Eat Healthy ‧ Eat Seasonal
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Eat Healthy ‧ Eat Seasonal
15 (Tue) Feb – 9 (Wed) Mar 2022
@ Times Square, Harbour City, ifc mall & New Town Plaza stores
When in doubt, eating what’s in season is always a good idea. Eating seasonally guarantees that you’re getting the freshest ingredients, and is great for your general health and wellbeing. This early spring, city'super is bringing an array of seasonal eating tips and ingredient recommendations, so that you can enjoy the healthiest and tastiest foods the season has to offer.
Post-Lunar New Year Recovery: Seasonal Local Vegetables
Overindulgence is common during Lunar New Year. After all, it’s so hard to resist all those sumptuous meals. But fear not, we have just the right ingredients – cue nutritious local veggies – to get your gut and body recuperated and in the best shape for the New Year.
Local Wheat Grass
Packed full of antioxidants, wheat grass is great for detox, can promote intestinal health and reduce inflammation and toxins in the body.
Local Hydroponic Edible Flower
Humidity can really affect your appetite. Feast your eyes and your palate by adding in these colourful edible flowers to your dishes.
Local Organic Coriander
Coriander can stimulate your appetite and aid digestion.
Say goodbye to “spring sleepiness” during Yushui : 5 Seasonal Ingredients
Yushui, the “spring showers”, the second of the 24 solar terms in traditional Chinese calendars, falls on 19 February this year. Do you feel more sluggish during this period? Traditional Chinese medicine has a name for this: chunkun, or “spring sleepiness”. As the weather becomes warmer and humidity rises, it’s a good time to take extra care of your liver. Incorporate these ingredients into your meals and get ready to feel more energised and less bloated.
Taiwanese Pineapple Custard Apple
This sweet and mild fruit is good for the spleen and stomach. Great for those who often feel tired and weak with shortness of breath.
Local Organic Chinese Yam
Great for the kidney, spleen and stomach; can reduce phlegm and nourish the skin.
Local Organic Soya Bean Sprouts
Highly nutritious and can prevent angular cheilitis and cracked lips. Bean sprouts will not make you feel bloated so it’s suitable for those with a weaker stomach.
Local Basil
Add herbs and spices like basil, shiso and fennel to your spring dishes to warm the stomach, and reduce water retention and bloating.
Local Organic Chives
Great for circulation and can protect the liver, detox, reduce fatigue and has calming effects.
It’s Spring! Time for Home Farming
As the spring breeze blows, the temperature gets warmer, humidity increases and raining becomes more frequent. It is also a great time to start your own mini farm at home, planting fruits, veggies and herbs so you can enjoy them when they are in season and keep your mind and body healthy. Here are a few products to get new home farmers started:
MixO’ Plus Organic Compost (Local Food Waste Compost)
Hong Kong’s first certified organic food waste compost, which has been made by collecting food waste from herbal tea dregs, coffee grounds, beer hops and bean dregs. These food waste act as “herbal medicines” and offer nutrients for plants, improving the quality of soil which in turn allows plants to grow better.
Local Organic Italian Basil Pot
Basil is richly aromatic and is one of the most used herbs in cooking. Suitable for planting in a space that gets a lot of sunlight with good ventilation and water drainage. Its blooming flowers resemble a pagoda, and you can start picking the leaves once the plant has grown to at least 6 inches.
Local Organic Mint Pot
Mint is very easy to grow, so it’s suitable for beginners. It likes sunlight and water, as well as shaded spaces. As they grow very quickly, you can add water and fertiliser accordingly to help the plant put on new growth.
Seasonal Transition Wellness Guide: Nourishing Fresh Veggies for Spring
The fluctuating temperature in spring and the early spring breeze may be particularly dehydrating for the body, so it’s extra important to stay hydrated and take care of your digestive health. city'super has selected a range of seasonal ingredients that is great for your spring wellness journey.
Local Romaine Lettuce
The high amount of water in lettuce can help combat dehydration and stomach and intestinal discomfort.
Local Organic Yu Choy
Stir-fry with Sichuan peppercorn for better blood and oxygen circulation and prevent blood stasis.
Local Organic Romanesco Cauliflower
Cooling with a mild sweetness, it can purify liver blood and is great for the stomach and skin.
Seasonal Spring Ingredients to Support Liver Health
Sun Simao, “King of Medicine” from the Tang Dynasty once said: “It is advisable that one consumes fewer acidic and more sweet foods in spring in order to nourish oneself.” From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, the spleen and stomach are the foundations of good health, and eating fewer acidic foods in spring is good for the spleen. Why not try and incorporate more of the below ingredients into your meals?
Local Organic Ginger
Sweet with a hint of spiciness, ginger naturally promotes sweating and can improve blood circulation, reduce fever and heat, and has anti-ageing properties.
Local Beetroot (Food Waste Compost)
Mild and slightly cooling with a sweet taste, beetroot is great for blood vessels, maintaining liver function, and improving metabolism and appetite.
Local Organic Shiitake Mushroom
Shiitake mushrooms has a mild and sweet taste and is good for the spleen, stomach, liver, kidney and the skin. It is also packed full of umami which can improve appetite.
Local Coral Lettuce
Cooling with a sweet taste, lettuce can reduce inflammation, prevent constipation, and improve appetite and sleep quality. In spring, you can make soups with sea salt, or stir-fry with garlic and mushrooms.
Jingzhe: The Season For Spleen Care
Understanding solar terms can be beneficial to our health as it gives us pointers in regulating our diet. Jingzhe, the third of the 24 solar terms in traditional Chinese calendars, falls on 5 March this year, and marks the beginning of warm weather. It’s the transition between winter and spring when the temperature is not stable, so it’s important to take care to prevent catching colds. It is said that during Jingzhe, one should eat more fresh fruits and vegetables that reduce heat and pay attention to spleen health and monitor water retention.
Japan Okinawa Tankan Pack
Sweet with cooling properties, tankan is thirst-quenching and great for the lungs, reducing phlegm, grease and inflammation, and aids digestion.
Local Organic Sweet Corn
Great for reducing dampness in the body, corn is sweet with cooling properties, and is great for the stomach and spleen and quenching thirst. Add corn silk when you make soup to supercharge the dampness-removing effect.
Vine Ripened Mixed Cherry Tomato
Mildly cooling, the cherry tomato is thirst-quenching and is great for improving appetite.
Local Organic Carrot
Mild and sweet, carrots can be juiced raw to improve eye dryness and night blindness, and cooking it in soup can help with circulation.
Local Organic Spinach
It’s good to keep the flavours mild during Jingzhe. Fresh spinach is good for reducing heat in the liver and detoxing.
Local Organic Bean Sprouts
Bean sprouts contain a lot of antiacid substances, which have great detox and anti-ageing properties. Use hot water of 60-70℃ to blanch the bean sprouts. This gives them a crunchy texture while retaining the sprouts’ chlorophyll.
Seasonal Wellness: The Perfect Soup for Jingzhe
Jingzhe, the “Awakening of Insects”, marks the beginning of the reappearance of hibernating insects, and implies that the weather is getting warmer. This also means that our body’s internal heat may rise, so having fresh fruits and vegetables that are “cooling” and can reduce heat is particular great for this time of the year. Try making this nourishing Corn, Carrot and Pork Shank Soup and take care of your health in the midst of seasonal changes.
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
- Pork shank 350g
- Water 2L
- Carrots 3pcs
- Corn 2pcs
- Dates 3pcs
- A handful of apricot kernels
- Several dried scallops
Steps
- Wash all ingredients. Cut carrots and corn into big chunks.
- Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add in the pork shank for 30 seconds, remove and set aside.
- In a pot, add in 2 litres of cold water and all the ingredients. Set to high heat and bring to the boil.
- Switch to low heat and boil for two hours. Flavour with salt and enjoy.