5 elements kitchen - method cooking in a circle
Cooking in circles is a cooking method that I first heard about from Barbara Temelie and Beatrice Trebuth in 1993.
This way of preparing dishes involves processing the individual ingredients in the order of the nutritional cycle of the 5 elements. It doesn't matter which element you start with.
The ingredients are sorted according to their elemental affiliation and added to the cooking pot step by step in the circle of the elements wood, fire, earth, metal and water. In this way, the dishes have a high energetic effect and always taste delicious and are easily digestible.
If you have forgotten a spice, you can go back one element, e.g. from water to metal, and then continue with water again. An element should not be left out, there is always a spice or ingredient that represents the element.
The organs / functional circuits assigned to an element, in which (element) you end the cooking process, receive the most Qi. For example, if you want to strengthen the functional circuit of the kidneys (meridian), you add the last ingredient to the pot in the water element. This particularly strengthens the water element.
Let's take a closer look at the cooking method. How is cooking done in the circle of the elements?
A hot pot represents the fire element. If fat is added, we are in the earth element. Raw onions belong to the metal element. If they are fried, they lose their pungent taste and become sweet, so we return to the earth element. This is why another metal element is added, followed by a water element, e.g. cold water. (Attention, if you add hot water to the dish, this is a fire element.) After water comes wood, such as a splash of lemon juice. The next ingredient comes from the fire element. You can repeat the cycle as often as necessary for the respective dish. If you end the cooking process here in the fire element, for example, this dish strengthens the fire element and therefore the heart, small intestine and triple warmer meridians.
There are those who say that the order in which the ingredients are added does not matter, but that it is only important that the dish has components from all 5 elements and is thermally adapted to the respective season. I think everyone can simply try it out and decide for themselves what tastes and strengthens best.
But let's also take a look at what the old masters have to say about this...Â
"When the 5 flavors are in a state of generating and overcoming each other, it is said to be a system without disturbance. The harmony of the body stores and body palaces is balanced and equalized by the 5 tastes. If the 5 phases of change are harmonious and the 5 flavors are regulated, then the disorder of a disease cannot occur." Source: Ren Tieqiao
Enjoy your meal!
ASSIGNMENT ELEMENT - FUNCTIONAL CIRCUIT
Wood - Gallbladder and liver meridians
Fire - Meridians of the heart and small intestine and the triple warmer
Earth - Stomach and spleen-pancreas meridians
Metal - Large intestine and lung meridians
Water - Bladder and kidney meridians
ASSIGNMENT OF ELEMENT - FLAVOR
Wood - sour
Fire - bitter
Earth - sweet
Metal - hot
Water - Salty
INGREDIENTS LIST
To be able to cook the dishes successfully in a circle, you need an overview of the ingredients and their elements.
An overview of ingredients, arranged according to the 5 elements and the thermal effect (hot, warm, neutral, fresh and cold), is available to download here in the Community area.
Or you can simply use the Alimatrix. Sort food by the 5 elements with one click and quickly find the right ingredients for your recipe.
With this in mind... good luck with your round cooking.
