阳春五月好时节 粤谈祛湿靓汤水

阳春五月好时节 粤谈祛湿靓汤水

The weather in Guangdong this year has been volatile and unpredictable. One moment it is sunny and hot like the summer, the next it becomes drizzly and humid. Now May has come, a time of rain and dampness, which leads to fatigue and lack of appetite among local residents.

COMMON INGREDIENTS祛湿食材

CONGEE粥

HERBAL TEA祛湿茶

Anyone who has lived in Guangdong for some time knows that the Chinese herbal tea sold at every street corner, and slow-cooked soup drunk before every dinner are for getting rid of the excessive dampness or heat in the human body. So what is dampness? Dampness is caused by internal water imbalance in the body. When it cannot be repelled and starts to accumulate in the human body, dampness can result in health problems over time. In general, a person who eats a large amount of raw, or cold foods and drinks, or lives in a humid environment is prone to excessive internal dampness. When the body is attacked by external coldness and cannot resolve properly, imbalance occurs. Excessive dampness is often accompanied by symptoms such as drowsiness, fatigue and lack of appetence. That is partly why people often feel sick in rainy and humid seasons.

Eliminating body dampness is a concept from traditional Chinese medicine. It is ref l ected in Cantonese people's philosophy of diet, which is preparing food according to the time of the year, the weather and health conditions. As the old saying goes, “food therapy starts with soup”. A dampness-eliminating soup can be benef i cial tothe body without compromising the taste.

In addition, the spring and summer diet should also be light without too much grease, which is consistent with the Cantonese culinary principles of bringing out the original fl avour of the ingredients. Excessive seasoning is not encouraged in Cantonese cuisine in order to maintain the fresh, tender, crisp and smooth tastes of the ingredients, which is quite different from other Chinese cuisines like Sichuan and Hunan cuisines.

As another old saying goes, “medicine is not as good as food therapy”. The Cantonese cuisine, after absorbing tens and thousands of people's wisdom for years, has evolved into plates of food that are both benef i cial to the health and satisfying to the taste buds. Try and prepare some of the anti-dampness dishes above in your kitchen for a carefree summer in Guangdong!

今年广东的天气阴晴不定，爱捉弄人，一会太阳高挂似仲夏，转眼春雨绵绵，立马进入回南天，现在又到了多雨的五月份，到处湿漉漉的，人便觉得全身乏力、没了食欲，好心情马上打个折扣。

SYMPTOMS OF EXCESSIVE DAMPNESS:体内湿气重的几大表现

久居广东的人都知道，街头处处可见的凉茶铺，饭前必喝的靓汤水，大部分因为在这儿生活的人体内湿气重或上火。那什么是湿气呢?湿气就是人体内水分调控系统失衡,本应该正常排出的水分排不出去,堆积在体内,时间长了就会对身体健康有影响!

一般而言,体内湿气重大多因为喜爱吃生冷食物,冷饮等寒凉食物或天气潮湿等原因引起的，身体受了寒，身体排水不足，就会积攒在体内，湿气重容易让人昏昏欲睡，疲劳无力或食欲降低，万般不自然，这也是为何一到回南天大家都觉得很不舒服的原因之一！

春、夏季饮食除了要注重祛湿外,口味方面也要清淡少油才入得了口!这正好和粤式饮食的“鲜、嫩、爽、滑”四字宗旨相契合，烹饪食物时，要尽量发挥食物本身的味道，多余的油盐酱醋，一滴都嫌多余，这与讲究调料的川菜、湘菜等菜系大相径庭。

古语说：“药补不如食补”，既能调理身体，又能满足口腹之欲的粤式美食，经历多年变化，汇聚千万人民的生活智慧，演变成今日的一蔬一菜。想在广东舒服度暑，不妨在自家厨房中好好炮制以上几道祛湿美食吧！

ANTI-DAMPNESS CANTONESE DIET

Text by Ma Yanling Translation by Leo