On Thanksgiving, Digestive Health & Candied Orange Peel

Many of us today, late in November, are celebrating Thanksgiving.

Putting aside the debate about the “First Thanksgiving,” (and the long bloody history between the European settlers and Native Americans), days of thanks and prayer do have a long history in Great Britain, far pre-dating the European settlement in North America.

Since pagan times, the British have observed festivals marking a successful harvest, which usually (and logically) took place in late September or early October. These were marked by praying, singing hymns and psalms, decorating, merriment, and feasting. 

In parallel, harvest celebrations around the autumn full moon have been a part of Chinese culture for thousands of years. These are similarly marked by gathering; feasting; praying; making offerings of wine, tea, and sweets to the ancestors; and giving thanks for the bounty.

Although in this context, placing our Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November feels a little late... 

...it is none the less the time of year our homogenous culture celebrates the closest thing to a harvest festival we’ve got.

For many of us, Thanksgiving is the way we symbolize gathering, storing, sharing, feasting, and celebrating as we recognize the end of the growing season and enter into the long dark winter.

And, keeping true to the balance between yin and yang, there must always be a dot of each within the other.

Whereas feasting, storage, and gathering all exhibit the energy of yin – of winter, stillness, darkness and rest – we need the balance of a small amount of yang energy to remain healthy.

In Chinese Medicine, chén pí, or citrus peel, is acrid (dispersing, moving, opening, clearing) and warm (engendering of comfort and life). it is predominantly yang in its nature.

The Chinese Medicine materia medica, the Shennong Bencao Jing, states:

陳皮…利水粒…

chén pí… lì shuǐ lì…

利 can be translated in a few ways – here, as a verb, it means to smooth; to make favorable; to benefit.

水粒 directly translate to water and grain, and should be taken to mean food – what is taken in, transformed and transported by our the digestive organs.

Thus, chén pí is used to treat what we modernly refer to as food stagnation – which is exactly what it sounds like!

It’s that feeling you get when you ate something and it just ain’t movin’.

We've all been there. You're bloated, lethargic, and a little nauseous.

So, in light of Thanksgiving – gathering, feasting, maybe eating a little too much turkey or drinking a little too much wine – I present to you a favorite after dinner sweet that can be used medicinally following a big meal.

These candied chén pí are incredibly simple to make; call for only two ingredients that you can find at the grocery store; and are a delicious post-Thanksgiving digestive aid.

Candied Orange Peel (Chén Pí )

Ingredients:

3 navel or Valencia oranges

1 1/2 cups cane sugar

3/4 cup water

Directions:

1. Rinse the oranges.

2. Cut the top and bottom off each orange.

3. Score the orange skin ~ every 2 inches and carefully peel it away. Cut the skin into strips about 1/4 inch wide.

4. Place the skin in a large saucepan and cover with cold water.

5. Bring the saucepan to a boil. Drain the water and repeat this step twice more.

6. In another small saucepan, add the sugar and 3/4 cup water, and bring to a simmer for 8 – 9 minutes.

7. Add the peel to the small saucepan and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Do not stir, my friend! Be patient.

8. Drain any remaining syrup (should only be 1 – 2 tsp).

9. Spread the peels out on a drying rack & let dry 4 – 5 hours.

Enjoy! These keep up to three months in an airtight container.

Until next time,

Arista