How to add TCM into your everyday cooking?

Mothers across different generations are often the group to have perfected the art of adding bonus ingredients into meals for the added health benefits. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all can require different components based on the person's constitution, their diet, the season, what is already part of the meal, etc,. Knowing what to add is not as difficult as it seems, if you have a list to refer to.

We are now at the tail end of summer, gradually moving into a cooler season. This means we can expect a change in what is available at the grocery store, and adjust our eating habits accordingly. Here is a simple recipe you can incorporate into your rotation.

Chinese Yam Millet Porridge

Ingredients: 30g millet, 100g Chinese Yam/Shan Yao (fresh from grocery store or dried)

Instructions:

1. Wash each ingredient separately. Once yam is washed, peel the skin and leave sitting in water to prevent oxidation. (Peeling is only if you buy the fresh yam, if dried, no preparation is necessary)
2. Pre-soak the millet. Soaking in water can help soften the millet and shorten the cooking time. Soak time is dependent on your preferred texture and time constraints. You can soak them any time from 30 minutes to overnight (or not at all!). The longer the soak time the shorter the cooking time. Soaking is not necessary if you are in a rush, just make sure when the millet is finished cooking, it is soft and fully expanded, time will vary.
3. (*Here you can add your other ingredients of choice noted below) Begin cooking the Chinese Yam by putting it in 500ml of boiling water. Let it simmer on low heat for about 20 mins or until soft. Once it is almost finished (around 10-15 mins), add the millet. When cooking millet, be sure to bring the water to a boil first and then add the washed millet, then simmer over low heat. Turn off the heat when the soup becomes thick. Be sure to stir constantly to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot. 
   
4. Add your preferred seasoning before serving.

Benefits: Calms the mind, strengthens the spleen and replenishes Qi.

*Additional ingredients: You can add goji berries, sweet potatoes, beans, da zao (hong), pumpkin, longan and other ingredients to the porridge to increase nutritional value and taste. You can wash these, cut (pumpkin) and depit (da zao) and add them into the step when boiling Chinese yam. 

(photo from XiaoHongShu user 一日三餐LL)

Ingredients to incorporate into your other recipes:

(all of these can be purchased at a local Chinese grocery store)

Pumpkin: Nourishes the lungs and replenishes qi

White Radish: Cough relief and reduce phlegm

Lotus root: Nourish yin and clear heat, reduce lung inflammation and cough relief

Traditional Chinese Medicine is effective as a treatment to target illnesses and diseases, but also as prevention for the same problems. Instead of waiting for a diagnosis, you can be active in protecting your body against a myriad of common issues.