Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories by Lorraine Clissold Page A

from the perfect balance of yin and yang .
    In Chinese dietary therapy, which is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine, foods are also classified as yin and yang . Yin foods sink down and assist the functioning of the internal organs, while yang foods generally rise up and out towards the body surface, and can contribute to indigestion, skin problems and headaches if taken in excess. Yang foods usually have hot or warm energies and so create heat in the body, whereas yin foods usually have cold or cool properties and so cool the body down. It is possible, though, for foods to be yang (and move outwards),yet cooling (China’s favourite fish,carp,is one example; another is peppermint) or even yin and warming (such as dried orange peel).
    Because a good Chinese diet is one that is balanced, it is important to avoid too much of one food property. Fortunately there are a number of neutral foods (both in terms of yin and yang and their hot or cold properties) that maintain the equilibrium in the body. Rice is neutral in terms of its heating and cooling properties, but very slightly yang . How a dish is cooked can affect its heating or cooling nature quite considerably, as we shall see. Generally though, wet and moist are yin characteristics of food, and dry and crisp are yang .
    By taking rice, a neutral energy food that is slightly yang , and simmering it to create a moist end product, Chinese people create a food, zhou, that will not push the body in any one direction. Nutrients reach the body much more quickly if ingested in liquid or semi-liquid form. Additional ingredients can change the nature of zhou , making it an ideal vehicle to transport energies if the body needs warming, cooling, or toning in any particular area (see Chapter Seven).
    Yin and yang foods

YIN
YANG
NEUTRAL
banana
ginger
aduki beans
crab
onion
pumpkin
kelp
garlic
Job's tears
lettuce
lamb
beancurd
celery
peach
spinach
pear
honey
sesame oil
water chestnut
shrimp
apricots
bamboo shoots
organ meats
grapes
salt
beans
plums
whole egg/egg-white
beetroot
olives
grapefruit
walnuts
aubergine
pork (mild)
egg yolk
figs
sea-grass and seaweed
chestnuts
rice

    Acquiring the zhou habit
    To make zhou simply simmer rice or your chosen grain in about ten times its volume of water for about forty minutes, until the grains have cooked to a pulpy consistency. Whole grains take a little longer. Short grain rice makes a better zhou than long; if you have to use the latter, mix in a spoon or two of millet or some Arborio rice, as these will improve the consistency. A mixture of different grains makes for more interesting eating and may be more tempting to ‘first timers’. Easy-cook rice varieties are not suitable as they have been pre-treated so that the grains stay intact. Although my first efforts at home produced lumpy, burnt and copious zhou (a small amount of rice goes a very long way), I found that the effect on my wellbeing more than compensated for the time spent scraping out the saucepans and suffering Xiao Ding’s looks of disdain.
    Rice and millet porridge provide some of the most easily digested forms of nourishment. You can make your zhou more interesting by varying the ingredients, and you will add a vast range of nutrients to your diet at the same time. Millet, for instance, is a source of silica, which is good for the hair and nails and is not often found in the modern diet. Buckwheat contains rutin, which helps protect the heart, and barley provides calcium, copper, iodine, magnesium and potassium as well as many vitamins.
    There is always the option of oatmeal if zhou is a little intimidating in the first instance. An alternative to cooking grains is the traditional Swiss method of soaking muesli overnight in water. All the nutrients of the wholegrain are retained and the flavour seeps out into the liquid to make a delicious juice, which is even tastier if enhanced with dried fruit, nuts and some desiccated coconut. There is no need to add milk; whole