Thanksgiving Hawthorn & Cranberry Sauce – Joseph DeStefano Licensed Acupuncturist

A delicious cranberry sauce with a great twist on the old Thanksgiving favorite from Laura Stropes, LAc and our friends at Mayway Herbs.

Shan Zha/Hawthorn Berry blends well with cranberries both in color and in taste, and is a great addition to prevent potential food stagnation arising from the heavy meal. According to our medicine, when we temporarily over-tax our digestive system with high quantities of dense, fatty, greasy, processed foods and alcohol, we shock our bodies and run the risk of developing what we refer to in Chinese medicine as food stagnation. It’s like when you force too much food into the garbage disposal and it stalls. If you keep adding more, it’s going to back up and you have no chance of getting the disposal to perform again until you fix the blockage. Shan Zha’s strong ability to resolve food stagnation will enable your guests to more easily digest the big Thanksgiving meal and be ready for dessert!

But don’t take our word for it – there’s science here! Animal and laboratory studies find that Shan Zha contain antioxidant flavenoids, including oligomeric procyandins (OPCs, also found in grapes) and quercetin. The University of Maryland Medical Center references several studies showing that hawthorn berries have been used medicinally as far back as the first century. And if you’re not so daring… you can always pick up some Po Chai Pills/Curing Pills the next time you see your herbalist. More on that later… now for that recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup dried hawthorn berries/Shan Zha/Crataegus fructus
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons grated orange rind

DIRECTIONS:

First wash and pit the hawthorn berries, soak in water for 10 minutes, then strain and discard water.
In the meantime, wash the cranberries.
Place the hawthorn berries in a saucepan with the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the cranberries, bring to a boiling point again, and simmer only until the cranberry skins pop – about 8 to 10 minutes, then take pot off the stove.
Add orange rind and allow to cool. Serve warm or chilled.

Makes 3 cups.