A Prescription for Dinner

Ever tried cooking with astragalus roots, lablab beans or cordyceps? Probably not, unless you’re a student of Chinese medicinal herbs.

Such exotic seasonings may never rival oregano, thyme and basil, but they’re becoming better known because of the growing interest in alternative health philosophies, including India’s ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine.

The Chinese link food closely to health and for centuries have combined medicinal ingredients with soups, stews and stir-fries, consuming prescriptions as they dine, so to speak. For some of us, it’s a new concept, as unfamiliar as the components of stocked in aromatic Chinatown herbal shops.

The shops, not conducive to casual browsing, cater to those who can speak and read Chinese. But if you express a real interest, you can often get what you need.

And increasingly, publishers are putting out books in English for Westerners interested in Chinese herbs. Even the mainstream cookbook establishment--as opposed to the specialty health press--is interested. For example, Nina Simonds, known for her books on Asian cuisine, is at work on a book of recipes and remedies using Chinese herbs.

But there is good work in bookstores now. One excellent new book from Taiwan, “Chinese Herb Cooking for Health” (Wei-Chuan, $23.95), is designed for those who can neither speak nor read Chinese as well as Chinese speakers. The author, Dr. Wang-Chuan Chen, is director of the Union of Chinese Medicine Assn. of the Republic of China and director of the Doctor’s Assn. of Chinese Medicine in Taipei.

In Chinese usage, medicinal herbs aren’t just green leafy plants. They are also roots, bark, grasses and seeds, and some come from animal and mineral sources. Also classed as medicinal in Chen’s book are almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, tangerine peel, cinnamon bark and star anise, which many of us regard as ordinary cooking ingredients. Ginger and garlic are also used as medicines by the Chinese.

The book contains a visual glossary of medicinal herbs, each photographed in color and accompanied by its name in Chinese and English. The 73 recipes are written in both Chinese characters and English, so all you have to do is take the book to an herbal shop and point to what you need.

The recipes are grouped in seven sections: one for each season, one for recipes appropriate to any season and two covering care of the internal organs and postnatal care. Each recipe is accompanied by its health benefits.

But whether food that is good for you tastes good too is another matter. In their photographs, the dishes certainly look tempting. And they have imaginative names like “Cruising Wings,” “Soaring Pigeon” and “Peaceful Bamboo.”

The only way to find out was to test them, so I chose three recipes--Summer Cabbage, Rice with Herb Meat Sauce and Tung-Chung Soy Chicken--and set off for Chinatown.

Summer Cabbage, a hot-weather dish, is designed to reduce inner heat and relieve thirst. Rice with Herb Meat Sauce, a spring dish, strengthens chi and is “effective for children’s development and elderly nutrition,” the book states. Tung-Chung Soy Chicken, which is appropriate to all seasons, improves weakened body condition.

Making a random choice from more than a dozen herbal shops, I went into Tin Bo Co. on Broadway in Chinatown. There two men wrote down the herbs I needed and computed the cost. They then weighed the herbs, using a balance scale with a brass weight, and set them on separate pieces of pink butcher paper, which they folded into cones so they could pour the herbs neatly into plastic bags, one for each recipe.

Tung-Chung Soy Chicken was the most expensive dish. Although it required only two medicinal ingredients, cordyceps and dendrobium, their cost totaled slightly more than $10. Summer Cabbage contained a greater variety of herbs--lablab beans, poria, Solomon’s seal and Chinese yam--but they cost only $1. The cost for Rice with Herb Meat Sauce came to $1.50 for a few jujubes (Chinese red dates) and 35 grams of astragalus roots.

Like other herbal shops, Tin Bo carries a variety of ingredients for general cooking, so I was able to buy the dried black mushrooms, dried shrimp and Chinese rock sugar I also needed for the recipes.

Later, I bought a second set of the same ingredients at Han San Inc. on Hill Street. The prices were slightly different, a little less for the rice and cabbage dishes, but a couple of dollars more for cordyceps and dendrobium. And I was shown a better grade of cordyceps that, at $55 an ounce, cost more than twice as much as the grade I selected. Han San also packs its own herb mixes, and saleswoman Penny Wong recommended one called “four assorted herb tea” for making beef soup.

Because “Chinese Herb Cooking for Health” doesn’t explain what the herbs are, I turned to other sources, scanning several books in Niming, a shop on Hill Street in Chinatown. Natural foods stores such as Wild Oats also stock books on Chinese medicinal herbs.

My research extended all the way to Singapore, which has a large Chinese population and therefore many herbal shops. One of these, Eu Yan Sang, has a branch in Changi airport. There, packets of herbs for a variety of complaints are clearly labeled in English, making it easy for passengers to pick up remedies on the run.

Eu Yan Sang also has compiled its own anthology of Chinese herbs, pills and formulas, which is used as a guide in the shop, and has published jointly with Times Editions in Singapore “An Illustrated Dictionary of Chinese Medicinal Herbs,” which customers can buy.

From these books, I learned that cordyceps is actually a worm that turns into a plant. Its name in Chinese means “winter worm, summer grass.” While the worm hibernates in winter, it is consumed by a fungus, which fills the body of the worm and transforms it into a plant.

Dendrobium is the dried stem of a dendrobium orchid, many species of which are used medically by the Chinese.

Lablab beans are also known as hyacinth, Indian or Egyptian beans. In India, the pods are eaten as a vegetable and the ripe seeds as a pulse.

Astragalus, or milk vetch, is native to the Northern Hemisphere. Its roots are used to treat a variety of ailments, from the common cold to loss of appetite, diarrhea and nervousness.

Chinese yam, also called cinnamon vine, is a spindle-shaped tuber grown in the Far East and once tested as a substitute for the ordinary potato.

Solomon’s seal, native to North America, Europe and Asia, has a jointed underground stem used as medicine.

The Eu Yan Sang anthology describes poria as a root that “replenishes the spleen and stomach systems . . . and tranquilizes the mind to relieve diarrhea induced by terror.”

Now, how did the three dishes taste? My testing notes for Summer Cabbage say, “Delicious--light, a little sweet, refreshing. No strong herbal flavor, although the drained broth was brown from the herbs.”

Rice with Herb Meat Sauce: “Has an almost winey herbal taste, which is pleasant and is balanced by the full taste of dried black mushrooms.”

Tung-Chung Soy Chicken: “Worth the expense. The concentrated sauce is incredible. Needs rice on the side to smooth out the intense flavor.”

After a weekend of testing and eating these dishes, I felt just fine. So now I’m moving on with high hopes to “Lady’s Beauty Soup,” “Vitalizing Congee” and “Beauty Melon Fountain,” which promises to beautify the skin, eliminate freckles and smooth out wrinkles.

RICE WITH HERB MEAT SAUCE

You’ll have to go to an herbal shop for astragalus roots, but jujubes are available in any Chinese market, where they are usually called red dates.

HERB MEAT SAUCE

35 grams (1.225 ounces) astragalus roots

15 grams (.525 ounce) red jujubes

Water

1/2 ounce dried black mushrooms, about 5

1 1/2 tablespoons dried small shrimp

2 tablespoons oil

2/3 pound ground pork

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

RICE

1 1/2 cups short- or medium-grain rice

1/2 cup long-grain rice

4 cups water

HERB MEAT SAUCE

Rinse astragalus roots and jujubes and drain. Halve jujubes and discard pits. Bring 5 cups water, astragalus roots and jujubes to boil in saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until soup reduces to 2 cups, 35 to 40 minutes. Strain broth and discard herbs.

Wash mushrooms and soak in warm water to cover until soft, about 20 minutes. Soak shrimp in water to cover in separate bowl until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Drain mushrooms and dice, discarding stems. Drain shrimp and finely chop.

Heat oil in wok. Add mushrooms and shrimp and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes. Add pork and stir-fry until browned, about 5 minutes. Add soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, salt, herb broth and 1 cup water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer 50 minutes.

RICE

Rinse rices in colander. Combine rices and water in saucepan, cover and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

Divide rice among 4 large individual serving bowls. Top with pork mixture and broth.

4 servings. Each serving:

601 calories; 1,344 mg sodium; 44 mg cholesterol; 21 grams fat; 83 grams carbohydrates; 19 grams protein; 0.61 gram fiber.

PENNY WONG’S HERBAL BEEF SOUP

Simple and nourishing, this is Chinese herbal convenience cooking at its best. Penny Wong, who sells herbs at Han San Inc. in Chinatown, makes this soup with the shop’s own blend of astragalus root, Chinese yam, codonopsis and lycium berries. Othjer Southland herb shops may have similar house blends.

1 packet four assorted herb tea

1/2 pound lean beef, cut into chunks

2 dried scallops, optional

8 cups water

Salt

Rinse herbs with warm water and drain. Place herbs, beef and scallops, if using, in Dutch oven. Add water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until broth is reduced to 2 cups, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add salt to taste. Serve in bowls without straining.

2 servings. Each serving:

225 calories; 206 mg sodium; 64 mg cholesterol; 18 grams fat; 0 carbohydrates; 15 grams protein; 0 fiber.