Eggplant, according to traditional Chinese food guidelines, clears excessive internal heat and fire toxicity, cools blood and stops bleeding, reduces swelling and inflammation, thus it can help treat constipation, bowel bleeding, hemorrhoids, boils, carbuncle and skin sores. Why eggplant has effects to reduce inflammation and stop bleeding? This is due to its cooling properties – reducing the internal heat and cooling the blood.
Recipe – Eggplant and Ground Pork
Ingredients:
– Eggplant 500g
– Ground Pork 100g
– Cooking oil (olive oil, butter, ghee or other cooking oil) 1-2 tablespoons
– sugar 2-3 teaspoons (according to your taste)
– Table salt 1 teaspoon (according to your taste)
– Soy sauce 1 teaspoon (or miso)
– Ginger, garlic, chili pepper (cut into very small pieces, adjust the amount according to your taste)
– Starch and water mixture (Stir 1 teaspoon of starch in 1/3 cup of cold water)
Preparation:
– Cut eggplants into 1-inch pieces, do not remove the skin
– Put the eggplants into a big bowl, heat in microwave for 4 minutes
– Place a pan on stove, add 1 cup of water, bring to a boil
– Add ground Pork, cooking oil, ginger, salt, sugar, chili pepper, garlic and soy sauce into the boiling water, and boil for 1 minute
– Remove eggplants from microwave, and add them to the pan, stir to mix well
– Cover the pan and cook for a few minutes until a lot of steam comes out of the cover
– Remove the cover and stir until eggplants are softened
– Stir the starch and water mixture, pour it into the pan
– Keep stirring until the mixture thickens and eggplants are coated with starch mixture
– Remove from the stove
– Serve
Please note:
1. Eggplant is a regular vegetable, it may help treat some health disorders, but its effects are mild, you may need to often eat eggplants to see some improvement. So if you suffer from an acute disease, you need to see a doctor, because a food therapy may have no immediate effect.
2. Eggplant has cooling properties. For those who have poor digestive systems with a tendency to diarrhea, it is better not to eat too much of eggplants due to the cooling effects, or you need to add hot spices to balance it and reduce its cooling effects, otherwise it may be too “cold”. And hot spices also add flavor to the food. But if you have “hot” disease and need to reduce internal heat and cool down your body, you may add less or no hot spices to eggplants.
3. You should also know that, eggplant contains solanine, which in big dose may cause nausea and vomiting. You should not eat old eggplants. It is said that the old eggplants picked in later autumn contains more solanine. Some people may be allergic to eggplant. Adding ginger, garlic, sugar and cooking oil to the recipe can reduce and moderate the side effect.
For more information about food therapy – eggplant, go to Natural Remedies Center: http://www.naturalremediescenter.com/remedies/eggplant/
