How to avoid colds and the flu in 5 easy steps: Step 4

Step 4: Eat Soups and Congees

Aside from avoiding certain foods when you are just catching a cold, you can help your body by eating soup at mealtime. Eat brothy soups with vegetables and chicken. Chicken soup with rice is a good choice. So is miso soup with vegetables. The traditional food to eat in China when you've caught a cold is a rice soup called congee. Congee is a great comforting food that's easy to make.

Soup helps you in three ways. First, all the ingredients are well cooked and served hot—which aids your digestion. Second, when you cook soup, many nutrients that might otherwise get lost in the cooking process get captured by the broth. Third, if you're eating nutritious soups you're eating less of the foods that undermine your immune system.

How to Make Congee

For a quick version of congee simply cook rice in water and/or broth at a ratio of 5 (water/broth) to 1 (rice) at a low simmer as described below. Add things like cooked chicken or fish and chopped onion, ginger and garlic when ready to serve.

This delicious recipe is from Epicurious.com

Ingredients:
3 1/2 to 4-lb chicken, cut into serving pieces, including back and giblets (exclude liver)
10 cups water
3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or medium-dry sherry
3 (1/4-inch-thick) slices fresh ginger
3 scallions, halved crosswise and smashed with flat side of a heavy knife
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup long-grain rice
Accompaniment: fine julliene of fresh ginger, thinly sliced scallions, and Asian sesame oil

Preparation: Bring chicken and water to a boil in a 5-quart heavy pot, skimming froth. Add wine, ginger, scallions, and salt and cook at a bare simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes, or until breast meat is just cooked through. Transfer 1 breast half with tongs to a bowl and continue to cook stock at a bare simmer, skimming froth as necessary, 2 hours and 40 minutes. Meanwhile, cool chicken breast long enough to remove skin and bones, returning skin and bones to stock.

Cool breast meat completely and tear into shreds. Chill shreds, covered, and bring to room temperature before serving.

Pour stock through a large sieve into a large bowl and discard solids. (you should have about 8 cups: if less, add water; if more, cook longer after adding rice.) Return stock to cleaned pot and add rice. Bring to a boil and stir. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered until consistency of oatmeal, about 1 3/4 hours, stirring frequently during last 1/2 hour of cooking. (Congee will continue to thicken as it stands. thin with water if necessary.)

Season congee with salt. Serve topped with chicken and accompaniments.