Men's Health: Three Nourishing Medicinal Dishes - Preparation and Nutritional Benefits

Dried Scallop and Egg Dumplings

Ingredients: 12 eggs, 50g dried scallops, 25g rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, 50g chicken breast, 50g shrimp, 50g bok choy leaves, 25g peanut oil, 10g chicken oil, 4g salt, 4g MSG, 1g pepper, 250g chicken broth, 7g cornstarch, one plate of cooked rice.

Instructions: First, crack a small hole in each egg from the larger end (without breaking the shell). Use scissors to cut the hole larger, like a cup. Pour the egg whites and yolks into two separate bowls. Wash the eggshells with water and drain. Pour 50g of chicken broth into the egg whites, add 2g salt and 2g MSG, and beat well. Divide the mixture into two portions, placing each in a separate bowl. Wrap chopped bok choy leaves tightly in cheesecloth and squeeze the green juice into one bowl of egg whites, stirring to create a green egg wash. Spread the cooked rice on a plate, place eggshells upright on top, and fill each eggshell halfway with white egg wash. Steam over low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove from the steamer, then fill the eggshells with green egg wash and steam for another 15 minutes. Soak the steamed eggs in cold water for a while, then peel and place on a plate.

Remove the stems from the shiitake mushrooms and wash them. Steam the dried scallops until cooked and crumble them. Beat the egg yolks and pour them into a preheated frying pan (greased with a little oil) to make a thin egg crepe. Mince the chicken breast and shrimp, place them in a bowl, add 1 gram of salt, 1 gram of MSG, and a little egg white, and mix to form a filling. Wrap the filling in the egg crepe to make egg rolls about 10 cm long. Make 10 rolls in total. Take a bowl, lightly grease it, arrange shiitake mushrooms around the edges, and place an egg roll in the center. Steam over high heat for 5 minutes. Remove and invert onto the center of a plate containing eggs. Heat a wok over high heat, add 200g of chicken broth, dried scallops, and the remaining salt and MSG. Once boiling, sprinkle with pepper, then dilute cornstarch and pour in. Drizzle with chicken oil and spread evenly. Pour the broth over the dish. Garnish the center with flower-shaped pieces of red bell pepper.

Serving Method: A common home-style dish, suitable as a side dish for banquets.

Efficacy: Nutritious and nourishing, replenishes blood and strengthens the brain, reduces stress, promotes body fluid production, nourishes yin and strengthens the stomach.

Jadeite Soup

Ingredients and Uses: Eggs are also a medicinal ingredient; the entire egg can be used medicinally. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that different parts of an egg have different functions. In TCM prescriptions, they are respectively called: egg white, egg yolk, eggshell, and egg membrane (the thin white membrane inside the shell). Egg white, being cold in nature, has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, reducing inflammation, and protecting mucous membranes. It is commonly used to treat food and drug poisoning, sore throat, hoarseness, chronic otitis media, and suppurative wounds.

Egg yolk, being neutral in nature, has the effects of clearing heat, warming the stomach, calming the nerves, detoxifying, and reducing inflammation. Egg yolk oil, extracted from egg yolks, can treat night sweats and tuberculosis; externally, it has skin-moisturizing and tissue-regenerating effects and can treat cracked nipples, milk rash, and lower limb ulcers. According to foreign reports, egg yolks contain lecithin, a major source of choline. After digestion, lecithin helps synthesize acetylcholine in the brain. Choline enters the bloodstream and quickly reaches the brain. This is a substance that facilitates reflex transmission between neurons and enhances memory. Studies have shown that foods containing varying amounts of choline can affect people's mental state. A controlled supply of sufficient bile nutrients can prevent memory decline commonly found in people around 60 years old and can improve memory problems in people of all ages, even young people.

Eggshells contain 98% calcium carbonate, 1% magnesium carbonate, 0.5% magnesium phosphate, and 5% organic matter, and have antacid and analgesic effects. When taken internally as powder,

it can treat stomach ulcers, gastritis, stomach pain, and rickets in children, and can also help treat tuberculosis. When ground into powder and applied externally, it can treat wounds and skin sores, promoting tissue regeneration, antiseptic properties, and wound healing; it can also be used as a hemostatic agent. The thin white membrane inside the eggshell, also known as the "phoenix skin," has lung-moistening, cough-relieving, and hemostatic effects. It contains protein and gastric hormones, and is suitable for chronic cough, shortness of breath, aphonia, wounds, and tongue bleeding.

Spinach, sweet in taste, is rich in vitamins A, B, C, and F, and contains a large amount of iron and calcium.

Ingredients: 100g spinach leaves, 6 egg whites, 25g chicken breast, 75g peanut oil, 6g cooking wine, 2g salt, 2g MSG, 1g sugar, 1g minced ginger, 300g chicken broth, 10g cornstarch, a small piece of cooked egg white, half a cherry.

Preparation Method: Chop the washed spinach leaves into a paste and place in a bowl. Add 2g cooking wine, 1g salt, 1g MSG, and 0.5g sugar, and mix well. Remove the fat and skin from the chicken breast, chop into a paste, and place in another bowl. Add egg whites, minced ginger, the remaining cooking wine, salt, and sugar. Dilute 5g cornstarch with water and pour into the bowl, quickly whisking until foamy. Add 200g cold chicken broth and continue whisking until foamy again. Heat 25g oil in a wok over high heat until it reaches 30% of its smoking point. Pour in the seasoned spinach paste and stir-fry for about one minute. Add 100g chicken broth and stir constantly. After the soup boils, add 5 grams of cornstarch mixed with water to make a thin slurry. Stir until it becomes a thick, green soup, then remove from heat. Prepare a separate plate:

Place a clean, thin iron sheet bent into an S-shape upright on the plate. Pour the spinach soup onto one side of the sheet. Wash the wok and heat it over high heat. Add 50 grams of oil and heat to 40% of its maximum temperature. Pour in the prepared egg mixture and stir until it becomes a thick soup. Pour this into the other side of the plate. Then remove the dividing sheet. Finally, arrange the cooked egg whites and red cherries on top.

Serving Method: A common home-style dish, suitable for consumption as a delicious meal.

Efficacy: Replenishes nutrients, nourishes blood and strengthens the body; a nutritious and restorative food.

It is a good choice.

Ingredients and Uses: Lamb, including goat, sheep, and wild sheep meat. In ancient times, lamb was called "gu meat," "di meat," or "jie meat." Traditional Chinese medicine considers it excellent for boosting yang energy, replenishing essence and blood, treating lung deficiency, and benefiting those suffering from fatigue; it is a superior warming and strengthening agent. Because mutton contains higher levels of calcium and iron than pork and beef, it is highly beneficial for lung-related diseases such as tuberculosis, bronchitis, asthma, anemia, postpartum blood and qi deficiency, weakness and aversion to cold, abdominal pain due to cold, malnutrition, impotence, lower back and neck weakness, and all deficiency-cold syndromes. Eating mutton and drinking mutton soup is especially beneficial. Common colds and coughs, and bronchitis, can often be alleviated or cured by stewing mutton and consuming the meat and soup during winter and spring.

Ingredients: 150g mutton tenderloin, 1 egg yolk, 500g peanut oil (approximately 50g used), 50g white sugar, 15g soy sauce, 2g cooking wine, 2g vinegar, 10g starch, 20g sesame oil, 1g ginger juice (fresh ginger, peeled and crushed, soaked in a little water, then strained).

Preparation Method: Cut the mutton tenderloin diagonally into slices approximately 3cm long, 2cm wide, and 0.2cm thick. In a bowl, combine egg yolks, 10g soy sauce, 5g cornstarch, and 3g water to form a batter. Add the sliced ​​meat and stir until each slice is coated. In another bowl, combine sugar, cooking wine, vinegar, ginger juice, the remaining cornstarch, and soy sauce with 20g water to make a sauce. Heat 500g peanut oil in a wok over high heat until it reaches 50% of its smoking point. Add the coated meat slices and quickly separate them, preventing them from sticking together. After about 10 seconds, when the meat slices curl up and turn grayish-white, remove them with a slotted spoon and drain the oil. Clean the wok and heat it over high heat again. Add 10g peanut oil, then add the fried meat slices and the prepared sauce. Stir-fry quickly until the sauce thickens (about 5-7 seconds). Drizzle with sesame oil and stir-fry a few more times.

Serving: This is a common and delicious home-style dish, an excellent source of nutritional supplements, and can be consumed regularly.

Efficacy: It has the effects of strengthening muscles and intestines, warming yang and promoting fire, and has the effects of promoting blood circulation, replenishing blood, and tonifying the kidneys and strengthening the body.