YIN/YANG Placemat Collection
Traditional Chinese Medicine is interwoven with the principles of harmony and equipoise, using herbal ingredients to balance yin and yang within the body. The YIN/YANG Placemat collection derives inspiration from this ancient practice, while expanding on our original 2021 design based on Southeast Asian taxi seat covers.
Made with wooden beads resembling Chinese medicinal grains and fruit, our YIN/YANG placemats bring a natural sense of energy and serenity to the home. In the same spirit, we’ve included a TCM recipe with each placemat, so you can make a sweet and nourishing tonic at home.
Longan 龙眼
The Longan placemat is made with rich, nutty wooden beads. They remind us not only of how longans look, but how they taste. In TCM, longans are a warming food, and increase one’s vitality and concentration.
Recipe
Serves 2.
Snow fungus is a mild, nearly flavourless mushroom which you can buy dried, and which is thought to have anti-aging properties. After cooking, it should have a silky texture, which is associated with beautifying properties. It’s thought to be cooling, but this particular soup is a masterclass in balance, filled with both cooling and warming ingredients to nourish the body without taxing it. This recipe is already packed with nutrients, as you can see from its fairly long list of items. If you’d like additional benefits, you can also incorporate lily bulbs and ginger.
Ingredients:
- Dried peach gum, 10g
- Dried snow swallow, 10g
- Dried snow fungus, 25g
- Dried lotus seeds, 10g
- Dried longan, 10g
- Jujubes, 15g
- Dried goji berries, 5g
- Rock sugar
Steps:
- In 2 separate bowls, soak peach gum and snow swallow overnight until expanded and softened.
- Drain and remove any black impurities from peach gum and snow swallow.
- Cover snow fungus and lotus seeds with room temperature water and soak for 1 hour. Rinse and drain.
- Remove the tough, woody centre from any snow fungus pieces.
- Add snow fungus, lotus seeds, longan, and jujubes to a pot with 750ml of water.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and lower heat.
- Simmer for 1–2 hours, until the snow fungus is soft and slippery. It can be slightly springy, but it should not be crunchy.
- Once the snow fungus is cooked through, add rehydrated peach gum and snow swallow to pot. Continue to simmer for 15 mins.
- Add goji berries while the soup is still simmering. Simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Add and dissolve rock sugar to taste.
- Serve warm or chilled.
