Nov 20, 2008

Ah Ma's old chinese remedies

When my mom visited her relatives in China almost a decade ago, she was amazed to find her elderly auntie as fit as a fiddle, complete with rosy cheeks.

When asked about the secret behind her good health, my grand-auntie attributed it to the soup which our great-grandmother had taught her. As they lived high in the mountains and the nearest doctor was a day’s journey away, this soup was taken every three months or so to flush the stomach of toxins and impurities.

According to my grand-auntie, for the best results, the soup must be taken for three days continuously without other types of food. But one is allowed to drink water during this period.

Apart from clearing the stomach of unwanted elements, the soup also helps to boost one’s immune system, making the person less susceptible to catching a cold or the flu bug.

The soup uses the simplest of ingredients – radish, carrot, potatoes and an onion. It should be eaten as part of the meal together with the rich vegetable stock.

Having taken this soup for the past decade, I can vouch for its efficacy as a health food.




Ingredients (Serves 2)
1 radish, skinned, cut into chunks
2 carrots, skinned, cut into chunks
3 local potatoes, skinned, cut into half
1 large brown onion, quartered
1,500ml water

Method
1. Heat water in a large pot till it boils.
2. Add all the ingredients into the pot to boil over low fire for 30 minutes.
3. Turn off the fire.
4. Serve hot.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I definately will have to try this soup, easy to make and good for detoxication after the pending parties/gatherings of X'mas, New Year Eve and also Chinese New Year.

dada said...

Green radish?

Janice Tan said...

Will it lessen the detoxifying effect if I add pork?