15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing that there is a TCM book devoted to "Jook," Cantonese for rice soup, February 6, 2009
This review is from: The Book of Jook: Chinese Medicinal Porridges--A Healthy Alternative to the Typical Western Breakfast (Paperback)
Every Chinese family is familiar with "Jook" or "Shi fan" in Mandarin. You grew up with it as an integral part of a cold or flu therapy. Even when you were feigning a cold to play hookey from school, out came the clanking jook pot by your grandma or amah! Then the jars of magic ingredients...hidden in a back cupboard. In a few hours you would be called to the table or served a big bowl of rice soup in bed. Depending on how sick you were, different ingredients were added, selected by the cook for its TCM potency or just making nourishing steaming hot rice soup.
Just holding your head over the big bowl seems to make your stuffiness go away. After a couple bowls and a couple visits to the bathroom, your bladder and bowels are clean of the evil sickness spirits!
In large cities, CN restaurants that stay open late for gamblers, movie or theatre goers, usually have some selections of Jook on the menu, also called congee or conjee. Usually a big bowl costs less than $5 for a minimalist one, green onion and fermented tofu. The upscale selections include fish balls, roast pork, duck, and oyster go for up to $10. So jook is not just for breakfast, but can be a snack anytime anywhere.
I was absolutely amazed to see a book devoted to rice soup with an American-centric explanation as to the whys and wherefores of TCM. After reading many Chinese-centric books on TCM, Bob Flaws demystifies jook and makes it easy to make.
The book has a confusing TOC with chapters numbered as if he combined two different books together. So Book1 has an introduction of 42 pgs and Book2 has the medicinal, recipes and preparation commentary. There are a few Reference footnotes in Book1. There is an 8-pg index and a 2-pg rice soup list in the back of the book. There are no CN characters, drawing, pixs, or illustrations and no tables of nutrients or TCM ingredients with similar properties.
While the Preface's 2nd sentence says that "It is intended for use by professional practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the patients under their care" but since rice soup, in its basic simplicity, is innocuous and simple to prepare, this Reviewer would say that this book is patient-centric.
Dr Flaws (OMD) has dumbbed-down the often confusing theoretical rhetoric of TCM. Chap1 The Problem of Breakfast has 2 pgs. Then in Chap2 CN Medicine & Digestion in the first 2 pgs succinctly describes the TCM basis. In other TCM books my eyes would glass-over due to extensive BS. Excellent job given the topic. You can skip the next 6 pgs in Chap2 as well as the rest of the chapters on TCM theory.
If you have never made rice soup, go directly to the first page of recipes, p43. The first recipe for "Colds & Flu (Gan Mao)" is "Scallion & Glutinous Rice Congee (Cong bai nuo mi zhou)." This is the first introductory recipe that is the foundation for all to follow. All you need to get is available at any large American supermarket; a bunch of green onions, couple fingers of fresh ginger root, and a bag of regular, short-grain white rice that Japanese prefer (if short-grain glutinous "sticky" rice is not available, usually its available in a Asian grocery frequented by Japanese and Koreans). This CN Reviewer will use any kind of rice, including brown rice.
Prepare the rice soup and eat, takes about 2-3hrs cooking time. You don't need to be sick to enjoy this soup. I'd add some CN-KR style dark-roasted sesame oil for flavor. If you wish you can add some meat or soup bones for flavor. There is nothing critical towards making rice soup. With the current Economic Recession, it is very cheap to make, less than a dollar for a huge bowl.
While you are eating the Jook, you can read about the rest of TCM ingredients for additional medicinal properties. This book was available in a local University library that includes a College of Acupuncture and TCM. The TCM student clinic dispenses more expensive materia medica extracts in powdered form that can be added to the rice soup. Another local acupuncture and TCM school student clinic dispenses the raw herbs in traditional brown paper bags from a wall full of storage drawers. For economy, however, there are several well-stocked Chinese grocery stores that stock the mainstays of TCM herbs in cheaper 8 oz / 1# boxes, and in bulk.
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is an excellent overview, October 18, 2006
This review is from: The Book of Jook: Chinese Medicinal Porridges--A Healthy Alternative to the Typical Western Breakfast (Paperback)
From Flavor & Fortune published by the Institute for the Advancement of the Science and Art of Chinese Cuisine
Combinations of any number of grains, vegetables, meat, eggs, and/or Chinese herbs make porridge known as Jook or Congee. For most folk, they are breakfast foods. They can easily be made overnight in a crock pot. They are economical, popular among the elderly, nutritious, and delicious; and all are healthy alternatives to typical Western breakfasts. They surely beat bacon and eggs on any health-rating chart; and, when you try them, you are bound to change your morning food practices, even some of those for lunch.
Bob Flaws, a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner (TCM) considered an authority on Chinese medicine, shares recipes collected from a number of Chinese language sources, all listed in the preface. Some have ingredients available only at a Chinese herbalist or a specialty store, but don't let than deter your efforts at tasting them even though it is difficult, perhaps, to find a Chinese food or herb source. Many only use ingredients available at your large local supermarket. One that may not be easy to make might be the recipe for Deer Antler Gelatin Congee. However, it can serve as an illustration of how the Jook recipes are presented. They start by listing their functions--in this case--it "Supplements the kidneys and fills the essence," then offers indications: "Essence insufficiency, infertility," etc., and next gives ingredients: "colla couru cerir (lu jiao jiao) 20 g., seven gyzae sativae (i.e. fresh ginger, sheng jiang), 3 slices" etc. Then the method of preparation and administration follows. In this case you first cook the rice into porridge, then add the powdered deer antler gelatin and ginger. It advises to: "eat for 3-5 days, most suitably in winter."
Those without culinary concerns and those who enjoy experimentation will find this book an excellent overview of beliefs and practices of professional TCM practitioners and it is a useful means of learning about TCM's philosophy and complexity. Readers and health providers who find diet central to the development and treatment of many diseases should explore these Medicinal congees. They should not be overlooked when attempting to prevent disease. As books about Chinese medicinal therapy and TCM go, this one is simple and it has tasty recipes that are a wonderful and warm way to start your day. ©1997
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