Pak chan herbal soup (八珍汤)

Pak chan soup is known as “ladies’ soup” because it helps balance the menstrual cycle and offers relief from PMS. Once a girl reaches puberty and begins the onset of her menses, she should have this soup on a monthly basis to ensure that as she grows up, her menstruation will be problem free. The soup can be very heaty and should only be taken a few days after menses has finished.

 Pak Chan (八珍) literally means 8 treasures which consist of 8 herbs for the benefit of ladies. These herbs are dong quai, bai shao, fu ling, bai zhu, zhi gan cao, dang shen, chuan xiong and dìhuáng. This combination of herbs is to nourish the blood and improve blood circulation. It will help reduce menstrual cramp, improve regularity or timing of menstruation and ease some premenopausal symptoms. Although it is primarily for ladies but certain herbs like Dang Shen are beneficial for man as it also provides comfort to the liver, alleviates pain, invigorates the blood and promotes production of body fluid.

Ingredients

1 packet pak chan herbs

1 black chicken

Wash and put the herbs into boiling water in the slow cooker.

Cook on low for 2 hours.

Remove the skin from the chicken so that the soup will not be oily.

Cut the chicken into 4 pieces.

Put the chicken into the soup, add salt to taste and continue cooking for another 4 hours.

The purpose of cooking the soup so long is to ensure that the taste and goodness of the herbs are totally infused into the soup.

Remove all the herbs just before serving.