Elderly individuals often suffer from various ailments that negatively impact their daily lives. Chicken and its products can be combined with certain traditional Chinese medicinal herbs to alleviate these disorders, helping seniors live happily and healthily.
Some Chicken Dishes and Medicinal Recipes:
Gray Hair and Hair Loss: Take a black chicken (also known as black-boned chicken), remove the internal organs, and combine it with 20 grams each of Chinese yam, goji berries, longan, and motherwort (do not confuse with the mimosa plant), along with 20 grams of cooked rehmannia and angelica. Place all ingredients in a cloth bag, tie it up, and put it into a pot with the chicken. Add enough water and a little salt, then simmer until cooked. Remove the herb pouch. Eat the chicken and drink the broth.
Poor Eyesight: Stir-fry or cook chicken liver with peanuts, tomatoes, or black beans, or goji berries. Alternatively:
– One hen, 30 grams of goji berries, 15 grams of cooked rehmannia, 10 grams of chrysanthemum flowers, and 10 grams of longan with a pinch of salt. Prepare the hen by removing its internal organs, place the herbs in a cloth bag, and stuff it into the chicken’s cavity before tying it closed and placing it in a pot. Simmer until tender, then consume the chicken along with the broth to remedy kidney deficiency, dry eyes, hearing issues, and back pain.
– One egg, 200 grams of bitter melon, chicken broth, and seasoning. Slice the bitter melon and marinate it with salt, squeezing out excess water before adding it to the chicken broth. Once boiling, crack the egg in and stir well, seasoning to taste.
Ear Ringing and Heaviness (due to kidney Qi deficiency) that may accompany dizziness: Use one black rooster and 100 ml of glutinous rice wine. Clean the chicken (without the innards), pour in the wine, and boil over high heat before reducing to a simmer until the chicken is tender. Add salt, then eat the chicken and drink the broth.
Alternatively: One hen, cut into small pieces after removing the internal organs, 20 grams of cooked rehmannia, 30 grams each of goji berries, astragalus, lotus seeds, and angelica, 10 grams of eucommia bark, 15 grams of longan, and 50 grams of black beans. Place everything in a cloth bag, tie it up, and add it to the pot with the chicken. Simmer until done and enjoy the chicken with the broth.
Frequent Nighttime Urination (due to kidney Yang deficiency): Use two sets of chicken intestines, simmer with 15-20 grams of morinda root until tender, and season. Eat the chicken intestines and drink the broth. Variations include chicken intestines simmered with lotus seeds or wolfberries.
Back Pain (due to kidney deficiency): Use two eggs and 30 grams of mistletoe. Boil the mistletoe to extract the liquid, discarding the solids, then boil the eggs, peel them, and return them to the pot. Eat the eggs and drink the broth.
Insomnia: One egg, 20 grams of goji berries, and five pitted jujubes. Cook the egg, peel it, and then simmer it again for a while. Eat the egg and jujubes and drink the broth. Alternatively:
– Two egg yolks, 30 grams of lily bulb, and enough rock sugar. Cook the lily bulb until tender, then add the egg yolks and rock sugar. Eat the eggs and drink the broth.
– Two eggs, 5 grams of coptis, 12 grams of peony root, and 10 grams of donkey-hide gelatin. Boil the coptis and peony root with 100 ml of water, discarding the solids and adding the donkey-hide gelatin until dissolved, then stir in the two egg yolks and simmer until cooked. Chicken can also be simmered with reishi mushrooms.
Dry, Itchy Skin: Cook sticky rice porridge, and when soft, add two eggs, two tablespoons of powdered milk, and a bit of rock sugar, stirring well and boiling again before eating.
Alternatively: Two eggs, two tomatoes, onions, MSG, ground pepper, flour, and seasoning. Peel and mash the tomatoes, fry the eggs until cooked, and then combine with the tomatoes, adding seasoning. You can also fry the eggs (with oil) and top with tomato sauce.
High Blood Pressure: Two eggs, 300 grams of fresh corn kernels, a bit of flour, and sugar. Chop the corn, cook it, then add the eggs while stirring well, adding sugar and seasoning, or you can stir-fry the eggs with celery and bean sprouts along with lean pork, or simmer chicken with schizandra and goji berries as well.
Dr. Phó Đức Thuần (Health & Life)
