Traditional Chinese Confinement Food Recipes

Postpartum Care and Post-Natal Diets

Black Vinegar Shank Confinement RecipeChinese is particularly concerns about postpartum care as they believe post-natal diets, if well-taken care of, can speed up womb recovery, replenish blood lost during delivery, strengthen the body and prevent post-natal health problem that may arise. The foods or ingredients are carefully selected and meticulously coupled to make a well-rounded and nutritious confinement dish to treat their post-natal period. These confinement dishes are mainly for nourishing the blood, promoting blood circulation, dispelling postpartum 'wind' from the abdomen area ('wind' is left behind when placenta is exerted out), replenishing 'qi', getting rid of blood stasis in the womb, warding off colds, stimulating lactation and also strengthening body resistance towards various ailments. Some common ingredients typically used in Chinese confinement recipes which are favored for their healing properties are, ginger, turmeric, galangal, sesame oil, Chinese herbs (such as Chinese Angelica Root, Chinese wolfberries, dates), pork and fish.

There are many confinement or post-natal rituals practiced by Chinese older folks which are rather elaborate and complicated. Albeit there are many do's and don'ts, one should not just believe and abide without some common sense. Some traditional practices may pose some risks to the mother's health and hygiene problems when handling infant. Always approach doctors or certified professionals for consultation on the food intake if you are not sure.

Healthy Easy Traditional Chinese Confinement Food Recipes

Healthy postpartum diet feature well-balanced foods which give the crucial inputs required during confinement. Chinese of different regional dialects observe their confinement practice and consume their postpartum diet differently, each with their own beliefs and uniqueness.

Cantonese Postpartum Diet Recipes

Cantonese confinement dish mainly centers around wine, ginger and vinegar. Black vinegar shank features an assemblage of these ingredients is much sought after to replenish calcium and iron loss during child birth. There're multiple ways of preparing Cantonese confinement dish, with most of them featuring copious amount of glutinous rice wine or less alcoholic wine. Cantonese post-natal woman shun taking overnight, raw and cold food.

  1. Cantonese Basil Meat With Ginger & Wine Recipe

  2. Cantonese Black Vinegar Shank Recipe

  3. Cantonese Carp Soup With Papaya Recipe

  4. Cantonese Chicken With Ginger & Wine Recipe

  5. Cantonese Fried Ginger Rice Recipe

  6. Cantonese Lemongrass Chicken Soup Recipe

  7. Cantonese Mesentery Soup With Dang Gui & Pepper Recipe

  8. Cantonese Pearl Chicken Recipe

  9. Cantonese Scallop Porridge Recipe

  10. Cantonese Soup Of Mee Suah (Fine Rice Noodle) Recipe

  11. Cantonese Steam Cod Fish With Ginger & Wine Recipe

  12. Cantonese Stewed Black Silky Chicken Soup Recipe

Hakka Postpartum Diet Recipes

The most renowned Hakka confinement dish is chicken with ginger and wine. Wine selection ranges from homemade rice wine or grape wine, to ready-made and commercially available glutinous rice wine or D.O.M. Shallot pork maw soup dispels postpartum 'wind' effectively whilst stewed Dang Gui in coconut soup is a potent treat of migraine. Hakka post-natal woman tends to shy away from drinking plain water and taking too much salt.

  1. Hakka Dang Gui Soup In Coconut Recipe

  2. Hakka Mei Cai (Dried Salted Mustard-Cabbage) Braised Meat Recipe

  3. Hakka Fried Rice Soup Recipe

  4. Hakka Shallot Pork Maw Soup Recipe

  5. Hakka Stewed Chicken With Dom & Ginger Recipe

Teochew Postpartum Diet Recipes

Teochew confinement dish predominantly features rice wine or ginger wine, as both wines typically can be tolerated by most population without triggering any alcohol intolerance symptoms, such as hives (swelling or urticaria), itching et cetera. Angelica sinensis (Dang Gui) and Codonopsitis Pilosulae (Dang Shen) are the common Chinese herbs consumed by Teochew to tonify blood and invigorate 'qi' (lack of appetite, fatigue, thirst, diarrhea, vomiting, prolapse of uterus). Lean meat vinegar soup is their potent traditional post-natal recipe to help uterus to contract to its normal size. Teochew's traditional post-natal beliefs include staying away from raw and uncooked food and refrain from consuming too much of green vegetables.

  1. Teochew Steamed Fish With Chinese Wolfberries (Qi Zi) Recipe

  2. Teochew Chicken Soup With Herbs Recipe

  3. Teochew Chicken Wine With Egg Recipe

  4. Teochew Shank With Vinegar And Ginger Recipe

  5. Teochew Stir-Fried Kidney With Dom & Sesame Oil Recipe

Fuzhou (Foochow) Postpartum Diet Recipes

Fuzhou (foochow) confinement dish features Fuzhou red wine, a renowned reddish-colored wine fermented from glutinous rice, red rice bran (or red yeast) and wine biscuit (or 'jiu bing'), which is distinctly rich, concentrated, sweet with a tinge of sourish end and with wonderful aroma. Fuzhou red wine is entrenched in Fuzhou community and often used generously in confinement cooking. Fuzhou red wine and fermented wine rice is used predominantly in Fuzhou confinement diet, omitting the water in order to achieve optimal result of nourishing 'qi' and blood.

  1. Braised Shank with Fuzhou Red Wine Recipe

  2. Fried Eggs With Fuzhou Red Wine Recipe

  3. Fish With Fuzhou Red Wine Recipe

  4. Fuzhou Fermented Wine Rice Chicken Recipe

  5. Fuzhou Stir-Fried Kale (Kai Lan) With Ginger Juice Recipe

Nyonya Postpartum Diet Recipes

Nyonya confinement dish always encapsulates subtle and refined combination of herbs and spices to bring out its intense and pungent flavor. Besides delicious and nutritious, Nyonya confinement dish emphasizes dispelling postpartum 'wind' through post-natal diet and also regulating 'qi'. For Nyonyas, the actual confinement period lasts for 100 days, and they look after their confinement diet especially well for the first 40 days as it's crucial for speedy postpartum recovery.

  1. Nyonya Egg Omelette In Sesame Oil Recipe

  2. Nyonya Herbed Rice (Nasi Ulam) Recipe

  3. Nyonya Chicken In Soy Sauce Recipe

  4. Nyonya Sautéed Curry ('Gulai Tumis') Recipe

  5. Nyonya Ulam-ulam Recipe

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