Image by Ron Frazier via Flickr

Confinement is an important period for new moms to rest and recover from childbirth in Singapore. Across the different local communities in Singapore, they have different confinement do’s and don’ts but generally they all believe that there is ‘wind’ in the mother’s body after delivery hence the goal is to get rid of the ‘wind’ and also prevent more ‘wind’ from entering the body. The environment the mother is resting in plays a huge role, but so is the food they are going to eat! 

For young moms, when we think about confinement food, we would probably equate them with traditional chinese medicine herbs. Yucks. Bet they probably don’t conjur pleasant memories – think of the times when your mom forced you to drink some bitter herbal soup. However, confinement food are seriously not as bad as you thought! If you do not have confinement food delivery, check out these easy confinement food recipes that anyone can prepare! 

Here are the three confinement food recipes this article is going to cover: 

  1. Herbal Black Chicken Soup 
  2. Ginger Fried Rice
  3. Papaya Fish Soup
  4. Longan Red Date Tea [Bonus!]

Herbal Black Chicken Soup 

Herbal black chicken soup recipe is hassle-free and simple to make, packed with nutrients from all those traditional chinese medicine herbs such as dang gui, huai shan and more! 

Ingredients:

  1. Goji berries
  2. Dang Shen
  3. Dang Gui
  4. Bei Qi 
  5. Yu Zhu
  6. Huai Shan
  7. Red dates or jujube
  8. Black Chicken
  9. 1000ml of water
  10. Pinch of salt

Instructions: 

  1. Cut the black chicken into 4 parts or more. Trim away any fat. Give the black chicken and the chinese herbs a quick rinse and set aside to drain. 
  2. Parboil the black chicken with boiling water and remove.
  3. Pour 1000ml of water into a pot and bring it to boil. After boiling, place the black chicken and the Chinese herbs into the pot. Let it simmer on low heat for 1-2hours. 
  4. Lastly, add a pinch of salt for seasoning before serving. 
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Papaya Fish Soup 

Papaya Fish Soup is arguably one of the most well-known confinement soups for increasing lactation. Boost your milk production by opting for green papaya if you can!  

Ingredients

  1. 1 fish head [carp, snakehead sea bream, pomfret, kurau or threadfin]
  2. 1 large green papaya
  3. 6 pieces of dried scallops
  4. 6 red dates
  5. 2 slices of ginger
  6. 1.5L of water
  7. Salt
  8. Oil 

Instructions: 

  1. Clean the fish and season it with salt both inside and out. Leave it for an hour and drain off excess water. 
  2. Remove the skin of the papaya and cut them into cubes. 
  3. Boil 1.5L of water, adding dried red dates and dried scallops in. 
  4. Using a pan, fry the ginger and fish with oil on low-medium heat until the skin of the fish turn slightly brown. 
  5. Add the fish into the soup along with papaya and ginger. 
  6. Let it simmer for four to eight hours before serving. If you’re using normal papaya, simmer for a while to prevent the papaya from disintegrating.

Ginger Fried Rice

Ginger fried rice are relatively easy to make and they are a favourite confinement food recipe as ginger is good for getting rid of the excess ‘wind’ in your body after childbirth. Modify the dish by throwing in your favourite dark, leafy greens! Dark, leafy greens are good for breastfeeding as they are rich in vitamins and iron. 

Ingredients

  1. 11/2 tbsp sesame oil 
  2. Ginger
  3. 2 eggs
  4. Rice
  5. Light soya sauce
  6. Spinach [or other dark leafy greens of your choice]
  7. Spring onions
  8. Coriander leaves 

Instructions: 

  1. Heat up the pan and add sesame oil and ginger. When the oil starts sizzling, pour beaten eggs in. 
  2. When the eggs are almost cooked, add rice to the pan and stir well. 
  3. Add in light soya sauce and stir well. 
  4. Add in the leafy greens of your choice.
  5. Garnish the dish with spring onion and coriander leaves.
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Longan Red Date Tea

Although Longan Red Date Tea is not a meal, we’ve decided to add it in so that you can have it with your meals! They are sweet and refreshing – a good replacement to your normal canned drinks and bubble teas during your confinement period. But most importantly, they aid in increasing milk production for breastfeeding moms! 

Ingredients

  1. Red Dates
  2. Longan fruits
  3. Wolfberries or Goji berries
  4. 1L of water
  5. Brown sugar

Instructions: 

  1. Boil the water in a pot. 
  2. Soak the red dates, longan and wolfberries in another pot of water. Drain them and repeat. 
  3. When the water is boiling, add the red dates, longan and wolfberries in. Boil for 20 minutes using medium heat. 
  4. Add brown sugar according to your liking. 
  5. Stir to make sure that the brown sugar has melted. Turn off the heat. 
  6. Using a strainer, remove the ingredients and the tea is ready to be served.