Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan for 1½ years, where he met a wonderful woman with whom he shares joys and sorrows. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers and writes about medical facts.
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Dear Martin,
I have a question about my wife. She lost her mother a few months ago. She's having a really hard time with it. She has lost several kilos. The doctors say she needs to heal herself, of course that's right. But she also needs to do something about that weight loss. She has the necessary vitamins, which were prescribed, and takes them punctually. But I would also like to give her some more 'powerful' food.
A pigeon broth used to be said in Belgium: it strengthens. But when I see the size of those birds here (Isaan) there will, in my humble opinion, not be too much 'recovering'.
What can you advise her to eat here in Thailand?
Thanks in advance!
Regards,
J.
˜˜˜˜˜
Bouillon in glass jars can be bought from the refrigerator everywhere.
Quite pricey in my opinion.
I've never used it myself, so I can't say anything useful about it.
What my wife really likes is when I make chicken soup. Buy a soup chicken at the market and make a broth from it together with onion, carrot, garlic and some salt and pepper. Pick the chicken when the meat is tender and keep aside. Sift broth, and if necessary. add some thickening and/or chicken stock cube. Finely chop the large onion, cut some galangal into slices, coarsely chop 5-10 red peppers, finely chop the coriander leaves, if necessary. Add another vegetable (leek leaves, finely chopped spring onions, some mushrooms), let it steep for 10/15 minutes, add chicken meat in cubes, all together a well-filled, rich soup.
My wife eats it with rice, the neighbors often queue too. Thai chicken soup the Dutch way!
Recipe: making rich beef stock that extracts all the nutrients from the bones.
Fill large pot with boneless beef bones and cover with water.
Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the warm water.
Slowly bring the water to a boil.
Then lower the heat and simmer for at least 6 hours, better for beef bones 48 hours or for chicken 24 hours to get all the nutrients from the bones.
Remove supernatant fat regularly.
Top up with water if necessary so that the bones remain submerged.
You can add more nutrients during the simmering, onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and if desired herbs such as parsley and provincial herbs, further enrichment with ginger and turmeric (curcuma).
Allow to cool gently to room temperature, then store sealed in the refrigerator.
Use within 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.
This stock is a very valuable basis for soup, e.g. vegetable soup, with or without rice, etc., suitable for strengthening.
Can also use chicken, can reduce the simmering time to 24 hours.
Success.
Nico B