In America, many people think of the U.S. Government’s food pyramid when the topic of balanced diet comes up. In the East, balancing a meal means taking into consideration Yin, Yang, and chi, remembering that food can nourish mind, body, and spirit.
The concept of balance is particularly important in Chinese culture because of the influence of the Yin-Yang philosophy. Yin “in the shade” and Yang “in the sunlight” elements occur in all things, from people to places to foods. Yin represents dark, cool, retiring, and feminine elements; while Yang represents activity, heat, light, and masculine elements. Keeping these forces in balance is part of life’s struggle. Otherwise, if Yang got the upper hand in a person, for example, he’d experience fever or hyperactivity. Too much Yin in a person would lead to weakness, tiredness, and chills.
Balancing Yin and Yang in foods is about avoiding extremes. In the West, most people could tell you that a diet of steak with no fruit or vegetables is bad. They might say that a steak diet doesn’t supply complete nutrition. An Eastern chef might tell you that steak alone is an all-Yang diet, and that’s no good. In short, whether you’re eating in the West or East, imbalance is not healthy. Too many Yang foods in someone’s diet—eggs, poultry, meat—would be as bad as too many Yin foods—fruits, dairy, sugar, alcohol, or coffee. Fans of grains will be happy to note that grains are considered one of the most balanced foods according to this philosophy. As both seed and fruit, grains symbolize the entire life cycle of the food.
Even the manner in which a person chooses to cook food can affect its Yin-Yang
qualities. Pressure cooking makes a food more Yang; microwaving is very Yin.
Stir Frying is one of the most balanced ways to
cook, which brings us to the topic of chi in cooking.
However important balance is to a good, healthy meal, proper flow of chi is also very important during its preparation. To avoid transferring negative energies to a food, and subsequently the person eating it, the best place to cook is in a kitchen with good flowing chi. Proper placement of the oven, no low rafters, and the position of the chef cooking the meal will all influence the energy going into the meal. The attitude of the chef is important, too. If he’s had a bad day, he could transfer those negative energies into the food. Or he may just burn it since he’s riled about something: either way, you probably don’t want to eat it.
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