At Baihe Training Center, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Russian international student Khlybova Valeriia was taking a “health maintenance class on the tip of the tongue”, which also started a wonderful journey that was amazing to the taste buds.

A traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) expert took the pulse of the “patient”, observed her complexion and tongue, asked about her dietary habits and physical condition, then wrote down “Codonopsis pilosula, spare ribs, and Chinese wolfberry”. This is not an ordinary prescription, but a medicated diet prescription for replenishing qi and nourishing blood. “Medicated diet ingeniously combines food with traditional Chinese medicine, and nourishes people from body to mind. This is a unique embodiment of the Chinese people’s health-preserving culture.” Khlybova Valeriia said.

Before studying at Liaoning, Khlybova Valeriia studied nursing in Russia. With more and more nursing practice, she gradually realized that nursing work is not limited to the daily care of patients in hospital wards, but also about how to help patients maintain their health after discharge. Khlybova Valeriia learned by chance that medicated diet can fuse medicinal materials with food ingredients and make them into delicious food for body conditioning and disease prevention and treatment, which made her very excited. “If the medicated diet therapy is integrated into nursing work, it can provide patients with more personalized rehabilitation options.” To deeper understand the medicated diet culture, Khlybova Valeriia chose to study at Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

This immersive experience of medicated diet preparation made Khlybova Valeriia feel surprised and excited. In the medicinal kitchen, TCM experts explained to her patiently each medicinal material’s property, flavor, and efficacy, and how to reasonably match them. Khlybova Valeriia tried every procedure from selecting materials, cleaning and dispensing, to cooking. “Medicated diet is rich in content, including cooking methods such as stewing, braising, simmering, steaming, boiling, decocting, sauce stewing, and stir-frying. Medicated diet processed by these methods also varies in form, such as dishes, soups, stews, puddings, cakes, congee, pastes, tea, and wine.” Khlybova Valeriia said, “I want to master the cooking skills of medicated diet as soon as possible, and bring the valuable experience of TCM back to Russia.”

Codonopsis pilosula and spare ribs, baked pumpkins with lilies in a dry pot, tofu rolls wrapped in purple perilla, steamed flounder with gastrodia and ligusticum... When exquisite medicated diet cuisines finally finished, Khlybova Valeriia felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment. Khlybova Valeriia savored every medicinal meal, and exclaimed, “So delicious! I can’t taste the bitterness of medicinal materials at all”, and “It satisfies the taste buds and makes one healthy, eliminating the worries of ‘foodies’ who also pursue health” ...

“As an old Chinese saying goes, ‘diet cures more than medicine’.” Khlybova Valeriia said, “Medicated diet requires not eliminating Chinese medicinal ingredients’ medicinal properties during ‘frying, stir-frying, boiling, roasting and stewing’ (the making process), and the dishes shall be a perfect combination of color, aroma and flavor, and have no medicinal taste. The nourishment and conditioning brought by the wisdom of TCM bring people a healthy and balanced life!” At this moment, Khlybova Valeriia understands further “the homology of medicine and food” in TCM books.