In the treatment of chronic hepatitis, diet plays a crucial role, sometimes even more important than medication. Patients can choose specific dishes based on their symptoms, as introduced below:
Steamed Soft-Shelled Turtle with Ginger
Ingredients: One soft-shelled turtle weighing 200-300g; 5g fresh ginger; a pinch of salt and rice wine.
Method: Clean the turtle with hot water, open the belly, remove the intestines, and keep the liver and eggs, then wash and dry. Place the turtle on a plate, stuff it with sliced ginger, salt, and a little rice wine inside. Steam for 30-45 minutes.
Benefits: Nourishes yin and clears heat. Suitable for cases of hepatitis accompanied by mild fever and night sweats. This dish is highly nutritious and beneficial for chronic hepatitis patients and those with a weakened body.
How to use: Can be served as a snack or as part of a meal; it should be eaten hot.
Pork Liver Stir-Fried with Radish
Ingredients: 250g pork liver, 250g radish, vegetable oil, flour, salt, monosodium glutamate, and seasonings to taste.
Method: Rinse the pork liver, slice thinly, mix with salt, and coat lightly with flour. Slice the radish thinly. Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan, add radish and stir-fry until nearly cooked, then remove it. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, heat it, add the pork liver, and stir-fry for about 3 minutes, then add the radish back in and continue to stir-fry for another 3 minutes. Add salt and seasoning before serving.
Benefits: Nourishes the liver, brightens eyes, clears heat, and aids digestion; has a certain therapeutic effect for hepatitis and gallbladder inflammation; helps prevent complications from hepatitis leading to liver cancer.
How to use: Serve as part of daily meals.
Boiled Black Carp
Ingredients: One black carp (500-800g); 50g white sugar, one tablespoon vinegar, green onions, ginger, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine, flour, and a bit of pepper.
Method: Clean the carp, scrape off the scales, gut it, and wash. Cut the fish in half lengthwise and dry. Pour 3 bowls of water into a pot, bring to a boil, add the carp, cover, and boil for another 5 minutes. Add rice wine and a little salt, then simmer for about 10 minutes. When the eyes of the fish pop out, it is cooked; take it out, let it drain, and place it on a plate.
Leave about half a bowl of water in the pot, add a little sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, and rice wine, bring it back to a boil, then add green onions and flour, mixing well to create a thick sauce to pour over the fish on the plate. Finally, drizzle a few drops of sesame oil on top. Besides this method, you can prepare various other dishes based on preferences.
Benefits: This is a well-known medicinal dish in Zhejiang Province, China. Black carp is rich in essential nutrients for chronic hepatitis patients; according to traditional Chinese medicine, black carp has a neutral nature and sweet taste, helps regulate and enhance digestive function (tonifies the spleen, boosts qi, nourishes the stomach), nourishes the liver, dispels wind, and transforms dampness… It is a highly nutritious food, very beneficial for hepatitis patients.
How to use: Serve as part of meals.
Stewed Crucian Carp
Ingredients: 250g fresh crucian carp; 250g green onions; vegetable oil, soy sauce, salt, sugar, and ginger, each a little.
Method: Clean the crucian carp, scrape the scales, gut it, keeping the swim bladder and roe, wash it, and let it drain. Heat 5 tablespoons of oil in a pan over low heat until hot, add 3 slices of ginger, then immediately add the fish. When the skin turns yellow, add soy sauce, salt, and sugar, then pour in half a bowl of cold water and stew for 10 minutes to soak. Add a large bowl of cold water, bring to a boil, dip the trimmed green onions into the broth, then lay them over the fish; cover tightly and simmer for about half an hour.
Benefits: This is a specialty dish from the Jiangnan region of China and a medicinal dish for the liver. Crucian carp combined with green onions helps nourish the liver, reduce bloating, and promote digestion, making it beneficial for treating chronic hepatitis.
How to use: Serve as part of meals.
Lotus Stem Stuffed with Mung Bean and Jujube
Ingredients: 200g mung beans; 50g jujube; 4 large lotus stems.
Method: Soak mung beans and jujube in water for half an hour, then drain. Clean the lotus stems, cut a short piece aside (to be used as a “lid”). Stuff the mung beans and jujube into the hollow parts of the lotus stems, cover with the piece cut off, secure with bamboo sticks, and place horizontally in a pot. Pour cold water in and simmer for 2-3 hours, adding water as needed until the lotus stem is tender.
Benefits: Enhances digestive function (strengthens the spleen), nourishes the liver, calms the mind, clears heat, detoxifies, and has high nutritional value. Useful for chronic hepatitis accompanied by insomnia or drowsiness.
How to use: Consume this dish as a breakfast item daily, adding a bit of sugar for taste; the broth can be used as soup.
Liver-Boosting Tea
Ingredients: 50g jujube, 50g peanuts, and sugar to taste.
Method: Wash the jujube and peanuts, keeping the peanuts in their skin, and boil them in water like tea; add sugar to taste before removing from heat.
Benefits: Nourishes the liver and enhances digestive function.
How to use: Drink daily instead of regular tea; both jujube and peanuts can be eaten; continue for 30 days.
Chrysanthemum, Malt, and Jujube Soup
Ingredients: 15g chrysanthemum, 20g malt (or sprouted rice), 10 jujubes; enough sugar to taste.
Method: Soak the jujubes in warm water, then clean. Place chrysanthemum, malt, and jujubes in a pot, add enough water to cover the ingredients, bring to a boil, and keep on low heat for about 30 minutes, then add a bit of sugar.
Benefits: Promotes liver function, clears bile, reduces heat, eliminates dampness, aids digestion, and relieves bloating. Useful for chronic hepatitis with symptoms such as side discomfort, bloating, chest discomfort or nausea, poor appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, body aches, thin tongue coating, and wiry pulse. In some areas, it is also used effectively to treat jaundice caused by hepatitis.
How to use: Divide into 2 portions for 2 servings per day; drink the liquid, eat the jujubes, and discard the residue.
