陽春五月好時節(jié) 粵談祛濕靚湯水

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祛濕食材

CONGEE粥

HERBAL TEA祛濕茶

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!

今年廣東的天氣陰晴不定，愛捉弄人，一會太陽高掛似仲夏，轉(zhuǎn)眼春雨綿綿，立馬進(jìn)入回南天，現(xiàn)在又到了多雨的五月份，到處濕漉漉的，人便覺得全身乏力、沒了食欲，好心情馬上打個折扣。

SYMPTOMS OF EXCESSIVE DAMPNESS:體內(nèi)濕氣重的幾大表現(xiàn)

久居廣東的人都知道，街頭處處可見的涼茶鋪，飯前必喝的靚湯水，大部分因為在這兒生活的人體內(nèi)濕氣重或上火。那什么是濕氣呢?濕氣就是人體內(nèi)水分調(diào)控系統(tǒng)失衡,本應(yīng)該正常排出的水分排不出去,堆積在體內(nèi),時間長了就會對身體健康有影響!

一般而言,體內(nèi)濕氣重大多因為喜愛吃生冷食物,冷飲等寒涼食物或天氣潮濕等原因引起的，身體受了寒，身體排水不足，就會積攢在體內(nèi)，濕氣重容易讓人昏昏欲睡，疲勞無力或食欲降低，萬般不自然，這也是為何一到回南天大家都覺得很不舒服的原因之一！

春、夏季飲食除了要注重祛濕外,口味方面也要清淡少油才入得了口!這正好和粵式飲食的“鮮、嫩、爽、滑”四字宗旨相契合，烹飪食物時，要盡量發(fā)揮食物本身的味道，多余的油鹽醬醋，一滴都嫌多余，這與講究調(diào)料的川菜、湘菜等菜系大相徑庭。

古語說：“藥補(bǔ)不如食補(bǔ)”，既能調(diào)理身體，又能滿足口腹之欲的粵式美食，經(jīng)歷多年變化，匯聚千萬人民的生活智慧，演變成今日的一蔬一菜。想在廣東舒服度暑，不妨在自家廚房中好好炮制以上幾道祛濕美食吧！

ANTI-DAMPNESS CANTONESE DIET

Text by Ma Yanling Translation by Leo