Healthy Traditional Chinese Dishes for the New Year

By Hu Naiwen
Translated by Anne Chan

The New Year is around the corner, and no one can resist celebrating with a lavish spread of delicacies. However, too much greasy food might cause stomach pain and increase blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. The elderly should be extra cautious with greasy food.

I’d like to introduce three healthy and delicious dishes that counteract the effects of heavy holiday meals: the “unparalleled four-agents-decoction,” the “anti-three-hypers hotpot,” and a refreshing tea.

The Unparalleled Four-Agents-Decoction

The “unparallelled four-agents-decoction” (“si wu tang” in Chinese) was first made by Mr. Sun Yat-Sen, the founding father of the Republic of China. The origin explains its nickname: “Sun Yat-Sen’s Si Wu Tang.”

In his early years as a doctor, Sun used to tell his patients that the most important treatment other than medicine is nutrition. He made an exclusive and nutritious recipe that contains four ingredients: soybean sprouts, tofu, black fungus, and long yellow daylilies. These can be found at many Asian grocery stores and cooked together into a soup or stew. Moreover, Sun’s recipe improves digestion, preserves spleen-stomach harmony, and dispels waste and toxins from the body.

Soybean Sprouts: In ancient times, soybean sprouts were called yellow curls of soybeans. Soybeans grow when placed in water. The peel breaks down, and the roots grow long. The germ is rich in enzymes, which helps digest protein, starch, and fat. In the past, people used to eat soybean sprouts to expel internal dampness and strengthen the spleen-stomach.

Tofu: Also known as bean curd, tofu is prepared by coagulating soy milk and pressing the curds into solid white blocks. It is rich in protein and helps form more red blood cells. It is often used as a vegetarian substitute for meat.

Black Fungus: This popular mushroom grows on fallen logs in the wild and can decompose wood to enrich its nutrition. Likewise, black fungus can reduce the risk of a variety of conditions in the body. When cooked thoroughly, black fungus returns to its original gelatin-like texture and can nourish the stomach. However, eating black fungus when it is not fully cooked might result in gastroenteritis.

Long Yellow Daylilies: In ancient China, yellow daylilies are also called “herb for forgetting your sorrows” (“wangyoucao”). They provide a rich source of iron and can nourish the blood.

Oatmeal: A Blood Tonifier

This is another food for blood tonification. Oats are high in copper, which combines the most important element in blood, hemin, with non-hemin iron. My recipe is simple. To one bowl of oatmeal, add the following savory ingredients: one egg, four red dates, some dark green vegetables, and about 1.8 ounces of chopped beef.

I once recommended this recipe to an old man whose hemoglobin was just between 6 to 7 grams per deciliter. The normal range of hemoglobin for an adult male is 13.8 to 18 grams per deciliter. After following this recipe for less than a month, his hemoglobin reached 14.

The Anti-Three-Hypers Hotpot

The hotpot is a family-style Chinese dinner where participants boil a variety of raw ingredients, piece by piece, in a large, continuously boiling pot in the middle of the table.

According to a popular proverb in Northern China, “Eating radish in winter and ginger in summer can keep doctors away.” I recommend adding radish, baby corn, Chinese yam, and okra to the soup base of any hotpot. These ingredients can reduce levels of blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol (the three “hypers”).

The New Year’s feast is not complete without fish, poultry, beef, or pork, as well as all kinds of seasonings. The anti-three-hypers soup base is a perfect match with all kinds of meat, vegetables, and glass noodles.

The Best Digestif: Sour Plum Drink

After a delicious New Year’s dinner, why not try a sour plum drink, an easy-to-make beverage? The drink was once many people’s childhood favorite. It keeps us hydrated in summer, and lukewarm sour plum drink is a great choice in winter.

The ingredients of sour plum drink include smoked plums, hawthorns, roselles, and licorice, which can all be obtained at traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies. Smoked plums are sour in flavor and serve to reduce body fat. Hawthorns, in TCM prescriptions, can improve digestion. Roselles can lower the level of cholesterol and are antioxidant, and licorice adds a bit of sweetness to the flavor. Adding rock or crystal sugar will make the drink even sweeter, and dried osmanthus blossoms make it more fragrant. The sour plum drink is an amazing choice after dinner.

Please note: The ingredients mentioned in the dishes must be applied proportionately. Some ingredients might have different effects on people with various physical conditions. Please consult a medical or TCM professional.

‘Let’s Talk With Dr. Hu,’ translated and edited for clarity with permission of NTD Television.

【About Dr. Hu】

Currently a professor at Nine Star University of Health and Sciences in Sunnyvale, California, Dr. Hu Naiwen was previously a pharmacological researcher of Western medicine in Taiwan. He was also the director for traditional Chinese medicine clubs at numerous Taiwanese universities.