‘Lime’ classified under the citrus fruit family, is an essential ingredient in a variety of Malaysian dishes from the ever popular kerabu (sweet, spicy and sour salad) to mee siam (Thai-styled vermicelli). It is also widely consumed as a refreshing lime drink equivalent to its lemon counterpart as in lemonade.

What I would like to highlight here is not how widely it is used but its value as a preventive alternative for the common cold or influenza. This little citrus has high doses of vitamin C which helps strengthens our immunity system to enable us to fight off the common cold before it is full blown.

The minute I feel slightly under the weather, (before the nose gets all stuffy and runny) instead of drowning myself in a glass of high dosage of synthetic vitamin C, I just squeeze 2 limes and drink all its juices. Once in the morning and once at night. For those with gastric problems, advisable to take it after food. Bound to feel better the next morning. If not repeat the process for another day. For children, take only the juice of one lime.

This remedy has certainly helped my whole family and thanks to my sister who shared this little accidental wonder with me. It has in fact saved me a lot of unneccesary medical bills.

Food is the natural lifeline for our physical bodies and the right choice can assist us in maintaining and strengthening our health. The importance of herbs has been highly acknowledged by people from all nations, rich and poor alike. This post is specially written in reply to a request from a dear friend currently living in Hong Kong and my fellow bloggers whom may find this brew useful. I will not be in the position to introduce something I have not tried since I am no doctor but as for ’strengthening the lungs’, I bring to you the well trusted “Cordyceps”. In the mandarin translation cordyceps means ‘worm in the winter, grass in summer’. Many will not try it mainly because it is expensive but if bought from a trustworthy source the investments can be worthwhile. Beware of imitations.

Cordyceps otherwise known as ‘tung chung cho’ in Cantonese is believed to be the best remedy for anaemia, fatigue and weak lungs. It has great medicinal properties to aid recovery from illnesses as it encourages appetite and builds up resistance against chills and common cold. One small box of Cordyceps can be divided into 6 portions for this brew.

Red dates otherwise known as ‘hoong cho’ in Cantonese is often used in soups, brews or even sweet desserts to increase blood circulation in the body. It also possess lung, heart, spleen and stomach strengthening properties.

Recipe
1 portion of cordyceps (rinsed under filtered water)
1 handful of red dates, with or without stones (seed) is fine.
Heat up a small slow-cooker with 2 rice bowls of hot filtered water (hot water is used to quicken the cooking process). The slow-cooker method is preferred because slow cooking does not burn and the liquid does not evaporate.

Method
Simmer the brew in the slow-cooker for approx. 2 - 2 1/2 hours.
Pour out the brew, cool slightly and drink warm.

Since this brew is expensive, a thinner brew can be obtained by adding a rice bowl of hot filtered water into the herbal sediment (cordycep and red dates) and boil in the slow-cooker for 1 hour for the second time. This second time round brew will be less aromatic but still contains enough medicinal properties for our well being. I personally drank this brew for a period of 3 months before trying to conceive a child. Started off by having it twice a week and consecutively once a week. The second time brew was serve to my hubby and he too benefited from it. I did not catch a flu for a year after that, I suppose my lungs were pretty strong then.

Never thought this simple brew was so effective in getting rid of phlegm. Must share this little wonder-brew with you especially when you have children prone to the common flu. This is not a flu remedy but it definitely rids the phlegm factor in the beginning stage of the common cold and the tail end of it. Sometimes, the irritating phlegm causes unneccesary hurling in young children (above 1 yrs old) when they don’t know how to cough it out. Worst scenario is when they just drank their milk. I shall leave it up to your imagination!

This remedy is easy to prepare and works pretty well, All you need is 30 dark red grapes of any kind. The darker the skin the better. 5 slices of ‘kam choe’. Sorry I don’t know what it’s called in english or any other language but refer to my photo for visual. Can purchase from chinese medical halls or herbal shops. Malaysian RM1 can yield approximately 15 slices of ‘kam choe’.

1.5 litre of filtered water
30 dark red skin grapes (seed or seedless does not matter) - wash throughly and slice into half.
5 slices of ‘kam choe’

Bring to boil together and simmer for 1 hour. The liquid will then look like chinese tea with a slight tinge of redness. Pour and drink. Pleasant to the taste buds. This can be repeated for a period of 3-5 days continuosly.

Stuffed nose? Need to unclog? Here’s an unorthodox remedy for relieving stuffy nose. Some find ‘wasabi’ a Japanese horseradish an instant relieve but I know of a soup that might just do the same. I don’t know what this fish is called but in Cantonese is called ‘Chei Yee Chai’, I have it in the photo below, go figure… if you happen to know the name please tell me. This fish has a lot of scales and the smaller the size of the fish, the sweeter to soup.

5-6 fish, wash and gut but leave the scales on because we only want the sweetness of the fish in the soup. Add 3 lemongrass (bruised), 3 large red chilis (slit), 2 bird-eye chilis (slit) and a little fish sauce, a drop of dark soya sauce, pepper and light soya sauce to taste. Boil all the ingredients in a pot of filtered water (except the fish) until the chilis are soft and the lemongrass turns colour, then add the fish and continue to boil for 30 minutes or until the soup is tasty. Drink hot!

Posted by Audrey Cooks @ 06/22/2006 8:15:00pm 4 Comments »