Eel
Anguilla
Man Li Yu (TCM)
(Hortus sanitatis, 1491)
Image from Brennanohagan) (Wikimedia)
Zoological name:
Anguilla spp.
A. anguilla: (European eel)
A. japonica (Japanese Eel)
Parts used:
Freshwater Eel: Whole animal; Liver
Temperature & Taste:
Cool, Moist. Sweet
In TCM, some say Neutral, others Warm.
Western writers regarded them as very Cool and Moist.
Uses:
1. Strengthens Kidneys, Clears Deficient Heat (TCM, West):
-Weakness, wasting
-Impotence
-Tuberculosis (TCM)
-Postpartum tonic (Vietnam)
-“It warms the lower back and the knees, and helps the Yang (penis) to rise”. (Ben Cao Gang Mu)
-also regarded as strengthening Eyesight (it is rich in vitamin A)
2. Stops Bleeding (TCM, West):
-Leukorrhea with Blood; Flooding and Spotting
-Bleeding Hemorrhoids
3. Strengthens the Spleen (TCM):
-Indigestion
-malnutrition and exhaustion in children (Li Shi Zhen)
-“Eaten boiled with the five spices, it is very supplementing and boosting”. (Meng Shen)
4. Clears Wind-Damp (TCM):
-Bone and Joint pain from Wind-Damp
-painful, weak and swollen legs
-“blockage in the region of the lower back and kidneys because of Damp and Wind”. (Meng Shen)
5. Clears Toxin, Kills Worms (TCM):
-Dysentery
-Toxic Sores
-Malaria
-various poisons, including Herbal and Minerals
-Worms
-“All persons chronically suffering from Sores, Fistula, Scrofula … should eat it for an extended period of time”. (Meng Shen)
-“it controls all kinds of poison in herbal and mineral medication and prevents them from harming one”. (Zhang Ding)
6. Externally:
-Toxic Sores, Plague Sores (Fat in plasters, or Bones and Head ashes are applied)
-fumigation with dried Eel meat was said to kill mosquitoes, as well as all types of Worms and Bugs. (TCM)
-dried Eel skin was applied to Cramps (see below)
LIVER
1. Used to Promote Labor
-“the powder hastens the Birth, and facilitates the delivery of a woman in Labor, being drunk in wine … It is a specific in this case”. (Salmon, Seplasium)
2. Applied to the Eye for Cataracts and Opacities of the eyes (Liver or Eel Bile)
FAT
1. Applied to Toxic Sores, Plague Sores (West)
2. Fistulas, Hemorrhoids (TCM, West)
3. Leukoderma (TCM)
Dose:
Eel in Soup or Decoction: a whole medium Eel can be taken over the course of 2 days.
It is best cooked with the 5 Spices (Star Anise, Sichuan Pepper, Fennel seeds, Cinnamon or Cassia, and Clove).
Eel Liver in Powder: 1–2 scruples (1–3 grams) taken with wine to promote and enhance Labor.
Preparation:
1. Eel flesh: Remove the bowels and dry in the sun, or a low oven. They were often salted to dry and preserve.
2. Eel fat: often recommended to be collected as the drippings that fall during the roasting of Eels.
Comment:
1. In China, Eels were looked at as having a similar nature to Snakes, both being very important against Wind, as well as Worms, Toxins and Poisons. The Chinese also know Eel as “Water Ginseng”, on account of its potent strengthening effect.
2. Interestingly, in the West Eels were forbidden for use in Damp diseases, Wirtzung says “especially Eels be hurtful for the Gout [Arthritis]”. And yet, Chinese texts recommend Eel for Wind-Damp joint pain. Chinese recipes would often boil the Eel in wine making it less damp, and if cooked in Soup, it is typically stewed with the 5 spices. Perhaps we can explain it by noting that boiled Eel eaten is probably damp and hard of digestion, but prepared with wine, boiled with spices, or maybe roasting, could make them better tolerated.
Correctives:
The 5 Spices correct the meat when cooked with it
Main Combinations:
1. Emaciation and Steaming Bone Fever (deficiency Heat felt deep in the bones), clean 1kg of Eel, boil in wine until cooked. Add Salt and Vinegar and eat. (Sheng Hui)
2. To Promote Labor: “The liver and gall [bile] of an eel, likewise, being gradually dried and reduced to powder, and taken in the quantity of a filbert nut, in a glass of warm wine, cause a speedy and safe delivery”. (The Magic Wand, and Medical Guide, Yungs, 1881)
3. Postpartum tonic, braised Eel with Turmeric to restore strength and promote milk production. (Vietnam)
4. Ointment for the Plague: Eel boiled in water and collect the fat; likewise Chicken and Duck fat; add Sage, Rue, Wormwood, Ground Ivy, Mugwort, Hemlock, Henbane, Olibanum, Aloes, Myrrh, Gum Ammoniac (equal parts), make an ointment with wax. (Operum Hippocratis et Galeni, 1679)
5. Cataracts and Opacities of the eyes:
i. Eel Liver powder (1 dram), Sugar Candy fine powder (½ dram), White Vitriol (Zinc oxide) 10 grains. Make a fine powder and blow a little into the eye before bed each night. (Salmon, Seplasium)
6. Skin growing over the Eye, Pterygium:
i. Eel Bile (½ oz.), Ox Bile (2 drams), Juices of Fennel (4 oz.), of Celandine (3 oz.), of Rue and Mallow (2 oz. ea.); Aloe (1 scruple), Vitriol, Verdigris (1 scruple ea.), Ginger, Cinnamon (1 scruple ea.), Sugar Candy (2 scruples), Honey (½ oz.). Boil the juice, add the remaining in fine powder, clarify it, and form into a Collyrium. (Wirtzung)
7. Worms: burn the flesh, powder and take on an empty Stomach. A cure is achieved after 3 to 5 doses. (Ben Cao Gang Mu)
8. Cramps: “Pluck off an Eels skin, and let it be dressed [ie. prepared] like leather; when you be plagued with the cramp, then lay it upon ir, and when the skin is warm, then ceases the pain”. (Wirtzung)
Major Formulas:
Cautions:
1. Cool and Moist, so in the West they were to be avoided in weak digestion, Damp diseases (“Rheum”) such as Arthritis and Rheumatism and nervous diseases. This can be ameliorated by cooking with spices, such as the Chinese 5 spice powder.
2. “It does no great harm t0 healthy people, but does afflict ill people with all fevers, bad humors, and every illness”. (Hildegard)
3. Wirtzung said Eel should not be eaten by those with Tinnitus, Shaking Palsy (Parkinsonism), Arthritis, Back pain and Scoliosis etc.
CITES listing:
European Eel is regarded as critically endangered and is CITES listed.
Main Preparations used:
Eel Wine
Remove the internal organs from an Eel, cut into pieces, put into a pot with 500mls Millet (or other) wine (spirit). Cook covered over a low fire until the Eel is cooked. Used for deficiency and deficient Heat with low-grade Fever. Eat 100 grams of the Eel daily, adding a little vinegar.
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