to transfer these 4 chunks of wai san into a proper pot.

I have been googling about planting or growing wai san and what do you know? It is a seemingly easy tuber to grow. And it can be invasive and take over your entire garden so while it is a useful herb, you don't want to grapple with a wai san overgrowth problem.

The wai san plant grows like a creeper and has flowers which smell like cinnamon!

I shall keep you posted on how my wai san grows. If it really grows well, I may not ever need to buy wai san from the market again.

Each Sunday I try to find a new herbal recipe to test. I love my Sundays when I lounge at home, listening to the jazz channel and sipping homemade herbal tea while reading.

Today I dug out some wolfberries or "kei chi" or goji berries from the fridge. I am usually running out of space in my fridge because all my herbs go into the fridge.

In this tropical weather, herbs will either dry out or go mouldy if you keep them too long in the cabinets. One distinct way to know if your wolfberries are deteriorating is to see their bright red colour becoming a dull, dirty red. That's why you know your wolfberries can go into the compost bin! (Or maybe you can stick them into some soil and grow your own goji berry plants. I might try this though finding available space in my already thriving garden can be tough!)

This packet of wolfberries is considered Super Grade because each wolfberry is larger than regular itty bitty ones you see in most pre-packed herbal soup packets. My regular Chinese herbal guy recommended that not only is this better grade, it is also recommended that one takes a handful of these wolfberries each day. The back of the packet says this:

wolfberries from ningxia region of china - good for kidneys and liver

The best wolfberries come from the Ningxia region of China. (I first came across Ningxia when I drank some Ningxia Red, a product from Young Living. While I like that the drink packs a power punch of antioxidants, I get really hungry after 20 minutes! That said, Ningxia Red products supposedly contain the powerful wolfberries from the famous goji berry producer, the Ningxia region.)

Just so you know, Ningxia is the principal region of China where wolfberries are grown.

Anyway, today's recipe uses 3 basic ingredients or herbs you can find in any Chinese home. You need a handful of each - dried chrysanthemum flowers, dried longan and goji berries.

Place these into a pot with about 1 liter of water and let it simmer for 15 minutes on the lowest fire. Drink this as a tea throughout the day.

dried longan, goji berries and chrysanthemum flowers for herbal tea

From top right: dried longan flesh, goji berries, chrysanthemum flowers

If you're really lazy, you can just steep these ingredients in a teapot but I find simmering on low heat brings out the best in the longan - at least they'll expand properly and release their sweetness into the tea.

This tea helps with dizzyness and improving the health of your eyes. Highly useful if you (like me) work long hours in front of the computer.

You may also want to know, how often should you consume teas such as these? I say once or twice a week is good enough. Never go overboard and overdo things.

Whenever I think of excessiveness, think of this: you should eat something regularly rather than consume a big pot of it at one go.

Health is about regular maintenance. You wouldn't eat 7 apples in one sitting would you, even if apples are great for health? It's better to eat one apple a day than gobble all 7 on a Sunday night!

Update: add a few goji berries to your hot tea - this way you'll always be eating this superfood!

This is a soup that I made one day while trying to clear up leftover vegetables in the fridge.

I had half a carrot and some fresh wai san. So I made this soup which I think tastes infinitely better than plain old wai san with pork ribs.

Carrots in soups make soups taste a lot "sweeter".

For this soup, you will need:

1/2 carrot, cut into chunks

Fresh wai san, peeled and sliced

2 dried red dates, pitted

300gm of blanched pork bones

1 liter water

Bring water in a pot to boil and add in all the ingredients. Boil on high heat for 10 minutes before putting the lid on your pot. Reduce fire to a mere simmer. Simmer soup for 2 hours. Add salt to taste.

You must let your soup "sit" and have the flavours develop once your soup is ready. I noticed that if I immediately serve the soup, it won't taste as good.

Let it "sit" for 30 minutes or so before serving. The soup is flavourful and of course you must eat up the carrot and wai san - they're good for you!

Speaking of red dates, I recently managed to buy some huge dried red dates. They're about 4 times larger than most dried red dates and costs three times as much. I got these from my regular market where the herbalist recommended these to me. It is said that three dried red dates a day keeps one healthy with a promise of long life!

This packet of dried red dates cost me RM26. Below I compare the red date with a regular lime. See how large the red date is?

Do you like mulberries?

I find them rather fascinating fruits because they're a cross between raspberries (in look) yet with the tartness of lemons.

My friend, Don, once offered me a tiny mulberry that he plucked off his mulberry plant. As we live in Malaysia where the weather is hot, the mulberry was prized indeed. It was barely red enough.

It tasted tart. But I like tart fruits so that was all right.

When I was in Hong Kong last year, I managed to buy some fresh ones and they were much larger than the tiny one grown by Don. For about HK$15, I bought a box (see below) at the local Hong Kong evening market. Looks like a lot of fruits right?

Mulberry fruits or mulberry berries? Bought these from a market in Hong Kong. Don't be fooled
by the overflowing basket. The berries are propped up by lots of foam!

Sneaky HK fruit sellers prop their baskets with foam so that you just get a handful but it seems like a lot! I think that is really cheating. I'd prefer if they put them in a plastic bag and you can see how much you are getting.

These mulberries are probably grown in China. They were sweetish but still had a tartness about them. I polished off this entire basket (not very big basket mind you) after dinner while eating blue cheese and drinking sake in my friend's apartment in Tseung Kwan O. The thing is, the tartness of these berries complimented the blue cheese! Strange bed fellows indeed.

Back in Malaysia, a lot of people have been planting mulberry trees as it is supposed to be super easy to grow. Just cut off a branch of mulberry and poke this into the ground and in no time, it will grow.

That's what I did.

But it didn't grow as easily as I thought!

Mulberry is also called Sang Shen and it is actually very good for health - healing a variety of ills from anemia to premature hair greying.

It is also a fruit that affects the Lung and Liver meridians.

As it is cooling, it clears Liver fire and is a remedy for coughs, colds and fevers. As you can use it for your Liver, it assists in giving you better vision and hearing. It is also useful in cases of constipation (used together with other herbs as seen here). All the more reason to eat mulberries by the handful.

Fresh mulberry leaves can be steeped in hot water and sipped as a tea (here's how you make the mulberry leaf tea).

To discover more about this wonderful fruit/leaf/herb, take a look at this site which details everything about mulberry.

I know. It sounds unbelievable right?

Steamed green apple with American ginseng will cure your headaches forever? Isn't it such an audacious claim? Really? Does it work?

Actually, these were my reactions too when I heard it from - of all people - my mum!

As I live in Penang and my mum lives in Selangor (Banting, to be specific, which is a little town near Morib and one that's well-known for its seafood), we have regular phone conversations. These days it's much easier because calls are free - we use Viber a lot. So we have long conversations.

About food. About life. Mostly food. She knows I love my food. And I like taking good care of myself. I am a hedonist. I probably learnt that from her. She's always telling me how we should all eat better. It is true though. With better nutrition, you do feel immensely better. That is why SoupQueen exists, right? ;-)

Here's how the story goes.

My mum often goes to the Sunday market in Banting where there's lots of interesting food vendors and vegetable sellers. It's not like a market with a roof and structure. The Sunday market is just a place where sellers and hawkers of all types congregate to sell their wares.

The day she went she met a man hawking his plastic fruit peeler - you know those lively market sales people who snap on a portable microphone and start doing demos with the fruit peeler. Mum didn't buy as she already had a fruit peeler but this guy dispensed a recipe - which is the one I am going to tell you about.

I don't know if it's a marketing spiel but he says this recipe came from his grandmother.

After 3 days of taking this dessert consecutively, you will never have another bad headache again!

Bold claim huh?

So my mum tells me I have to try this recipe. I haven't yet because I've been rather busy. I did buy green apples which is uncommon for me. I don't like apples or oranges much. I prefer local fruits.

Perhaps you can try it and let me know?

You will need:

1 green apple
a few slices of American ginseng
2 dried red dates, pitted
a few pieces rock sugar

You have to core the apple but you can keep the peel on. Into the cored apple, place the American ginseng, red dates and rock sugar. Put this entire apple into a crockpot. Pour over a cup of water. Set your crockpot to simmer for 2 hours.

Drink while warm and eat up the apple, ginseng, red dates and all. Best drunk just before you go to bed.

Continue to brew this again for the next two nights and drink before going to bed.

This, says my mum or rather the fruit peeler guy, will cure your headaches for good.

Do I believe it? I don't know. I don't have (touch wood) massive headaches.

But it sounds do-able and something that probably tastes better than eating paracetamol!

The soup for making your hair dark, lustrous and beautiful

Hey there.

I have been missing for a bit. But I miss my blog too.

Today I am going to share a new recipe but I am not too sure if I've shared this before.

Doesn't matter right?

I have been intrigued by foods and ingredients that are black. With my white hairs popping out, I have been on a journey to find foods that prevent hair from greying (actually I have not seen grey hair but I have seen lots of white hair).

Pan-fried dried black beans in their split skins

I hate pulling out my white hair by its roots but somehow I do it.

Some folks say that pulling out your white hair encourages more white hair to grow.

Bah. I don't care.

My current fave - super large sized dried red dates

I have also been using henna powder to dye my hair. That's a lot better than waiting for chemicals to seep into my brain when I go to my hair stylist's. I sit there with the stuff on my head for 45 minutes while my eyes smart like hell.

I have since refused to do it, preferring to use henna powder that I buy from the Indian shops in Little India.

Maybe I should have another post for henna. Henna not only dyes hair but encourages hair growth and imparts good benefits to hair (gives it more form and shine). When I was a kid, my Malay neighbour used to grow henna. She used to pound the leaves and use the henna juice to colour her nails. This very habit strengthens nails but my mom had a fit when she saw me with orange nails!

Of course, now you don't need to grow the plant to get the dye. Just buy dried henna powder in any Indian shop. It's inexpensive and I feel much better using something nature intended on my head and hair than commercial dyes.

Chopped up pig tail

I am also thinking, eating something must be better than putting it on my head so I have resorted to soups.

This time, it's black beans soup with pig's tail.

Make sure you blanch the pig tail chunks first to get rid of the oiliness and scum

Now the thing with pig's tail is this - you have to pre-order the tail or at least be damn chummy with your butcher. After all, each pig comes with a tail. Tails are scarce!

My butcher will chop up the tail into nice chunks for me. The only problem I have with this soup is that it's heck of an oily soup. You need to skim off the fats. The pig's tail is rather fatty you see.

Here's what you need:

1 pig's tail, chopped into chunks and blanched
1 cup black beans
1 thumb-size piece of young ginger (gets rid of the gassiness of beans)
2-3 dried red dates, pits removed
A handful of goji berries, soaked

Black beans need to be pan-fried in a dry pan (no oil OK?) until they pop their skins and reveal a hint of greenish bean inside. Let it cool.

In a pot, bring about 1.5 liters of water to boil.

When it boils, add all ingredients into the pot. Do not cover pot. Let the entire thing boil rapidly for 10 minutes on high. The boiling must be furious.

After 10 minutes, put the cover on the pot and lower the stove fire to the lowest you can manage. Let this simmer for 2 hours minimum. Add salt to taste at the last 15 minutes or so. Dish up and serve hot.

Here's the yummy goodness after 2 hours of slow simmering

Eat up all the beans, goji berries and chunks of pig tail. You may want to skim the fat or oil off the soup before you serve.

Black beans are great for kidneys. In TCM, anything that has anything to do with your kidneys has something to do with your hair and ears and eyes. Black beans presumably are also good for making your hair lustrous.

Here's something else - did you know that black beans are grown in India and Brazil? Find out more about the benefits of eating black beans here.

In my next post, I am going to tell you about an ingredient that doesn't need to be boiled (but can be if you want to) and can be eaten just like that, raw and is still GOOD for you and for your hair! (Plus invigorates your kidneys and liver too!)

Dang Gui for Replenishing Blood

Basic Won Ton Soup

Red Bean Dessert

A Book on Herbs From The Herb Shop!

Anyone Have This Recipe?

Pumpkin Barley Dessert

Garden Weed Or TCM Herb for Urological Problems

I Love This Blue Flower!

Longan, Red Date & Goji Berry Dessert

Pig Tail Soup

Lotus Seed & Lily Bulb Dessert For Beautiful Skin

Collagen, Fish Maw & Aging Gracefully

My Pomegranate Tree Is Finally Fruiting!

Nothing Sweeter Than Fruitful Effort

Growing Wai San...Yes, Believe It Or Not!

Goji Berry Tea For Sparkling Eyes

Wai San, Carrot & Red Date Soup

Mulberries - Not Just Food For Silkworms?

Steamed Green Apple With American Ginseng To Cure Headaches Forever

Black Bean, Goji Berries and Pig Tail Soup