Sugarcane Congee

Yǎnglǎo Fèngqīn Shū

The author of this book, Chen Zhi, was a person from the Song Dynasty who once served as the magistrate of Xinghua County. Chen had profound research on geriatric health preservation. His work Yang Lao Feng Qin Shu (A Book on Supporting Parents in Their Old Age) provides incisive and detailed discussions from fifteen aspects, including dietary regulation, daily life and rest, taboos and protections, seasonal health maintenance, and food therapy recipes for elderly wellness. He particularly emphasized that the formulas and medicines used for supports young and middle-aged people should not be used to supports elderly patients. Chen once said, “I often see that when supports wellness in the elderly, people supports them in the same way as young people, indiscriminately prescribing decoctions and indiscriminately performing acupuncture and moxibustion to attack the wellness, hoping for a quick recovery. They fail to realize that the elderly, with their declining blood and qi and diminished spirit, are as fragile as a candle in the wind.” Based on his years of experience, he proposed the importance of food therapy for the elderly: “Since the elderly are different from the young, who have strong vital qi. Although young people may not be in critical condition even after sweating, vomiting, or purgation, for the elderly and weak, sweating will lead to the leakage of yang qi, vomiting will cause qi counterflow in the stomach, and purgation will result in the loss of vital qi, immediately leading to unforeseen consequences. This is a major taboo in elderly care. In general, medicines for the elderly are only a supportive measure. Only mild,平和 (ping he, meaning gentle and harmonious) medicines that promote qi circulation, stimulate appetite, and nourish deficiencies should be used. Following the methods of food therapy and preparing dishes according to the properties of foods is the best approach.” Due to the book’s certain research on elderly health care, it was later included by Yuan Dynasty’s Zou Xuan in the first volume of Shou Qin Yang Lao Xin Shu (A New Book on Supporting Parents in Their Old Age). Sugarcane Porridge is one of the 43 medicinal porridges recorded in Yang Lao Feng Qin Shu.

[Ingredients of the Porridge Prescription] 100 – 150 ml of sugarcane juice, 30 – 60 grams of japonica rice.

[Indications and Effects] Clearing heat and promoting fluid production, nourishing yin and moistening dryness. Applicable to the convalescent stage of febrile wellness, for signs of imbalance such as restlessness, thirst, dry cough due to Lung dryness, and dry and hard stool caused by insufficient body fluid.

[Boiling Method] Use fresh sugarcane, extract about 100 to 150 milliliters of juice, add an appropriate amount of water, and cook it with japonica rice to make porridge.

[Explanation of Congee Benefits] Sugarcane, known as shuzhe in ancient times, is used in traditional Chinese medicine in the form of its extracted juice, called zhejiang. In addition to containing a large amount of sugar, it also contains protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, iron, various amino acids, malic acid, citric acid, vitamin B2, Ba, C, and other nutrients. Since zhejiang is sweet in taste and cold in nature, it has the effects of clearing heat, generating body fluids, nourishing yin, and moistening dryness. Therefore, Suixi Residence Dietetic Scripture states, “Sugarcane, when its juice is extracted, is called the natural Fumai Decoction.” It can be used to supports conditions such as Yin Deficiency due to febrile wellness, insufficient body fluids, restlessness and thirst, Lung dryness with cough, and dry and hard stools. When zhejiang is cooked with rice to make congee, in addition to having the effect of moistening the Lungs and relieving cough, it can also nourish stomach yin. It is used for conditions such as nausea and vomiting, poor appetite, and indigestion caused by insufficient stomach yin, including chronic stomach wellness (especially chronic atrophic gastritis) and neurogenic vomiting (add 20 drops of ginger juice when cooking the congee). The book Yanglao Fengqin Shu – Recipes for supports Various wellness in the Elderly, Chapter 14 records, “For supports cough, deficiency heat, dry mouth and tongue, and thick and sticky nasal discharge and saliva in the elderly, use sugarcane congee. Take one and a half sheng of sugarcane juice and four he of cleaned and rinsed green millet. Cook the congee with the sugarcane juice. Consume it gradually on an empty stomach, one or two servings a day. It is extremely moistening for the Heart and Lungs.” In summary, sugarcane congee has quite ideal therapeutic effects on conditions such as fluid injury due to febrile wellness and Yin Deficiency in the Lungs and stomach.

[Precautions] When cooking sugarcane porridge, it should not be thick but rather thin. In cases of high fever with fluid injury, dry tongue, and thirst, thin sugarcane porridge can be cooked and consumed freely.

[Reference Materials]

[Zun Sheng Ba Jian · Volume XI]: “Take three bowls of juice squeezed from sugarcane, add four sheng of rice, cook into porridge, and consume it on an empty stomach. It supports cough with deficiency heat, dry mouth, thick nasal discharge, and dry tongue.”

[Health Preservation through Food Inspection · Volume II · Food Therapy Prescriptions]: “Sugarcane Porridge. It is mainly used for supports deficiency heat, thirst, dry throat, thick and sticky nasal discharge, stopping cough, and moistening the Heart and Lungs. Take one liter of sugarcane juice by pounding it, mix it with three sheng of rice to cook porridge, and consume it on an empty stomach.”

[Porridge Recipes · Porridge Type Four · Woody Fruits Category]: “Sugarcane Juice Porridge supports cough and dry mouth and tongue.”

[Dietary Therapy Guide]: “Sugarcane Porridge. Nourishes Lung yin, generates body fluids, and helps with occasional cough. It is mainly indicated for cough due to deficient heat, dry mouth and tongue, and thick nasal discharge and sputum. Take 30 grams of sugarcane juice and half a jin of rice to cook porridge.”

[Eruting Qunfangpu · Volume 4]: “Sugarcane Porridge. For cough due to deficient heat, dry mouth, and nasal discharge, take one and a half liters of sugarcane juice and four sheng of green millet to cook porridge. Consume twice a day. It is extremely moistening for the Heart and Lungs.”