Asian Soups Soothe & Heal (1/2)

Asian Soups Soothe & Heal Garlic, miso, ginger and ginseng are some of the “healing ingredients” found in traditional Asian soups. Falling sick is never fun. Bedridden, a blanket up to my chin and feeling sorry for myself, I was never an easy patient as a child. However, there was one thing that could make me smile — a steaming bowl of my mother’s chicken congee (rice soup). Mom would throw chicken bones into a stockpot together with rice, garlic and ginger. This concoction would brew over a slow flame for a few hours, resulting in a smooth, creamy white porridge that I would slurp up with relish. No matter how sore my throat was or how congested my sinuses, I never failed to enjoy a bowl of mom’s comforting chicken congee. Although modern science has recently discovered that an amino acid in chicken acts as a decongestant, chicken soup and many other herbal soups have long been used as a curative in Asian traditions. “Even though food is deemed for nutrient purposes to sustain life, it can also be viewed as a form of medicine,” says Sue Yang, licensed acupuncturist and a faculty member at Bastyr University’s School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. “In Chinese medicine, every food product has its own energetic qualities for specific purposes.” Chinese herbal medicine is based on yin and yang. Depending on the context, yin represents negative energy and the cooling forces, while yang represents positive energy and the warming forces. The Chinese believe illness is a signal that the two forces are out of balance and the qi (life force or vital energy) in your body has been disrupted. For example, if you have a cold, it’s because your body has too much yin and you should drink a soup with yang ingredients designed to restore the balance. Similarly, a fever might be treated with a yin soup. Chicken is a yang food and may be combined with any number of other ingredients to make a healing blend. One of them is gingko, believed to have a therapeutic effect on the lungs. In her book The Chinese Kitchen, Eileen Yin-Fei Lo notes that chicken soup with gingko nuts was once prescribed as a cure for coughs. Similarly, the Thai people eat a dish called kao tom moo as a remedy for a cold. It can be made with either chicken or pork, but lots of garlic and ginger are a must. “I remember, when I was young, my mom always braised chicken, with a lot of ginger, garlic and sesame oil,” says Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen, chef and owner of I Love Thai Cooking and a culinary instructor in Seattle. “We cook this recipe for family and friends when they need gentle and healing food or everyday cooking.” The Korean samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) is also a popular tonic soup. Ginseng and chicken make a wonderful pair because both are warming, and ginseng is believed to increase resistance and resilience to stress and build qi. Japanese miso (fermented soybean) soup also has healing properties. Miso contains living enzymes and eating it daily can aid in digestion, lower cholesterol and detoxify the blood. Studies at Japan’s National Cancer Center reported that people who ate miso soup every day had lower rates of certain cancers and heart disease. These findings conform to traditional Oriental medicine and folk wisdom valuing miso as the supreme medicine for the prevention and relief of disease. According to many Asian traditions, postpartum mothers should eat special nourishing soups designed to replenish the blood supply and restore qi during the first month following birth. My sister-in-law, Yusi Sasmitra, who is Indonesian Chinese, was fed a brew of chicken, wine and ginger for several weeks after she gave birth to her son. “It was so good that everyone in the family wanted to eat it!” she says. “My mother-in-law had to make extra.” Ginger stimulates digestion while ridding the body of gas, a common affliction among women who have just given birth.