No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

Figs are high in fibre, natural sugars and minerals.  Their nutritional value increases when they're dried.  As dried figs are good for the lungs and contribute health and wellness, using them as an ingredient for making soup is benefical to our body.  Stewing figs with some pork and red dates will help to increase the flow of breast milk.  Hence it is also good for mothers in confinement. Figs, Chicken and Red Dates Soup ~ Confinement food  ~  无花果和红枣鸡汤 Ingredients 800 gm free range chicken, chopped 50 gm dried figs 40 gm seedless red dates 5 gm goji berries 2.5 lt water Seasalt to taste Method Bring the 2..5 lt in a pot, once boiling, add in the chicken, dried figs and red dates Simmer and let cook till chicken is tender, about 2 hours Add in goji berries Fine tune to taste with seasalt Serve

This is a very refreshing and delicious soup that mothers in confinement after delivery can enjoy.  Walnuts are an excellent source of vitamins like Vitamin E and B6 and minerals like manganese and phosphorus, while red dates promotes red blood cells and boosts blood circulation.  Having a soup with meals will certainly help to keep the mother hydrated. Walnut Red Dates Chicken Soup ~  Confinement food ~  核桃 红枣 鸡汤 Ingredients 800 gm free-range chicken, chopped 60 gm walnuts 60 gm seedless red dates 2 honey dates 2.5 lt water Seasalt to taste Method Boil the water in a pot and once boiling, add in the red dates, honey dates and walnuts. Bring to the boil and then add in the chicken pieces, cover and let soup simmer under medium low heat till the chicken and walnuts are tender.  This will take about 2 to 2.5 hours. Add seasalt to taste.  Serve Yield :  4 servings

I had my first taste of Cordycep flower soup in a Chinese restaurant and didn't hesitate to ask the waitress what were those curly, twisty, crunchy and chewy 'strings' in the soup.  Her reply was that they were Cordycep flowers (scientific name Cordycep Militaris), a sort of woody cultivated mushrooms. According to traditional Chinese medicine, Cordycep flowers do have some nutritional health benefits, such as nourishing the lungs, improve sleep, reduce fatigue just to name a few. After cooking, you may notice that the soup has a hint of orangey colour. Cordycep Flower Soup ~  Confinement food ~  猪骨虫草花汤 Ingredients 25 gm dried cordyceps flowers, rinsed, 450 gm soft pork bones for soup 10 seedless red dates 10 gm goji berries 20 gm yuk chook 2.1/2 lt water seasalt to taste Method Blanch the pork bones in hot water, drain, rinse and set aside Boil 2.1//2 lt water in a pot and once boiling, add in the dried cordycep flowers,  ...

Breastfeeding mothers need a healthy diet and breastfeeding makes many mothers extra thirsty and therefore drinking a lot of fluids help to prevent dehydration.  Fluid intake is associated with breast milk production and green papaya is one of the nutritious fruit that can be used in a soup or in salads. That said, consuming green papaya helps to increase the production of oxytocin which ultimately increases the production of milk. Green papaya snow fungus pork rib soup ~ 青木瓜雪耳猪骨汤 (坐月汤) Ingredients 800 gm green papaya, remove skin and seeds 15 gm snow fungus, soak till it plumps up, snip off the hard ends 450 gm pork ribs 12 seedless red dates 2.1/2 lt water 1/2 tsp crushed pepper corns seasalt to taste Method Peel off the skin from the green papaya, remove the seeds and cut into wedges. Blanch the pork ribs in a pot of boiling water, rinse well. In a pot, bring the water to a boil, add in the red dates, peppercorn and pork ribs.  Let it si...

This is a very simple chicken dish, easy to prepare, good to serve at a meal and also suitable as a confinement food for new mothers.   The four ingredients are of course, a free-range chicken, seasalt, Tang Gui    当归   (Angelica Sinensis) and Bei Qi   北芪 (Astragalus Membranaceus).   Homemade Salted Chicken ~  Confinement food ~   盐烤鸡 Ingredients 1 kg free-range chicken 3 tsp ground seasalt 6 piecesTong Gui 6 pieces Bei Qi Method Tear up the pieces of Tong Gui and Bei Qi Clean up the chicken, pat dry and rub seasalt all over the chicken. Mix up the herbs and put into the cavity of the chicken Marinate for a few hours, preferably overnight, refrigerated Remove from fridge, leave at room temperature Place the chicken into a rice cooker with a 4 mm forged thick pot Cook till chicken is tender using the 'Cook' function

Although no research says that Basil can help to  increase the production of breast milk but it has a calming effect, helps improve bowel movement and promotes a healthy appetite when used in moderation.  Meanwhile Turmeric is full of vitamins and offers several medicinal benefits when consumed moderately while breastfeeding the  baby. Basil Turmeric Chicken (Confinement food)  ~  九层塔黄姜鸡 Ingredients 400 gm free range chicken cut into bite size 1 big onion, sliced Some sprigs of Thai basil leaves Seasoning 1/4 tsp each of  sugar, light soya sauce, salt 1.1/2 tsp turmeric powder 2 Tbsp tamarind juice a dash of dark soya sauce Method Marinate the chicken with the above seasoning for a few hours or overnight. Pan fry the onion slices till fragrant, then add in the seasoned chicken. Add some water, cover and cook till chicken is cooked through and tender. Toss in the basil leaves, mix well. Fine tune to desired taste. Dish out...

Today, I'm going to share with you a soup, suitable for confinement ( 坐月 ) mothers.  Postpartum confinement is practised by the Chinese and other East Asians for mothers to recover their health after giving birth.  Lemon grass is beneficial to new mothers who are breastfeeding as it helps to increase milk production.  I'm no expert in this field but I had the opportunity to pick up a few recipes of confinement food and I will post them up from time to time. Lemon grass and onion soup  柠檬草和洋葱汤 Ingredients 5 stalks of lemon grass, crushed 5 whole onions, smashed 2.5 lt water 900 gm pork shoulder and bones 1/2 tap peppercorns, smashed seasalt to taste Method Blanch the pork bones in hot water, drain and rinse with tap water, set aside. Bring to the boil, 2.5 lt of water and once boiling, add in the lemon grass, onions, peppercorns and pork bones. Let it simmer till the meat is tender and add seasalt to taste. Serve hot.

Pig trotters with ginger and black vinegar is a 'heaty'  dish and is a very popular dish for confinement mothers. The black vinegar helps in blood circulation and purifies the blood, the ginger helps to get rid of wind in the body and the collagen in the trotters helps to strengthen our joints and ligaments. It's the Cantonese tradition that this is cooked on the 12th day after childbirth when the baby is 12 days old and together with another speciality, 'Chicken in rice wine', they are distributed to relatives and close friends to announce the arrival of a newborn. I normally like to cook this dish during the rainy season when the weather is slighly cooler!