Chinese Soups after birth

Posted by Honey Bee (434 days ago)

I'm a BBC husband who is expecting a first child in the next few months.

I heard that after giving birth, Chinese women normally drink special Chinese soups which helps to rebalance their body.

I like to find out more about about this but I don't know where to look for this information.

Does anyone recommend any books (preferably in English) I would really appreciate!

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by CarmenL (434 days ago)

See the section Special Confinement Food for Women in this link: http://www.makantime.com/indexrecipes.html

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Honey Bee (431 days ago)

Thanks Carmen, this is quite helpful!

Do you know any other websites or books for after birth Chinese soups?

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by simplythebest (431 days ago)

did you search confinement in the moms and dads section? if not, there's some older threads with links.

(I am based in Guangzhou)

Posted by china_doll (426 days ago)

My Chinese mother-in-law found a bilingual recipe book with pre- and post-natal recipes. Probably any Hong Kong bookstore would have it. The pig's feet and sea cucumber don't appeal to me, but some of the soups are pretty yummy.

(I am based in Guangzhou)

Posted by Claire (426 days ago)

These two books are in traditional Chinese (with English title on the front). You can borrow them from the library or order from YesAsia.

Nutritious recipes for pregnancy
Li Yin Huan

Recipes For Pregnancy & Confinement
Patsie Cheong

(I am based in Unspecified)

Posted by lasez (421 days ago)

I've seen post-natal recipe books in Popular bookstores, including the one by Patsie Cheong as mentioned by Claire.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Ruth in Canada (418 days ago)

They really don't make much difference, in fact.

(I am based in Unspecified)

Posted by simplythebest (415 days ago)

ruth in canada, it may be true or not true. but we all believe in different things and do different things during pregnancy.

(I am based in Guangzhou)

Posted by hkchoichoi (415 days ago)

As a Korean American, I often scoffed at the confinement diet of Korean woman (masses amount of seaweed soup - which I hate in general.)

But, having given birth twice - and having had amazing milk production - and quick weight loss, shrinking of the uterus and an overall very quick recovery, I'll say it's the seaweed soup. The iodine in there helps shrink the uterus, the iron in there helps raise iron levels in the mother's blood - and the fiber in there helps you go quickly. The iodine also helps in milk production. I've recommended it to non Koreans, all all do very well with seaweed soup to aid their milk production.

(I am based in Unspecified)

Posted by joshmomm (414 days ago)

I agree with HKCC re: the seaweed soup. I'm not Korean, but all my Korean friends take the seaweed soup during confinement and ALL of them have had AMAZING milk production. I didn't take the seaweed soup with #1, but have been taking it now for a month with #2 (to the exclusion of other kinds of soup) and I have to say that my milk production this time around is a lot more than what I had with #1. BTW, I actually LOVE the seaweed soup, HKCC. ;p

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by simplythebest (414 days ago)

i love the seaweed soup too! unfortunately i didn't get a chance to drink that much and mother's milk tea was just easier!

hkchoichoi, re the soup, would the instant from a box kind be any good? I'm sure it would be better to make it yourself right? what's the name of the korean seaweed? sorry you told me before. or can wakame be used? thanks, want to know for the future!

(I am based in Guangzhou)

Posted by hkchoichoi (414 days ago)

the real korean seaweed is the "best" of course - meeyuk. Wakame is similar - but it's "cultivated" so it doesn't have the wildness and the deep sea benefits.

(I am based in Unspecified)

Posted by Havefaith (414 days ago)

HKCC,

What other ingredients go into the soup?

Havefaith

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Wheelymate (410 days ago)

Honey Bee,

The Chinese confinement diet is usually prepared by a mature lady such as your mum/granny or a confinement nanny. The soups, especially take quite abit of effort - I can promise you cooking will be the last thing you want to do after you return from the hospital.

the following website does have some very simple recipes but if you want more, perhaps you want to consider hiring a confinement lady who will come to your house and cook the food for you.
http://www.momsinmind.com.sg/confinementrecipes.html

in singapore, there are also catering companies that specialise in delivering confinement food to your doorsteps - not sure if anything in HK provides something similar? That will definitely be handy. my sis-in-law did that and it was nice to not worry about food for a month so that you can concentrate on your lovely baby.

(I am based in Singapore)

Posted by hkchoichoi (410 days ago)

Havefaith -

seaweed soup is mostly seaweed in your choice of broth. While in the hospital here in Korea, it was served to me in a HUGE VAT FOUR TIMES A DAY. BUT, each time it was flavored differently based on the broth. So a few times it was beef, one time it was a dried fish (burdock) base (not keen on this one), clam based, dried shrimp based, anchovy base. My personal preference is a beef stock based - because the seaweed itself is fishy enough - and that is one of the reasons I don't LOVE IT.

I make a soup stock, set it aside, and then soak the seaweed in water to make it "alive." and then I cut it up into bitesized pieces, heat some REAL 100% pure sesame oil in a pan, and then saute it briefly and then pour the stock over the seaweeed and boil for about 10 minutes - VOILA - seaweed soup.

Interestingly enough -this is the soup that you MUST eat on your birthday.

(I am based in Unspecified)

Posted by Havefaith (410 days ago)

HKCC,

Thanks - I will keep this in mind for when I have had my LOL (hopefully soon).

Havefaith

(I am based in Hong Kong)