Taoist Chinese Herbal Food Recipes:
Eating with the Seasons
Suitable Foods for Spring: radish, bamboo shoot, pear, water chestnut, fig, chestnut, wheat, carrot, shan yao, celery, yi yi ren, chi xiao dou, peanut, sesame, black-chicken, pork liver, lamb liver, abalone
Diet Formulas for Spring:
“Three Fruits in Jade Palace”
• Clears heat, produces body fluids, moistens dryness, dissolves phlegm, soothes the chest, & brightens the eyes
• Formula: 1 pear, 7 water chestnuts, & 3 figs
• Shred everything, & add rock sugar & sesame paste to make salad (blanch water chestnuts first)
“Immortal Liquid Benefits the Five Organs”
• Benefits the LV, nourishes the SP, clears heat & produces body fluids
• Formula: 1 green radish, 1 section of lotus root, 1 apple, 8 sticks of celery, & 7 spinach plants
• Blanch all the ingredients & juice them. Add rock sugar & chrysanthemum flower extract, then drink it at noon & in the evening
Suitable Foods for Summer: lotus root, summer squash, eggplant, cucumber, straw mushroom, wheat, chestnut, mung bean, watermelon, beef, radish, rutabega, celery, spinach, lily bulb, mushroom, wood ear fungus
Diet Formulas for Summer:
“Pear and Red Date”
• Strengthens the SP & ST to help transformation, clear irritable-heat to get rid of dampness, harmonizes the zang-fu, & calms the shen
• Formula: 40 pieces red date, 5 pieces pear, 5 sections of Shan Yao (ea section is about 1 in), 150 g of red beans
• Put all ingredients into a ceramic pot, add 1500 mL water, & use medium heat to boil. When it’s well done, stir into a paste then add rock sugar, take peel off & the kernels out of dates & pears. Take it in the morning & evening. Add 5 pieces of ju hua & remove when done boiling.
“Three Lights Produce Brightness”
• Benefits the shen, clears the chest, nourishes the LU yin, produces body fluids, benefits the qi & strengthens the SP & ST; benefits the HT, LU & metabolism; harmonizes the zang-fu to smooth qi & blood circulation
• Formula: 3 sections lotus root (ea section is about 1 in), 3 sections bamboo shoots (about 1 in ea), 3 pieces tremella (yin er)
• Put all ingredients into a ceramic pot, add 2000 mL water. On medium heat, boil the liquid until only 1000 mL remains. Take it in the morning, noon, & evening.
Suitable Foods for Autumn: radish, carrot, shan yao, mushroom, yellow soybean, walnut meat, pumpkin seed, sweet almond, perch, red date, orange, apple, sang shen, lemon, olive, shan zha, grape
Diet Formulas for Autumn:
“Jade Pool and Spirit Root”
• Benefits the LU to produce body fluids, strengthen the SP to remove dampness, & nourish the LV to tonify the KD
• Formula: 1 white gourd (dong gua), 90g turtle, 90g fresh shan yao, 21 pieces gingko nuts
• Cube the turtle & shan yao. Use gingko nut meat, then put them inside the white gourd. Add water up to 4/5 of the gourd & steam. The formula benefits qi, produces body fluids & stops thirst. Take it in the morning & evening. Eat the gourd at the same time. Add a bit of salt, 3 pieces fresh ginger, 3 pieces ju hua, a little millet wine (Shao Xing wine), & certain amount of honey
“Three Qi Ascending Essence”
• Tonifies the SP, benefits the LU, & nourishes the LV
• Formula: 90g shan yao, 9g pine nuts, 6g black sesame
• Slice the shan yao, use the pine nut meat, put the three into a ceramic pot, add 2500 mL water, boil into 1000 mL on medium heat. Take it in the morning & evening. Add some rock sugar. Add 3 pieces of ju hua.
Suitable Foods for Winter: Onion, mustard, radish, carrot, wild cabbage, potato, mushroom, papaya, mutton, lily bulb, chestnut, lian zi, gou qi zi, persimmon, red date, long yan rou, sweet rice, eel, mussel, corn, bai bian dou, black bean, walnut meat
Diet Formulas for Winter:
“Mysterious Fact Meeting Spring”
• Eliminates evil qi, expels yin coldness, moistens the muscles & skin, strengthens qi, benefits jing, supports the vital energy, & ascends yang
• Formula: 40 pieces black bean, 24 pieces gou qi zi, 7 pieces red date, 7 sections shan yao (about 1 in ea), 30g corn
• Put all the objects into a ceramic pot, add 2500 mL water, boil over medium heat, & take it in the morning & evening. Add a certain amount of malt sugar & 3 pieces of ju hua.
“Yuan Prefecture Jade Liquid”
• Tonifies the LU & KD to reduce deficiency, & nourishes the HT & benefits the blood to calm the shen; nourishes the KD & strengthens yang to strengthen the lumbar & backbone, & benefits the SP & harmonizes the ST to assist digestion
• Formula: 5 pieces dong chong xia cao, 16 pieces lian zi, 5 quail eggs, 7 pieces red date, 35 cloves of bai he (lily bud)
• Put everything into a ceramic pot (boil & peel the eggs first), add 1500 mL water, boil on medium heat to 800 mL, take it in the morning & evening. Add some brown sugar & a bit of millet wine.
