SOUP RECIPES

More recipes to enhance milk production on next page!!!

Caution : These recommendations are from mothers who had tried and tested the food/drinks. Remember that these are for nursing mother. Pregnant mothers are advised not to consume these recommendations as some may not be suitable for your pregnancy.

I have several hobbies - cooking, reading and making webpages are a few of them. Top that with my current craze of milk expressing obsession, I came out with this page. First, lemme introduce you to two very important guys who helped me made this page. One is my 'food photographer wannabe', my eldest son, Jeff (13 yrs old) who helped me to take all the digital photographs. The other one is the milk guzzler, baby Matthew (3 months) who is on total EBM (most of the days, anyway) since birth and I hope to carry on till he is over 6 months. Shown here is a photo of them. Of course, in between the two of them, there are 3 other sons whom I loved very much, i.e. Michael, David and Vincent.

The secret to having a lot of milk is to diligently make sure that you drink plenty of liquids (not just plain water) in the form of soups, healthy drinks like Milo, Horlicks, milk, herbal teas, dates tea. Each day, I also drink endless mugs of Japanese green tea or chamomile tea diffuse from just one tea bag. Each woman must attempt to nurse their baby but when circumstances do not permit, expressing works very well too.

This is the raw ingredients for fenugreek fish soup. Seen here is serai, ginger, ikan bilis, ikan senangin and fenugreek or biji halba. My ingredients are just in agak-agak measurement.2 stalks serai - bruised, a handful ikan bilis, a big chunk of ginger- bruised, 2 tablespoons fenugreek (biji halba, buy from sundry shops or in condiment section in supermarkets), 2 litre water. Boil for 45mins to 1 hr and add in either fish or chicken slices to cook. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This is the traditional Chinese (Cantonese) recipe that every new mom has to eat during confinement. The sweetened vinegar is guaranteed to bring on the milk. Not sure how it works but it really works for me! I have modified the recipe using beef tendons. Seen here (click on the photo for a bigger picture) is the sweetened vinegar from China (cost only RM2.50 per bottle and the mandatory sesame oil/minyak lenga that our moms/moms-in-law forced us Chinese moms to use in our cooking during confinement). 1 bottle of sweetened vinegar, 2 tablespoon of sesame oil, 500 gms beef tendons, 6 dried chillies, large piece of ginger - bruised, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, 50 gms of black fungus( large and thick variety). 

Heat sesame oil, stir fry ginger, add all the rest of the ingredients and simmer in slow cooker for at least 4 hours. Note that I do not add water nor salt. This dish taste best kept overnight. In place of beef tendons, use gluten balls (sold in supermarket cold section, looking like playdough) A healthier vegetarian food alternative.

A few of our Malay and Indian members said that white radish/lobak putih is one of the vegetable their old folks recommend for an increase in milk quantity. Here is one Chinese recipe for white radish soup. Shown in the picture is the radish, some red dates and dried cuttlefish. Here's the complete recipe:1 white radish about 500 gm, half *cuttlefish cut into small pieces, 8 red dates, some chicken bones for stock, a few pips garlic, white pepper and salt to taste. 2 liter water. Simmer in slow cooker overnight or for about 3-4 hours.

*According to the Cantonese, dried octopus (pat chow yee) is supposed to increase milk.

GREEN PAPAYA SOUP (no pic 'cos I am way past my confinement and can't bring myself to cook this soup again.) - Credit goes to Christina of Ipoh for sharing this recipe.1/2 green papaya (ask from your neighbour or get the greenest you can find from the grocer), 300gm garoupa fish tail, garlic, black peppercorns crushed, ginger crushed. Slow boil all the ingredients till the soup looks milky.

*Green papaya has sap which is used as a meat tenderiser. It has something to do with the enzyme. I know dentist normally give papase to reduce swelling after extraction. The papaya that I used normally are rather ripe and orangey. Never tried a totally green sappy papaya, so I won't dare to recommend to anyone.

SALTED FISH TOFU SOUP (This taste yummy and I can personally testify that it really increases milk.) Being from Penang, I can get hold of fresh mergui bones. Make sure that you get fresh looking salted fish bones.)3-4 pieces of salted fish bones, 2 pieces soft tofu (the white, square variety), some chicken bones, big piece of ginger crushed, several pips of garlic. 2 litre water. Pepper to taste. Cook the soup for about 1 hour. Taste good when left overnight.