Confinement Recipe: Fenugreek with Ikan Haruan Soup

The Other Half is 50% Malay, and the Malay folks believe in consuming ikan haruan for "fast action surgical wound repair".

 

See http://goldenson-penang.blogspot.com/2010/03/ikan-haruan-aka-snakehead-fresh-water.html#!/2010/03/ikan-haruan-aka-snakehead-fresh-water.html

We also learnt during ante-natal classes that fenugreek, a herb widely used in Indian cooking, promotes breastmilk production.

This is a confinement soup recipe which serves to heal (protein from ikan haruan "magically" heals episiotomy stitches in my case) and increase breastmilk supply.

I am happy to share this recipe as it had worked wonders for me during my first confinement and I hope to enjoy this again after The Little Bean is delivered, insya Allah!

To bring to boil, then simmer for about 40 minutes/or if using a slow cooker to cook on high to boiling point then simmer on low for 2 hours: 

600g ikan haruan

2 tablespoons of fenugreek seeds

1 inch old ginger, crushed without skin on (omit if baby has jaundice)

about 1 litre of water, sufficient to cover ingredients

To flavour the soup before serving:

1 tablespoon sesame oil into the pot, stir well

dash of pepper, to taste

Serve hot as part of a meal.

So simple! My MIL who is Irish finds this easy to prepare, especially when using the slow cooker as the low setting allows her to multitask without burning the pot.

I prefer mine strained and skimmed, with just the soup to drink. Fenugreek does stink up the body and urine. Oh, the things we do for breastmilk supply to increase!

Tip: No salt added, as salt promotes water retention (fact, I followed) and rumoured to reduce breastmilk production (not sure if fact or myth, but I followed just in case it does reduce breastmilk production!).

Bon appetit!