Lemon Job’s Tears Tea/Drink

This lemon Job’s tears tea is both appetizing and refreshing. I love its lemony aroma and mild natural sweetness, helping to lift up my spirit.

Job’s tears are traditionally used for ages in Chinese home cooking. It becomes a rising healthy star in the recent food scene. Not only it can help to improve indigestion, diarrhea, and trouble urinating, but also lower cholesterol and prevent cancer. More and more western people try to incorporate these tiny grains in drinks, salad or porridge.

Read More

Red Dates and Egg Tea

Ever heard or tried this red date tea? This is a kind of Chinese traditional herbal soup. Chinese believes that red dates (紅棗) are very good for women’s health. Oh, well, pardon me. If you’re a male, skip this recipe, or pass it to your female friends.

Red dates contain much iron that can help women get speedy recovery from delivery and menstruation. Apart from the said medical effects, red dates also can help improve skin become tender and smooth.

Read More

Long Yan and Goji Tea

It is a traditional Chinese natural cure for insomnia handed down from generations. I love the sweet fragrant smell of long yan. It’s very appetizing and comforting.

Long yan (also known as longan, “gui yuan” 桂圓 in Chinese) is a popular tropical fruit. The flesh is very sweet and juicy. I and my family like to eat it fresh, even though it’s quite pricey here in Australia.

The dried ones, dark brown in colour, are less expensive, good for making Chinese soups, desserts and teas.

In Chinese medicine, long yan is a natural cure for insomnia. Goji (aka wolfberry, or Goji berries, 枸杞 in Chinese) is also found good for eye health, giving your a feeling of calmness and quality of sleep.

Read More

Chrysanthemum Tea with Goji and Longan (菊花杞子龍眼茶)

This traditional Chrysanthemum Tea with Goji and Longan is a soothing herbal brew handed down from my mother to help relieve eye fatigue and promote overall wellness. Perfect for those long days spent working at a computer or reading under artificial lights, this gentle drink naturally calms dry eyes while offering a delicate, floral taste.

This Chinese tea, handed down from my mum, can help promote eye health. If browsing computer or reading a book for a while, we might feel our eyes itchy or dry.

Read More

Lemon Ginger Honey Tea

Winter is flu season in Australia. Take care, everybody. This lemon ginger honey tea can help boost up our immune system. It's tasty and can be made within 2 minutes.

To myself, this drink is one of the most delicious flu and cold natural remedies. For ages, ginger has been used to help accelerate blood circulation, fight inflammation and relieve pain due to a cold in Chinese herbal medicine.

Read More

Red Bean & Grass Jelly Drink (紅豆涼粉椰汁冰)

Ever tried any drinks made with sweetened red beans? I’ve always had a soft spot for any desserts or drinks made with red beans. This red bean and grass jelly drink is my all-time favourite one. It’s best served on a hot day. Yet, I’d love to enjoy it throughout the year.

Not only sweetened red beans are versatile for making many Chinese desserts, it’s also good for making drinks.

Since I got my Instant Pot, I've often used it to make sweetened red beans to whip up this red bean and grass jelly drink. Previously I also posted how to make perfect sweetened red bean over a stove top or with a thermal pot. Please hop over to have a look if you’re interested.

Read More

Strawberry Smoothie

Whenever I finish doing body workout, I like to have a full-glass of smoothie, like this mango blueberry smoothie, or this strawberry smoothie. Both are super healthy and handy to be prepared on the go. Yesterday was the starting day of Spring down under here. Strawberry is still in season. Lucky that I got some beautiful strawberries at a bargain price. I especially love the vibrant red colour of this smoothie, very pleasant and refreshing. If fresh strawberries are not available for you, you can use frozen ones instead. The taste is equally good.

Read More

Ginger and Brown Sugar Tea (Chinese Health Tea)

When it turns cold, it’s good to warm up your body with a healthy warm tea. I especially like this simple Chinese ginger brown sugar drink. It tastes not too sweet with a touch of ginger taste. Ginger has a wide range of antioxidant properties as well as helps reduce digestive disorders. The extra ingredient I added, dried longan pulp, is good to calm your nerves and help you have a sound sleep. Not only does brown sugar sweeten your tea with a molasses flavour, it also gives you more minerals, like calcium, potassium and iron. In Chinese medicine, this tea can help relieve menstrual cramps.

Read More

Mango Blueberry Smoothie

Although it’s a bit cold yesterday, my heart felt the warmth as hubby cooked me a bowl of noodles. Then I returned him a glass of healthy, yummy mango blueberry smoothie. What surprised me was that the cold smoothie went really well with the hot noodles. Blueberries are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, blended with the juicy mangoes and creamy yoghurt as a result that I felt there’s nothing could beat this super healthy and delicious drink. Best of all, you can whip it up in minutes if you have a food processor or blender. This drink can be served as breakfast or light lunch as well.

Read More

Homemade Soy Milk (With or Without a Soy Milk Maker)

I’ve got many goodies brought from the last trip back to Hong Kong, including intangible, great memories and tangible things, like this new kitchen toy – Joyoung soymilk maker. It’s recommended by my friend. After a long search from online and different local electric stores in Hong Kong, I got my hands on one finally in Shatin. Each only costs HKD580. I found the soymilk maker quite helpful. Not only does it help make soy milk easily, but also quickly make a variety of creamy soup or porridge in twenty minutes. The end result of the first attempt to make soymilk with this machine was very satisfied. I’ll definitely enjoy more homemade soy milk from now on. Happy !

Don't get disappointed if you don't have one. You still can enjoy fresh homemade soy milk without this soymilk maker. The result will be equally good, with more time and effort required though. The method is posted after the recipe.

Read More