Chili is a familiar spice, used in many dishes. Not only that, chili also has the effect of helping to prevent many diseases. Chili fruit, leaves and roots are all used as medicine.
Chili fruit and seeds contain many vitamins C, PP, carotene, protein, carbohydrates, Ca, P, Fe, capsaicin, capsanthin, capsicon… Studies show that the compounds capsaicin and capsanthin have the effect of preventing fat accumulation and reducing fat. According to Oriental medicine, chili fruit is spicy and hot; affects the heart and spleen. Chili leaves are sweet and bitter, and have a cold nature. They have the effect of warming the middle, dispelling cold, stimulating appetite, digesting food, and eliminating dampness. Used as a spice, appetizer, and digestive aid in cases of poor appetite, slow digestion, abdominal pain due to spleen and stomach deficiency, diarrhea, dysentery, rheumatism, muscle and bone pain, malaria, measles, and rubella. Chili leaves have the effect of clearing heat, detoxifying, antiseptic, diuretic, and delicious when cooked in soup. According to folk experience, chili roots have the effect of treating rheumatism. Daily dose: 1 – 4g dry, 10 – 60g fresh in food.
Some remedies and medicinal foods from chili peppers:
Treat chronic abdominal pain: 10g chili root, 10g lemon root, 10g Sichuan pepper root. Roast until golden brown and drink. Use for many days.
Treat eczema: 30g fresh chili leaves, 20g tamarind. Crush, apply to the painful area. Do this for 5 – 10 days.
Treat boils and carbuncles: 10 – 20g chili leaves, 10 – 20g custard apple leaves, 10 – 20g dandelion leaves, 10 – 20g purple perilla leaves, 10 – 20g apple leaves. Crush, add a little salt. Apply to the painful area.
Medicinal foods from chili peppers:
Stir-fried pork with bitter melon and green chili: 80 – 100g pork belly, 60g green chili, 1 bitter melon. Sliced pork, sliced green chili, sliced squash, add spices, a little brown sugar, stir-fry over high heat, eat hot. Good for people with fever, headache, dizziness, nausea in hot weather, working in forges, steel furnaces, sweating, thirsty.
Beef stir-fried with celery and red chili: 300g lean beef, 120g celery, 5g red chili, 5g fresh ginger, 1 egg. Sliced beef, celery, red chili, sliced ginger, stir-fry until cooked, add spices and crack eggs in, stir well. Good for people with tinnitus, headache, dizziness, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis.
Goat meat stewed with chili roots: chili roots (lap tieu can) 60g, goat meat 100 – 150g. Wash chili roots, chop into pieces, mix well with sliced goat meat; stew until cooked, add spices. Divide into 1 – 2 meals a day. For people with rheumatism and joint pain.
Fish soup with chili leaves: 200 – 400g snakehead fish, catfish or carp, 1 bunch of chili leaves (200 – 250 leaves). Clean the fish, wash the chili leaves, cook the soup, add spices, eat. Good for people with acne, urinary tract infections, edema.
Chili porridge: 20 – 50g chili, 80 – 100g rice, wash clean, cook porridge with chili; eat hot. Good for people with flu, fever, chills in autumn.
Ginger and chili sugar water: 10 – 15g fresh ripe red chili, 12 – 15g fresh ginger, enough sugar. Boil the water to drink. Good for people with poor digestion, stomachache due to cold.
Contraindications: Eye pain, yin deficiency and hyperactivity, acne, swelling and pus should be limited.
