Alternative Herbal Soup for Postpartum Abnormal Bleeding

After child birth some women may face the lochia problem. Lochia discharge is postpartum virginal discharge commonly continues for 4 to 6 week after childbirth.

What is Lochia

Mugwort Lemon Grass Red Dates Wine

Herbs in culinary can be medicine and it also add tastes to our cooking. Other than that used of herbal to make herbal wine, enzymes or vinegar, making mugwort wine is quite an easy job. Again, herbal wine in holistic healing, more and more women are now become awaken on using herbal wine, tonic and herbal vinegar in rejuvenating, and give warming effect to promote the energy flow, and boost blood circulation to improve their beauty care ~ “the inner health and outer beauty”, to maintaining and strengthen our body immunity in keeping good health. 

Mugwort is one of the famous women’s herbs. Do it yourself a herbal wine with mugwort is the best feminine food. Mugwort is commonly use as herbal infusion, in cooking for confinement food, making into herbal and fruit enzymes, or air dried the mugwort leaves, it can be air-dried as tea leaves or making into powder form as healthy drinks for convenient in keeping.

Mugwort benefits and nutrients:

Mugwort besides content of chlorophyll, it also rich in fiber, simultaneously have the massive vitamins and mineral substance, like vitamin A, B1, B2, C and the mineral substance iron, calcium, Phosphorus and other micro nutritive elements which enable the chlorophyll or other ingredient multiplication effect, therefore mugwort is most ideal food for natural healing, as a sedative herbs traditional to nervous system, medicinal usage to balance hormones to improve the woman’s menstrual pain and menstruation cycle health problem, as well as in treating infertility. It is a digestive stimulant herb, even good for treating malaria. 

Mugwort ~ Women health

Since mugwort is the best remedy for women health, adding red dates and lemongrass to immerse with rice wine gives the warming effect especially good for cold feet and hands, the mugwort is famous Chinese medicinal plant which has the close relationship to women health. Especially to confinement women help to get rid of blood stasis in the womb, help to improves of blood circulation, reduces menstrual pain, also to regulate the menstruation cycles for those having irregular menstrual problem. After giving birth, taking this healthy mild tonic will strengthen the nervous system and boost potent energy.

Lemongrass

By adding few stalks of Lemongrass to release its mild taste of lemony fragrance and citrus flavor, this therapeutic and versatile herb gives the stimulant effect to treat cold, anti-depressant, and expels excessive body wind, it works wonderfully to skin and nail, get rid of water retention during confinement, alleviates indigestion, reduces stomach fat after birth.

The ingredients, Red Dates, rich in Magnesium and Iron, its boost energy metabolism, as blood tonic ingredient adds medicinal effect to mugwort, and lemongrass, using the rice wine starter which allow the ingredients or herbal properties to draw out by the alcohol solution. Rice wine starter are mixed up and the immersion process to certain period, it becomes a healthy herbal wine which can be taking it solely as wine to drink. It is a slightly sweet bitter tonic, after 3 weeks or a month of immersion in the rice wine; it turns into sweet bitter herbal wine.

I reckon its therapeutic benefits are imparted from the herbs, or to those confinement women. Something for a change; mixing some of this aromatic taste of herbal rice wine to cook with chicken or chicken feet, or use the concentrated herbal wine to steam with chicken. Other than the taste is refreshing and makes the confinement food much more nutritious, for which strengthen the immunity system and help to regulate the menstrual cycle back to normal after birth.

Now ready to make your homemade herbal wine.

Ingredients you need:

• Mugwort dried herb 30g
• 10 dried Red dates
• Lemongrass 5 to 6 stalks
• Rice wine starter 1000ml
• Brown rock sugar 100g

Preparation:

Wash and air dry the mugwort, red dates and lemongrass, let it totally air dried first before use.

Method:

1. Place all the ingredients into a glass jar
2. Pour in the rice wine over it
3. Cover lid.
4. Let it immerse for at least 10 to 15 days. 

Sip a glass of herbal wine before bed time, in additional, this Mugwort Lemongrass Red Dates wine may help to eliminate halitosis or unpleasant odor exhaled in breathing caused by digestive system problem. Have a good try.

Enjoy this herbal wine.

Red Date Longan Black Bean Wine

Usually many Anemia people do not hesitate in buying high-quality tonic “to build” up the blood, some of the Anemia best food to make up the blood which can be obtained conveniently from home remedies or our own kitchen. To build up the blood, for Anemia syndrome with iron-deficiency, pregnancy Iron-deficiency is quite common. From the Chinese medicine viewpoint, no matter how they treat the illness or keeping in good health, their main principle has focus on “to be coordinated and to be balanced” the blood and Qi is related in alternative natural healing applied in Chinese Medicine theory.

Homemade Fermented Olive Black Vinegar & Recipe

Black vinegar is commonly used by Chinese traditional healthy diet for confinement in flavor boost. There are variety of black vinegars in the market. Black vinegar is made from whole grains like barley, wheat, millet and sorghum.

Drinking vinegar is beneficial to health. For easy to drink combined black vinegar with honey. It is recommend diluting vinegar and water with ratio of 1: 3 parts of water. What about adding some fruit flavor into black vinegar? Fresh Olive Black Vinegar is the best choice for you.... harvest season is the right moment for preparing pickle and ferment of raw Black Olives. Try to make your own homemade Olive Black Vinegar now. 

Olive has the monounsaturated fats, polyphenols and vitamin E that help to nourishing the skin to support for healthy skin and mucus membrane, the olive black vinegar is good source of health foods and drink to women going through menopause, it helps to reduce hot flashes, also a beauty maintenance and healthy diet drink.

My home made fermented Olive Black Vinegar has the rich taste of black olive in sweet vinegar. I love the fermented Olive Black Vinegar added in my cooking series also my favorite seasonings, and thereafter, the fermented black olive is the healthy dietary snack. It is also widely used in traditional confinement recipe particularly Chinese cuisine, like pork leg or chicken feet serve in black vinegar with ginger. The acetic acid of black vinegar beneficial in improves blood circulation to remove stagnate blood in uterus after birth, it has blood thinning properties, to lower cholesterol level, that also increase energy level help in recovery and build and restore the energy in post-natal delicious healthy diet. 

 

Simply Senz fermented Olive Black Vinegar

As raw or fresh olives can not be eaten right away and it is slightly bitter in taste. Fresh olives contain active phytonutrient compounds - oleuropein and phenol compound which also known as carbolic acid and organic acid. Oleuropein has the antioxidant effect. Olive is rich in Vitamin E, it also has the anti-inflammatory properties, which help to lower the risk of inflammation, and help in healing the damage wounds especially after birth delivery. It contains the nutrients of iron, dietary fiber, copper, fatty acids, amino acids and more nutrients to maintain good health for good energy source. 

Although I am a Hakka heritage, and mixed with Teochew was my upbringing, at least I learned a few of other varieties of Teochew pickles, raw Olives are used as pickle or fermented olives black vinegar for the traditional postnatal confinement food in Teochew style too.

My previous blog topic of how to cure fresh olives with salt-curing, the simple recipe of making healthy Olive snack, simply add in soy sauce and brown sugar to accelerate the process in few minutes to turn raw Olives into delicious food (read here). 

Making of fermented from the fresh olives into sweetened black vinegar, instead of using brown rice vinegar is quite simple to make it your own. Which is aged, fermented for at least 3 months, but I prefer to keep them for longer period of 6 months or longer. It produces excellent sweet aroma flavor in my home made Olive black vinegar. Ideal for cooking pork leg, chicken and dipping sauce for dumplings, a sweet and sour snack of fermented olive black vinegar for an extra dash of flavor, pickle olives or fermentation make the fresh olives more palatable.

How to make Fresh Olive Black Vinegar

Ingredients:

1 kg of Fresh Olives
1 bottle Black Vinegar
1 cup of brown rice vinegar
½ cup of malt sugar
3 tbs. of salt (for salt-curing purpose)

The preparation:

1. Wash fresh olives with running water thoroughly.

2. Soak fresh olives in the cold water with 3 tbs. of salt till it is slightly soften. (do not soak too long, approx. about 5 to 10 minutes, if not, the fresh olives will be too soft), throw away the salt water, rinse well.

3. Let it totally air dried.

4. Place all salt-cured fresh olives into a sterilize glass jar and fill with sweetened black vinegar, brown rice vinegar, malt sugar or honey to cover the whole olives.

5. Keep the lid closed.

6. Period of fermentation at least 3 months for making vinegar. The longer the ferment period is much better.

Take Note:

During fermentation process the lid need to be opened once a week at the start, to allow the oxygen to flow to enable the gases of fermentation should be able to escape. 

Drinking Olive Black Vinegar:

Take about 1/3 cup of fermented Olive Black Vinegar, diluted with water. Drink it. If you prefer to add sweet taste, just add honey into it.

Teochow style of Cooking Olive Black Vinegar ginger chicken

Ingredients: 

• 1 chicken drumstick - chopped
• 2 cups of Olive black vinegar
• 10 fermented olives
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• 2 tbs. honey
• 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 100g ginger slice
• 3 pips garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbs of olive oil
• 2 tbs of rice wine

Preparation: 

1. Wash Clean chicken drumstick, remove skin. Chopped in small pieces.

2. Remove skin of ginger and cut in thin slices.

Cooking Method: 

1. Heat pot; add 4 tablespoons cooking oil to preheat.

2. When oil is hot, add in minced garlic and ginger slices, stir-fry for 15 seconds til light brown in color;

3. Add in the chicken, stir fry for 3 minutes.

4. Add in light soy sauce, olive black vinegar, fermented olives, salt and sugar, stir and cook till the sauce lightly reduced.

5. Simmer in low heat cooking until the chicken is cooked.

6. Stir in rice wine and cook for 1 minute. 

7. Remove from heat. Done and serve.