Chinese Postpartum Confinement Porridge

5 from 3 votes

Chinese Postpartum Confinement Porridge

This Chinese postpartum confinement porridge, or yuè zi zhōu (月子粥) has 7 nourishing Chinese ingredients for the month after giving birth!

Prep Time1 15

Cook Time2 15

Total Time3 30

Course: Dessert abd Sweet Stuff

Cuisine: Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 86kcal

Author: Judy

Ingredients

1/4 cup millet (小米)
1/4 cup black rice (and/or black glutinous rice - 黑米/黑糯米)
1/4 cup raw skin-on peanuts (红衣花生)
1/4 cup red (adzuki) beans (红豆)
6-8 cups water (use less if you prefer a thick porridge, and more if you prefer a thin porridge)
12 Chinese red dates (AKA jujubes) (红枣)
8 dried longan fruits (optional)
2 slices ginger
2 tablespoons dried goji berries (枸杞)
Chinese brown/black sugar (红糖 - to taste, optional; we added 2 tablespoons)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Rinse the millet, black rice/black glutinous rice, peanuts, and red beans clean to wash away any dirt or dust. Transfer everything to a thick-bottomed soup pot along with 6-8 cups of water. Soak for 1-2 hours, or overnight.
After soaking, cut the red dates open and remove the pit in the middle. You can use your fingers, or cut around the pit with a paring knife. Add the dates, dried longan fruit (if using), and ginger.
Bring the porridge to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 1 hour. If the soup boils over, slightly angle the lid to release excess steam. Adjust the heat to ensure that the porridge is at a low and slow simmer. Avoid the temptation to stir the porridge, as the grains will stick to the bottom of the pot the more you stir it.
After one hour, turn off the heat, and leave the porridge on the stove for 1 hour, letting it continue cooking in residual heat.
Add the goji berries and the Chinese brown sugar (if using). Bring to a boil, and cook until the porridge reaches the ideal thickness, which should take about 10-15 minutes. Serve hot!

Notes

Note: nutrition information is per serving and includes all ingredients in recipe except the optional sugar.

Nutrition

Chinese Postpartum Confinement Porridge by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/chinese-postpartum-confinement-porridge/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-75908":{"type":"food","name":"Chinese Postpartum Confinement Porridge","slug":"wprm-chinese-postpartum-confinement-porridge","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/chinese-confinement-soup-sweet-8.jpg","rating":{"count":3,"total":15,"average":5,"type":{"comment":3,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","name":"millet","notes":"(\u5c0f\u7c73)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"50","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"unit_id":5269,"id":3746,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"50","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":1,"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","name":"black rice","notes":"(and\/or black glutinous rice - \u9ed1\u7c73\/\u9ed1\u7cef\u7c73)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"50","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"unit_id":5269,"id":4689,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"50","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","name":"raw skin-on peanuts","notes":"(\u7ea2\u8863\u82b1\u751f)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"35","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"unit_id":5269,"id":5705,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"35","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","name":"red (adzuki) beans","notes":"(\u7ea2\u8c46)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"50","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"unit_id":5269,"id":5706,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1\/4","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"50","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"6-8","unit":"cups","name":"water","notes":"(use less if you prefer a thick porridge, and more if you prefer a thin porridge) ","converted":{"2":{"amount":"1400-1800","unit":"ml","unit_id":5271}},"unit_id":5265,"id":332,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"6-8","unit":"cups","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"6-8","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"1400-1800","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"12","unit":"","name":"Chinese red dates (AKA jujubes)","notes":"(\u7ea2\u67a3)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"id":5707,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"12","unit":"","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"12","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"8","unit":"","name":"dried longan fruits","notes":"(optional)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"id":5708,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"8","unit":"","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"8","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":7,"amount":"2","unit":"slices","name":"ginger","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"unit_id":5260,"id":456,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"slices","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"slices","unitParsed":"slices"}}},{"uid":8,"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"dried goji berries","notes":"(\u67b8\u675e)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"12","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"unit_id":5259,"id":2195,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"12","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":9,"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Chinese brown\/black sugar","notes":"(\u7ea2\u7cd6 - to taste, optional; we added 2 tablespoons)","id":5709,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"","unit":"","timestamp":1774172835000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}}],"originalServings":"8","originalServingsParsed":8,"currentServings":"8","currentServingsParsed":8,"currentServingsFormatted":"8","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1,2],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}