The History of Chaga in Herbal Medicine

Chaga Mushroom Ancient and Vast History

Called the “Gift from God” or the “King of Herbs,” the Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) has been respected for thousands of years throughout Russia, Korea, Eastern and Northern Europe, Northern United States, North Carolina mountains and Canada.

Since the 16th century Chaga has been used in folk and botanical medicine throughout Eastern Europe. A birch fungus, Chaga grows on living trunks of mature birch trees in cold climates.

The name Chaga (pronounced “cha-ga”) originates from the Russian word for mushroom (czaga) which is derived from the word for fungus. In Norway Chaga (kreftkjuke’) translates to “cancer polypore” in reference to its fungal appearance and alleged medicinal properties. Continue reading “The History of Chaga in Herbal Medicine”

How to Make Kim Chi Jji Gae

There are many ways to prepare korea’s most popular side dish, kim chi. One of the more popular ways is to make Kim Chi Jji Gae. Kim Chi Jji Gae is basically a sort of soup; it has water and kim chi and some type of meat and tofu. It is enjoyed all around Korea and there exists almost no one who doesn’t know how to make it. Here is the classical way of preparing Kim Chi Jji Gae.

First you’ll need to get your ingredients. The ingredients are: kimchi, crushed garlic, salt and pepper, meat (usually done with pork but can substitute with spam), tofu, and water.

After you’re done getting the ingredients, it’s time to prepare all the food before you start cooking. Cut the kim chi, tofu, and pork (or spam) into bite size pieces. This is about it for preparations. Continue reading “How to Make Kim Chi Jji Gae”

How to Use Bamboo Salt

In the history of Oriental medicine, Korean has developed many kinds of excellent traditional medical treatments. Many natural ingredients has been utilized and transform into traditional medicine that can help in relief illness.

Bamboo was used by Korean as an important medical material. It has many different medical efficacy varies from its stub, roots, and leaves. About 1000 years ago, some Korean medicine doctors and monks started to make traditional medicine by inserting sea salt in a thick bamboo stub and baking them together with pine tree firewood. It was baked only twice or trice. They used it as special medicine for treatments and relief of certain sickness such as diarrhea. Finally they found out that it could have its complete medical efficacy if baked over 9 times repeatedly. And they also noticed that if it is completely melted, the toxic characteristic disappeared.

Now bamboo salt is well known as one of the most famous traditional medical treatments, not only in Korea, but also in many Asia countries. Many pharmaceutical scientists all around the world are researching on the special therapeutics like anti-cancer effect and anti-virus effect. It can be used for the following applications: Continue reading “How to Use Bamboo Salt”

Ginseng: A Healers Companion

Ginseng also known as Panax Ginseng is a fleshy root typically found in cooler climates, in the Northern hemisphere and is known to be native to Korea, China and North America. In Latin the word “Panax” means “cure all”. Panax ginsengs are adaptogenic herbs. “Adaptogens” is a generic word used to describe remedies which increase the resistance of organisms to a broad spectrum of physical, chemical and biologically harmful factors (stress, disease, fatigue).

The main active ingredient in Ginseng is ginsenosides (saponins). Ginsenosides are also found in the leaves and stalk of the ginseng plant but the fleshy root possess the greatest concentration of the same. Approximately 29 ginsenocides, have been found in the ginseng root. Ginseng also contains several steroid compounds, such as panaxtriol, which are remarkably similar to anabolic steroids found naturally in the human body. Siberian ginseng is from the same family but not a true ginseng, and its active compound is eleutherosides. Continue reading “Ginseng: A Healers Companion”

Amazing Grilled Pork Chop Recipes For Your Next Barbecue

Pork chops are inexpensive, readily available and extremely versatile. Bake, fry or grill them and you won’t go wrong. For your next grilling session, try these pork chop recipes – tasty, easy to make and perfect for guests of all ages!

Soy Yummy Honey Grilled Chops

What you need:

8 boneless pork chops
1/4 cup organic honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Continue reading “Amazing Grilled Pork Chop Recipes For Your Next Barbecue”

Make a Simple Diet Interesting Through Healthy Recipes

Meal preparation is a bit exciting, cool and mind blowing chore. But there’s nothing compared to knowing what recipe captures dieters’ taste, consequently giving them shocking drop in weight. There are various diet and recipe available everywhere, one could find through patient and resourceful searching.

Lots of healthy and weight losing recipes everywhere and to reach the needs of most dieters, here are some flavorful, savory and mouth-watering recipes.

Kimchi Diet and Recipe

Kimchi is a famous Korean dish which is often referred to fermented Napa cabbage stuffed with various spices and pastes like garlic, red paste mixture, chili, and fish sauce and is stocked in a thick huge pot, fermented in the sun and is set aside for several months for savory result. Continue reading “Make a Simple Diet Interesting Through Healthy Recipes”

How to Make Yu Bu Cho Bap (Tofu Wrapped Rice Balls)

Yu Bu Cho Bap is a Korean form of rolls. The inside of the roll is rice mixed with seeds and other flakes for flavor. The outside of the yu bu cho bap is fried tofu. This dish is very popular in Korea because of its ease in preparation as well as in its ease of transportation. This is how you make Yu Bu Cho Bap.

Here is the list of ingredients. You are going to need simply rice and a package of yu bu cho bap wrapper. The package of yu bu cho bap can be found in all korean markets.

The next thing you need to do is to prepare the rice. Just prepare it like you have always done because there is no specific way that you have to do rice, unlike sushi. Continue reading “How to Make Yu Bu Cho Bap (Tofu Wrapped Rice Balls)”

Uses and Benefits of Probiotics

Probiotics live in the gastrointestinal tract and are called “friendly bacteria”, as opposed to “bad bacteria”. Probiotics are live microorganisms that can be taken as a food supplement. When taken as a health supplement, they are used to help restore the population of good bacteria in the intestinal tract. They are similar to what is found naturally in the gastrointestinal tract. There are different types of probiotics, and each one operates in a different capacity. Working together, they contribute to a person’s health and help prevent disease.

The purposes of friendly bacteria are many. They help digest, absorb, and metabolize food. They help eliminate toxins. They strengthen the immune system and thus help protect against microorganisms that could cause disease. There are actually around 400 kinds of probiotic bacteria in the human digestive tract. One well-known probiotic, Lactobacillus acidophilus, is found in live cultured yogurt. Sometimes people eat yogurt with the aim of increasing their intake of this probiotic. However, in order for this to be effective, it has to be a live culture yogurt. Pasteurization kills probiotics with heat. Continue reading “Uses and Benefits of Probiotics”

Boseong Spring Green Tea, a Korean Classic

A careful selection that results in an aromatic infusion

But it also has, of course, outstanding infusions. Such is the case of spring green tea, which stands out above the rest.

Did you know that excellent teas are also obtained in Korea? Well that’s the way it is, as in almost all of the Far East.

One of the most notable examples is the spring green tea, since all agree that it is a quite peculiar variety for its flavor and aroma.

How is it obtained?

It is a tea that is collected in the Boseong region and that has as a particularity that of being selected by hand and resulting in a high grade tea. As its name makes clear, its leaves are picked in the spring and are those that end up giving a completely characteristic infusion. Continue reading “Boseong Spring Green Tea, a Korean Classic”

The Historical Cultural And Culinary Delights Of South Korea

Nestled between the nations of China and Japan is the lesser-known country of South Korea. Although sometimes overlooked as a destination spot in the region, this area of Southeast Asia is a wonderful place to visit.

Founded in 1948 when it separated from its sister nation, North Korea, the Republic of Korea became a democratic state at the end of World War II. In 1950, the North invaded the South, causing the Korean War until the two sides signed an armistice in 1953. Both the North and the South have similar, long-standing traditions, but South Korea has become a modern, global economic leader that Western culture has heavily influenced over the last half-century.

South Korea is home to roughly 48 million people of whom about 12 million live in and around the capital and largest city of Seoul. The land area is 38,463 square miles, slightly larger than the state of Indiana. The climate of the region is very mild year-round and residents enjoy all four seasons. The landscape of Korea is mostly mountainous and covered with lush forests in the rural areas, but you can also find rice fields, the country?s staple crop, in many of the valleys. Continue reading “The Historical Cultural And Culinary Delights Of South Korea”