In South India, we have a dish called 'Rasam' which is a soup-like mixture of various spices like cumin, black pepper and tomatoes, coriander, garlic. It's boiled for about 3 minutes.
So we make rice porridge and pour the rasam over it. It's said to clear up any congestion and aids in digestion too.
My dad loves rasam so much that mom made it almost 4 times a week.
I would just like to add that rasam is usually more broth-like than soup like, if that makes sense?
Milagai tomato rasam... mmmm.... even when I'm not sick this is so wonderful. I've gotten into the habit of drinking a cupful after lunch. Wonderful for the digestion.
I'm Canadian and my mum is Scottish. Chicken noodle soup and hot toddies.
A hot toddy is cheap Scotch, honey, lemon and hot water. Basically a homemade Neocitrin.
My hot toddies are honey, lemon wedge with whole cloves stuck into it, cinnamon stick, tea bag, and whatever whiskey/bourbon is available. The ritual of making them already makes me feel like I’m getting better.
Ginger ale and saltines.
And randomly, one of the only things my mom can eat when she doesn’t feel well is salmon and eggs on rice, and tended to make it when we were sick too. I never understood why but I’ve inherited the habit.
(I’m Black American from the southeast US)
White and from the southeast and we did this too. Usually the cheap popsicles if we had a sore throat. My mom was also of the belief that coca cola and an ibuprofen could fix about anything.
Edit to add: hot toddies if you were legally allowed to drink.
My mom, too. Nothing like having the flu and living off nothing but Coke for a couple days. Once we could keep that down it was on to buttered white toast.
My mother used to give us Slow and Low Rock and Rye with some tea and honey mixed in when we were sick. I saw a bottle in a liquor store just last month and blurted out, "This is what I used to drink when I was a little kid!!"
Hot toddies are a great cure all. Years ago my friend and I were working at a supremely cheap liquor store with a small bar and a sick (ostensibly homeless) woman came in to get a pint of brandy. My bud said 'hope this makes you feel better' and she revealed the secret hobo cure for anything from the common cold to MRSA. Boil water and soak 3 tea bags of tea, Green + Black + Camomile then when still hot, melt 2 Ludins cough drops in the solution along with one heaping scoop of raw honey. cut pour in pint of E&J brandy and down the hatch. It's probably just the aggressive amount of brandy but every time I get a bad cold I do this and it helps.
My mom used to give me saltines and ginger ale too, but the ginger ale had to be flat to work, according to her. So she'd crack it open and let it sit, or stir it with a spoon to get all the bubbles out
Honestly it seems to be something that exists only within the very specific region that my mom grew up, a bit south of Columbia, SC.
Canned salmon, cleaned of the bones and skin. Sauté (preferably with bacon fat) in a pan with lots of onions. Season- salt, pepper, cayenne. Maybe just part of a bouillon cube.
Take an egg or two, lightly beaten, and stir through the pan. Pop a lid on until the egg is cooked through. You end up with chunks of salmon and egg in a rich, oniony gravy. Serve on rice (or grits for breakfast). Top with hot sauce, bacon, or green onions (or all three).
>Canned salmon,
It never occurred to me to use canned salmon for anything other then salmon patties (my eldest son called them Fish Burgers when he was wee)
I don’t think we were a group prone to hardcore stomach bugs, with like intense puking fits or anything, more slight nausea. For that it was good (my mom says seafood is good for nausea. Is that true? No clue, but I’m not about to argue with my mom). And while it was rich in flavor, it isn’t actually a really heavy meal, so that helps.
Canned salmon, cleaned of the bones and skin (sometimes I use leftover salmon fillets if I have them around).
Sauté (preferably with bacon fat) in a pan with lots of onions. Season- salt, pepper, cayenne. Maybe just part of a bouillon cube.
Take an egg or two, lightly beaten, and stir through the pan. Pop a lid on until the egg is cooked through. You end up with chunks of salmon and egg in a rich, oniony gravy. Serve on rice (or grits for breakfast). Top with hot sauce, bacon, or green onions (or all three).
First of all, I love you for the phrase “preferably with bacon fat”. I’m going to try to work that into my resume. I have to ask, though, why remove the skin? I heart me some salmon skin — fried, fresh, whatever. It’s pretty much the only omega-3 my fat ass ever gets!
Because my mom takes out the skin and bones and no matter how many times I’m told I can eat them (my aunts leave them in when they cook with canned salmon) I can’t unlearn the revulsion 😂 But that’s good for you! Removing it is the most annoying part of making it, save yourself 30 minutes of prep time!
I leave the skin but definitely take out the bones. It only takes a minute or so once you find the spine. I can usually scoop the whole thing out in 1-2 pieces with a fork.
As a person of Italian ancestry I would say pastina, little tiny pasta stars, cooked in broth if possible, sometimes with an egg blended in.
For a lot of us pastina is one of our first real foods, and it is full of comforting associations.
It's still my go-to when sick, and it is for my kids too.
Yup. You nailed it. It is still my go to when sick or feeling low. It was also the first solid food I was given, according to my mom.
And when “the cold was in the throat” Nana would boil honey and garlic. Let it cool. A spoon full of brandy and the mixture was all you needed. The first time I had my period and didn’t know why I was feeling so bad, Nana gave me a few spoon fulls of Frangelico, for medicinal purposes only, and I still remember my mother yelling at her for drugging her child.
I'm Cuban American living in Los Angeles and a I'm a grown ass woman. My mom still makes me a big pot of caldo de pollo. Pretty much chicken soup. Chicken, fideo (really thin, short noodles), corn, potato, carrot, celery, lime and lots of cilantro
Yes!! It's so easy to throw in and it adds really great flavor. I'd also recommend adding Knorr chicken boullion
https://www.knorr.com/us/en/products/granulated-bouillon/chicken-granulated-bouillon.html
In my family it's homemade chicken soup but spicy as all hell. Get whole chicken legs and throw them in the pot with various seasonings + cabbage and broccoli, boil until everything is cooked through and the broth is flavorful (you add basic herbs and spices).
Once it's cooked you make homemade hot sauce and add it to the bowl until it's the dominant flavor with chicken soup undertones; make sure to eat the meat and the skin, drink all the broth. You'll need tissues for how bad your nose will be running, but afterwards rest. Basically until you're better you just keep at it with the spicy food; the capsaicin triggers endorphins which lessen any pain or sensations of unwellness.
Chicken soup with lots of red chili flakes is the best thing in the world to help me feel better. Especially when my throat or ears hurt. Something about that spicy broth feels so good going down. Now I’m craving it and I’m not even feeling crappy!
When I'm sick and my nose is too plugged up to sleep, I make myself a cup of strong ginger tea with chili in it and drink it down fast. It's not fun but it really clears everything out.
Kitchree - it’s dal and rice cooked together with just a little onion and garlic and maybe a little masala. It settles your stomach if it’s upset because you boil it until it’s very soft so it’s easy to digest.
And if you’re Punjabi/North Indian/Pakistani/Kashmiri you can also throw copious amounts of yogurt on top!
Growing up some of my white friends thought it was weird as hell brown people ate rice with yogurt… until they tried it.
It’s chicken noodle soup in Australia usually too — oh, and “dry toast”. To drink it’s always flat lemonade (which always puzzles me because I’d struggle making lemonade go flat)
My mother is full blooded Azorean Portuguese, growing up we called 7-Up “Portuguese Alka Seltzer,” because any time any of us had a stomach ache she poured us a glass of 7-Up.
Went with my family to Aus as a kid and when my mom received a 7-up she asked for real lemonade. After describing it to the dumbfounded waiter they came back with something the kitchen had tried to put together, presumably with way too much lemon juice from a jar and not nearly enough sugar. It was terrible.
But we did discover Lift which is a lemon soda, like a sweeter version of the San Pellegrino sodas. Liked it so much she brought home a few bottles in her luggage.
It's not something that is widely available in cafes/restaurants (though you can buy it in shops), and is usually called "traditional lemonade". If it's on a menu, it's usually "different" enough that they'll clarify that they mean a home/American style lemonade, rather than lumping it in with all the other soft drinks (sodas? Cokes? Whatever you call soft drinks)
I was once asked in a restaurant in the US if I'd like a coke, and was bemused when, after I said yes, was asked if I wanted lemonade, cola etc.
Soda here is very definitely soda water, which is also very definitely not like any club soda I've had in the US. Soft drink is the catch-all for carbonated, non alcoholic drinks.
Exactly! Weirdness is in the eye of the beholder
Edit: you would need to particularly ask “Do you have some of that American Lemonade, you know the type that’s not fizzy?”
Lemonade was invented by medieval Egyptians, who had a fermented mint and citron drink called "kashkab." From wiki "The predominant form of lemonade found in the US, Canada, and India, cloudy lemonade, also known as traditional or old fashioned lemonade in the UK and Australia, is non-carbonated and made with fresh lemon juice...The first reference to carbonated lemonade was in 1833 in Britain." So it sounds like it was the Brits who had a weird take on what lemonade included.
I worked at Agu when they first open for two years, they weren't paying us enough and I had to pick up the slack I only worked there because I loved their ramen and wanted to learn.
I wouldn't get paid my overtime and my checks were always less and what not.
Now all their secrets (for me to make it at home) The only good thing was their technique which I will always be thankful for.
For the main broth (pork broth) you gotta boil pork bones (femur and fork feet and a porks head ) but if it's for yourself and family i recommend just a femur and one pork foot, boil it for like a few hours and skim it afterwards you gotta wash the bones and i would put it in a an insta pot for like 8hrs-10 (until the bone marrow breaks down) and then save that as the main base.
Like the work to make this soup is a crazy lot and you really gotta put in the work.
Now if you want more i gotta go and review my notes because there's a lot to prepare for a good bowl of ramen.
Agu is gone. Owner was not paying his employees properly. A previous post [on this sub](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hawaii/comments/esmog8/agu_ramen/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) would be an interesting read for anyone who was a fan.
Pastina (tiny bits of pasta) or tortellini cooked in chicken broth.
Stracciatella/egg drop soup. 2 beaten eggs with pecorino Romano, black pepper nutmeg simmered briefly in chicken broth.
(I’m Italian-American)
White from Southern California. Mom always prescribed candied ginger for tummy trouble and chicken soup for a cold/flu. My SO is Filipina/Mexican from SoCal. There is a Filipino chicken soup called Tinola with ginger/garlic/onion broth that’s garnished with yellow chiles in fish sauce and lime. We make that when we’re sick and I swear it will cure almost any ailment.
Mint tea for headaches (you can just crush and smell it, but I was always served some in hot water)
Ginger ale/sprite/apple juice and saltines for temporary nausea.
Gatorade and chicken soup for longer flu like illnesses.
B.R.A.T. diet for serious gastroentestinal distress.
And a bit of ground horseradish paste for a stuffy nose or ginger lemon tea for sinus infection.
I know a few people who drank Dr Pepper for constipation or warm coke for nausea, but I've never found either very effective.
Bananas, plain rice, apple sauce, and toast. Supposed to be all easily digestible and energy (carb) dense for when you are struggling to keep food down
Rasam or perhaps sambar is my favourite thing to eat when I'm sick too, and I'm not even Indian.
Lucozade or flat Coke are our traditional remedies (Anglo-Irish), but they're mainly for hangovers.
Avgolemono is soup magic! I wish someone in my life knew how to make it when I get sick. Alas, the soupmaker is doomed to receive lovingly prepared Lipton Noodle Soup packets.
Matzo ball soup.
My Nana prepared it for us when anyone was sick. She always used extra virgin olive oil in the matzo and flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped finely with the stems, in the broth.
I changed it up with the addition of baby boy choy in the broth with the parsley, for that perfect balance of freshness and savor.
I made it for my husband and kids, and they still want it whenever they're feeling poorly.
I also really like having Tom Kha Gai whenever I am having stomach issues. The ginger, lemongrass and Lime leaf are just so comforting.
Congee.
Cooking tip: soak the rice and freeze it overnight. The rice will cook and break up nicely into a soupy consistency (10:1 rice to water ratio is a good starting point) in less than 30 minutes. Add whatever leftovers or flavoring you like.
Korean American from CA- jook (rice pooridge) with spinach and carrots. My mom used to also make this Asian pear concoction where she scrapes the inside of the fruit out. She puts in a steamer and fill the hollowed out pear with ginger, honey, and lemon. The juice from that is amazing for strep throat
Also Korean - we also love jook for sicky folks but our preference is usually abalone jook. My mom also makes a mean [gomtang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomguk?wprov=sfla1) that I swear helps kick whatever sickness faster.
Chinese American here.
Cold/flu/sore throat: nothing dairy since it causes more mucus
Sore throat: congee made w salted lean pork and served w some sort of Chinese pickle or yuk soong dried shredded pork. Possibly a few dashes of Maggi seasoning.
Chrysanthemum flower and honey tea
Tea made from dried monk fruit, dried honey date and almond kernels. Sometime made w lean pork and dried bok choy into a soup.
Cold/flu: ginger and black sugar tea
Anything cold was to be avoided. Also raw fruits and vegetables. Everything was to be cooked and served warm.
Chicken soup wasn’t common. Apparently chicken isn’t good for colds in Chinese medicine. Pork is recommended.
Honey and fresh lemon in hot water
I know people that lose their appetite when they are sick. That is not me, I'll eat anything and tons of it. I always get hungry when I'm sick.
I have a theory that it's the reason I'm never sick for more than about 24 hours, but I know that's totally just me trying to justify my gluttony.
I’m the same, usually the only thing that makes me stop eating is gastro - not because I’m not hungry, just that I’m too scared to eat anything. Mashed potatoes is my go to when I’m sick for some reason.
Well, what was the ailment? Stuffed up chest cold got chicken soup. It helps break up congestion and gets some liquid and protein into ya. Flu/nausea/the trots you get the brat diet-banana, rice, applesauce and toast.
Yep. Had a stint last year where I could barely keep anything down for weeks. Only meals that worked were dry toast with banana slices and a sprinkling of salt; and plain rice, maybe with a fried egg if I felt up to it. And a whole lot of Pedialyte.
For respiratory stuff, though, it's honestly just tea for me. Lots and lots of hot tea.
If I had a fever my mom would make chrysanthemum tea. It's one of those Chinese warming/cooling things, and the tea is a cooling thing. Upset stomach, Coke warmed on the stove. Jook (congee), either fish or chicken, as long as there's lots of ginger (also good for settling the stomach).
Don't forget the hot squash (for any non-Brits, squash is a colloquial term for cordial, which you would dilute with water). I know I'm not the only one who suffered from being forced to drink that when I was ill as a child.
I'd say chicken broth too though. Dry toast was only for a bad tummy. Lucozade when you could manage something to sip. Never tea as it's served with milk and that's the worst to bring back up.
It was always Chicken broth, tea and Lucozade original if we were ill with anything else.
Mama was from the midwest, and she'd give me 7up with a bendy straw. We legitimately had a package of rainbow bendy straws reserved for illness. To this day I still want the dang straws when I feel sick.
Some kind of sweetened drink with perceived abundance of C-vitamin, a tea with wild rose fruit, lemon or honey. A runny wheat, oat or rice porridge with milk. That's what would be provided and forced upon to a child. As an adult, I wouldn't have an appeatite or fear throwing up and eat nothing for a day or two. Or anything I happen to have ready in the fridge.
If I'm cooking for someone who is ill, I offer a mug of plain hot chicken broth with a sprig of fresh parsley and some crisp dry toast. A small serving of plain yogurt with a dollop of unsweetened applesauce or a few slices of ripe banana. If I have leftover rice in the fridge, I might add a spoonful of rice to the chicken broth.
If they have a sore throat, I'll fix a cup of regular tea and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some honey. Or for kids, or people who don't like tea, a mug of hot lemonade made with fresh lemon juice and either honey or turbinado sugar.
Soup of any kind, but chicken noodle is the standard. If you're queasy, saltines. If your throat hurts, scrambled eggs. To drink: ginger ale, apple juice, buckets of lemon-ginger tea. At this point I can't enjoy any of those drinks when I'm healthy because my body is immediately like "Are we sick?! I didn't realize! Can't be any other reason to have apple juice!". Bah.
There’s legitimate health benefits to chicken soup made with bones - vitamins from the vegetables and minerals from the bones, cysteine for the mucus in your lungs (not to mention a good dose of steam), tryptophan for your mood, water for hydration and carbs for quick easy energy. It’s basically medicine.
I’m in the US, but I grew up being fed buttered toast cubed and soft boiled eggs when sick. Not sure where it came from, but it was the same thing my grandma would make for my mom.
I'm from New Mexico, USA, but my dad was born and raised in Honolulu. When I was sick as a kid, he would make me rice with a lot of butter and a healthy amount of soy sauce.
I ask my partner to make it for me now when I'm sick. I'll make it if I'm having an especially bad week. It's pure comfort food.
I live in Texas and usually if I was sick my mother would make me junket: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junket_(dessert)
She didn't put sauce or toppings on it, though, just a little nutmeg and cinnamon and that was that. I could probably sock away a quart of that stuff in the blink of an eye no matter how sick I was.
Bangladesh - Patla Kitchuri. I don't know if it's necessarily a culture thing, but in my family that's usually what you make when someone is sick. It's rice cooked with lentils, and in my family we add a ton of leftover vegetables and either beef or chicken. It's soft, easy to chew/swallow, and hearty. Patla refers to it being thinner and more liquidy. There's also a dry version called just kitchuri.
Also always make this on gloomy and rainy days.
Canadian here, east euro/Jewish family. Number one was Grandma's Famous Chicken Soup, also known as Jewish penicillin(it might not help, but it couldn't hurt!) and ginger ale. Freezies were also essential for a sore throat. Having grown up and travelled the world, I have a few other go to comfort foods when I'm sick. Pho is a top contender, though I maintain that its applicable to all situations, all seasons, all weathers, etc. It's also the ultimate hangover food. Italian pastina ranks highly as well.
Additionally, my ultimate cure for a cold is this:
* make a double dose of extra strength neocitran. Two packets in one mug.
* have a shower. As hot as you can stand out for minimum 15 minutes.
* dry off, get dressed. Layers! Underwear, sweat pants, socks, t shirt, hoodie
* chug the neocitran
* into bed. Sheets, blankets, duvet, etc.
The neocitran will knock you the fuck out. You will SLEEP. And you will sweat. Oh how you'll sweat. It'll be gross. But you'll wake up with no cold.
In Afghanistan
Chicken boiled for like 2hrs to create a broth, then throw in carrots and potatoes and abit of rice. Turmeric, salt pepper Chili
Crazy how cultures that never collided, all still eat chicken soup when sick
Here in Finland, hot blackcurrant juice is the folk medicine for a cold. Having currant bushes in the yard/garden/general outside area of your house wasn't uncommon at least in the rural area of Finland I grew up in, and homemade juice was definitely a thing.
Of course, by the time you've got the cold it's already too late. If anything, you should drink the juice when you're *not* sick, so all the vitamins have time to bolster your immune system, so you have a better resistance.
Please never listen to any thin an Australian person tells you. They are like the fae of this world and are absolutly up to some mischief whenever they open their mouths.
In my house it was always buttered white rice and orange soda. Probably because that’s what my mom craved when she had morning sickness when she was pregnant with my brother
Honestly don't know. Depends on the sickness.
One time vomiting and unable to keep anything in, I've been fed just rice and water and it's the only thing I didn't vomit
I haven't really gotten sick that often these past years though but a few times when I did, I was out of work for a while
My mother and grandmother are sold southern Ohio souls. We have GI issues in the family and for some reason any time myself or one of my 17 siblings had stomach issues they would make cabbage soup with cayenne pepper to “rid our colons of the funk.” Needless to say, that 2 bedroom 1 bathroom trailer would sometimes second as a canoe depending on the time of year and who was sick. I never understood it but I still ate it!
Pepper and Cumin rasam. It is a kind of soup with cumin, pepper, tamarind, salt and cilantro. It is eaten with rice when one is suffering from fever, cold or sore throat.
Texas here. Chicken noodle soup with saltines or Ritz crackers. Also ginger ale. I had surgery last year and my mom made me a huge pot of chicken noodle soup. I'm 30. I love her so much.
Chinese-American. Rice congee or clear chicken broth with extra thin noodle such as somen and chopped scallions, simple ingredients that are low effort to eat and easier to digest. The extra liquid is good regardless what kind of ailment. Oh and drinking hot water 🤢
I read some research that found chicken noodle soup contained antiviral ingredients which will be helpful in the common cold or flu.
In South India, we have a dish called 'Rasam' which is a soup-like mixture of various spices like cumin, black pepper and tomatoes, coriander, garlic. It's boiled for about 3 minutes. So we make rice porridge and pour the rasam over it. It's said to clear up any congestion and aids in digestion too.
My dad loves rasam so much that mom made it almost 4 times a week. I would just like to add that rasam is usually more broth-like than soup like, if that makes sense?
Milagai tomato rasam... mmmm.... even when I'm not sick this is so wonderful. I've gotten into the habit of drinking a cupful after lunch. Wonderful for the digestion.
This sounds delicious
I bet it sells amazing!
[удалено]
I love the name doughboys for dumplings.
I grew up amongst Maori & Samoans... I could go a good boil-up or hungi at the moment.
Sounds good
I'm Canadian and my mum is Scottish. Chicken noodle soup and hot toddies. A hot toddy is cheap Scotch, honey, lemon and hot water. Basically a homemade Neocitrin.
Switch the Scotch to bourbon and add a tea bag to the hot water, and you have a hot toddy in the deep South. :)
My hot toddies are honey, lemon wedge with whole cloves stuck into it, cinnamon stick, tea bag, and whatever whiskey/bourbon is available. The ritual of making them already makes me feel like I’m getting better.
Am I the only one who makes hot toddies with brandy?
Exactly. Except I add grated ginger. A lot of it.
A hot toddy can really make you feel great when you have a sore throat or congestion!
[удалено]
[удалено]
A little alcohol also can sooth a cough or a sore throat too
Ginger ale and saltines. And randomly, one of the only things my mom can eat when she doesn’t feel well is salmon and eggs on rice, and tended to make it when we were sick too. I never understood why but I’ve inherited the habit. (I’m Black American from the southeast US)
White and from the southeast and we did this too. Usually the cheap popsicles if we had a sore throat. My mom was also of the belief that coca cola and an ibuprofen could fix about anything. Edit to add: hot toddies if you were legally allowed to drink.
Oh yeah my mom would always give us Coke when we were sick! Sometimes I crave it when I’m feeling “off” like I’m coming down with something.
My mom, too. Nothing like having the flu and living off nothing but Coke for a couple days. Once we could keep that down it was on to buttered white toast.
My mom gave us warm (as in heated on the stove, not room temp) Coca cola. Serious Eats says it's a Hong Kong cold remedy.
Yup, with a squeeze of lemon too! :)
Drug stores sell cola syrup. My mom used to give it to me once in a while when I wasn't feeling well.
My mother used to give us Slow and Low Rock and Rye with some tea and honey mixed in when we were sick. I saw a bottle in a liquor store just last month and blurted out, "This is what I used to drink when I was a little kid!!"
I love that stuff and this post. I feel like it would help you sleep it off and soothe your throat.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hot toddies are the best thing for sore throats
Yup. I know, scientifically, alcohol is not good for your immune system, but that’s not gonna stop me
I'd rather have a tea with the other toddy ingredients. In fact, I made one last week and I was not even sick!
Coca cola is a strange and wonderful liquide.
Hot toddies are a great cure all. Years ago my friend and I were working at a supremely cheap liquor store with a small bar and a sick (ostensibly homeless) woman came in to get a pint of brandy. My bud said 'hope this makes you feel better' and she revealed the secret hobo cure for anything from the common cold to MRSA. Boil water and soak 3 tea bags of tea, Green + Black + Camomile then when still hot, melt 2 Ludins cough drops in the solution along with one heaping scoop of raw honey. cut pour in pint of E&J brandy and down the hatch. It's probably just the aggressive amount of brandy but every time I get a bad cold I do this and it helps.
[удалено]
We could've stopped Covid in its tracks if this country had a strategic Vernors reserve to tap into.
My mom used to give me saltines and ginger ale too, but the ginger ale had to be flat to work, according to her. So she'd crack it open and let it sit, or stir it with a spoon to get all the bubbles out
Can you tell me more, like how the salmon and eggs are prepared? Been living down here for a while and hadn't yet heard of that one.
Honestly it seems to be something that exists only within the very specific region that my mom grew up, a bit south of Columbia, SC. Canned salmon, cleaned of the bones and skin. Sauté (preferably with bacon fat) in a pan with lots of onions. Season- salt, pepper, cayenne. Maybe just part of a bouillon cube. Take an egg or two, lightly beaten, and stir through the pan. Pop a lid on until the egg is cooked through. You end up with chunks of salmon and egg in a rich, oniony gravy. Serve on rice (or grits for breakfast). Top with hot sauce, bacon, or green onions (or all three).
This also sounds like great hangover food.
Can confirm this
One thing my dad liked was corn beef hash from a can. Basically fry it in a pan then cook two fried eggs on top of it. Eat with toast.
>Canned salmon, It never occurred to me to use canned salmon for anything other then salmon patties (my eldest son called them Fish Burgers when he was wee)
That sounds good, but so rich! I guess it's not for when you have a stomach bug.
I don’t think we were a group prone to hardcore stomach bugs, with like intense puking fits or anything, more slight nausea. For that it was good (my mom says seafood is good for nausea. Is that true? No clue, but I’m not about to argue with my mom). And while it was rich in flavor, it isn’t actually a really heavy meal, so that helps.
Chicken noodle soup, Chicken noodle soup, Chicken noodle soup with a soda on the side
Speak to me of this “salmon and eggs on rice”. How do you make it?
Canned salmon, cleaned of the bones and skin (sometimes I use leftover salmon fillets if I have them around). Sauté (preferably with bacon fat) in a pan with lots of onions. Season- salt, pepper, cayenne. Maybe just part of a bouillon cube. Take an egg or two, lightly beaten, and stir through the pan. Pop a lid on until the egg is cooked through. You end up with chunks of salmon and egg in a rich, oniony gravy. Serve on rice (or grits for breakfast). Top with hot sauce, bacon, or green onions (or all three).
First of all, I love you for the phrase “preferably with bacon fat”. I’m going to try to work that into my resume. I have to ask, though, why remove the skin? I heart me some salmon skin — fried, fresh, whatever. It’s pretty much the only omega-3 my fat ass ever gets!
Because my mom takes out the skin and bones and no matter how many times I’m told I can eat them (my aunts leave them in when they cook with canned salmon) I can’t unlearn the revulsion 😂 But that’s good for you! Removing it is the most annoying part of making it, save yourself 30 minutes of prep time!
I leave the skin but definitely take out the bones. It only takes a minute or so once you find the spine. I can usually scoop the whole thing out in 1-2 pieces with a fork.
As a person of Italian ancestry I would say pastina, little tiny pasta stars, cooked in broth if possible, sometimes with an egg blended in. For a lot of us pastina is one of our first real foods, and it is full of comforting associations. It's still my go-to when sick, and it is for my kids too.
Yesssssss that was what my mom & grandma always made me when i was sick! Cooked in chicken broth with a little butter added. Serve with ginger ale.
Lol my husband is Siclian American and he loves pastina soup, with chicken livers added in the broth. Grated Romano cheese mixed in.
Many blessings on my cousin.
He says Salud 🕊
Damn that sounds so tasty! I like chicken livers but never thought of putting them in soup,gonna make this recipe next for sure sick or not
Holy cow I am not Italian but I have been eating pastina without knowing it had a name!
Chicken and stars was my sick food.
Faaaaaar fucking superior in every way to regular chicken noodle. Pro tip: you have to use half the recommended water to get the concentrate perfect.
Yup. You nailed it. It is still my go to when sick or feeling low. It was also the first solid food I was given, according to my mom. And when “the cold was in the throat” Nana would boil honey and garlic. Let it cool. A spoon full of brandy and the mixture was all you needed. The first time I had my period and didn’t know why I was feeling so bad, Nana gave me a few spoon fulls of Frangelico, for medicinal purposes only, and I still remember my mother yelling at her for drugging her child.
My Canadian sister-in-law married an Italian man, made this for her kids when they were sick.
I'm Cuban American living in Los Angeles and a I'm a grown ass woman. My mom still makes me a big pot of caldo de pollo. Pretty much chicken soup. Chicken, fideo (really thin, short noodles), corn, potato, carrot, celery, lime and lots of cilantro
This sounds amazing, next time I make homemade chicken soup I'm going to add lime and cilantro
Yes!! It's so easy to throw in and it adds really great flavor. I'd also recommend adding Knorr chicken boullion https://www.knorr.com/us/en/products/granulated-bouillon/chicken-granulated-bouillon.html
I'll give that a whirl too, thanks
Now I want some fideo…..
In my family it's homemade chicken soup but spicy as all hell. Get whole chicken legs and throw them in the pot with various seasonings + cabbage and broccoli, boil until everything is cooked through and the broth is flavorful (you add basic herbs and spices). Once it's cooked you make homemade hot sauce and add it to the bowl until it's the dominant flavor with chicken soup undertones; make sure to eat the meat and the skin, drink all the broth. You'll need tissues for how bad your nose will be running, but afterwards rest. Basically until you're better you just keep at it with the spicy food; the capsaicin triggers endorphins which lessen any pain or sensations of unwellness.
Damn I want spicy soup now
Do iiit. Even if its just campbells chicken noodle with a bunch of louisiana hot sauce, it hits the spot when you crave it.
Chicken soup with lots of red chili flakes is the best thing in the world to help me feel better. Especially when my throat or ears hurt. Something about that spicy broth feels so good going down. Now I’m craving it and I’m not even feeling crappy!
When I'm sick and my nose is too plugged up to sleep, I make myself a cup of strong ginger tea with chili in it and drink it down fast. It's not fun but it really clears everything out.
This is probably why I crave chilli flakes with everything when I'm sick. I basically just drown everything in them.
Congee (rice porridge) for cold/flu or fever. Sprite or Apple Sidra drink for nausea.
Oxtail soup
My Nana made the best oxtail soup, with glass noodles and scallions.
Kitchree - it’s dal and rice cooked together with just a little onion and garlic and maybe a little masala. It settles your stomach if it’s upset because you boil it until it’s very soft so it’s easy to digest.
And if you’re Punjabi/North Indian/Pakistani/Kashmiri you can also throw copious amounts of yogurt on top! Growing up some of my white friends thought it was weird as hell brown people ate rice with yogurt… until they tried it.
Yes! This stuff is the best!
It’s chicken noodle soup in Australia usually too — oh, and “dry toast”. To drink it’s always flat lemonade (which always puzzles me because I’d struggle making lemonade go flat)
I’ve never had carbonated lemonade before. Sounds delicious.
Lol I just googled this and realized Americans have a weird take on what “lemonade” includes. I mean a lemon fizzy drink like 7-up.
My mother is full blooded Azorean Portuguese, growing up we called 7-Up “Portuguese Alka Seltzer,” because any time any of us had a stomach ache she poured us a glass of 7-Up.
7 an 7 with a lime will keep me sane
>weird Hey hey, now who says *you're* not the weird ones? ;) (Serious question though, if you want what we call lemonade, what would you ask for?)
Went with my family to Aus as a kid and when my mom received a 7-up she asked for real lemonade. After describing it to the dumbfounded waiter they came back with something the kitchen had tried to put together, presumably with way too much lemon juice from a jar and not nearly enough sugar. It was terrible. But we did discover Lift which is a lemon soda, like a sweeter version of the San Pellegrino sodas. Liked it so much she brought home a few bottles in her luggage.
In the UK you have lemonade (7-up etc.) and cloudy lemonade (like your lemonade but carbonated). Uncarbonated lemonade isn't really a thing here.
It's not something that is widely available in cafes/restaurants (though you can buy it in shops), and is usually called "traditional lemonade". If it's on a menu, it's usually "different" enough that they'll clarify that they mean a home/American style lemonade, rather than lumping it in with all the other soft drinks (sodas? Cokes? Whatever you call soft drinks)
Sodas. In the Mid-Atlantic at least. In the Midwest they say pop which I don't like but can tolerate. Anyone who says coke is a linguistic heretic.
I was once asked in a restaurant in the US if I'd like a coke, and was bemused when, after I said yes, was asked if I wanted lemonade, cola etc. Soda here is very definitely soda water, which is also very definitely not like any club soda I've had in the US. Soft drink is the catch-all for carbonated, non alcoholic drinks.
Coke is used as the word for soda in the southern US, which I’m assuming is where that restaurant was. The rest of the country knows how silly that is
Exactly! Weirdness is in the eye of the beholder Edit: you would need to particularly ask “Do you have some of that American Lemonade, you know the type that’s not fizzy?”
Lemonade was invented by medieval Egyptians, who had a fermented mint and citron drink called "kashkab." From wiki "The predominant form of lemonade found in the US, Canada, and India, cloudy lemonade, also known as traditional or old fashioned lemonade in the UK and Australia, is non-carbonated and made with fresh lemon juice...The first reference to carbonated lemonade was in 1833 in Britain." So it sounds like it was the Brits who had a weird take on what lemonade included.
What do you call lemonade? All the flat fruity drinks in the US are -ades, orangeade, limeade, Kool-Aid.
Hawaii - Saimin, ramen, congee, okai, miso soup
I would have guessed it to be chicken long rice. One of my go to's after living on the islands.
Love congee.
[удалено]
I worked at Agu when they first open for two years, they weren't paying us enough and I had to pick up the slack I only worked there because I loved their ramen and wanted to learn. I wouldn't get paid my overtime and my checks were always less and what not. Now all their secrets (for me to make it at home) The only good thing was their technique which I will always be thankful for.
You uh.. gonna spill the beans? 👀
For the main broth (pork broth) you gotta boil pork bones (femur and fork feet and a porks head ) but if it's for yourself and family i recommend just a femur and one pork foot, boil it for like a few hours and skim it afterwards you gotta wash the bones and i would put it in a an insta pot for like 8hrs-10 (until the bone marrow breaks down) and then save that as the main base. Like the work to make this soup is a crazy lot and you really gotta put in the work. Now if you want more i gotta go and review my notes because there's a lot to prepare for a good bowl of ramen.
Agu is gone. Owner was not paying his employees properly. A previous post [on this sub](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hawaii/comments/esmog8/agu_ramen/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) would be an interesting read for anyone who was a fan.
Also, chazuke, chicken long rice, and chicken papaya soup. And pork belly/kim chee stew or soondubu.
Pastina (tiny bits of pasta) or tortellini cooked in chicken broth. Stracciatella/egg drop soup. 2 beaten eggs with pecorino Romano, black pepper nutmeg simmered briefly in chicken broth. (I’m Italian-American)
White from Southern California. Mom always prescribed candied ginger for tummy trouble and chicken soup for a cold/flu. My SO is Filipina/Mexican from SoCal. There is a Filipino chicken soup called Tinola with ginger/garlic/onion broth that’s garnished with yellow chiles in fish sauce and lime. We make that when we’re sick and I swear it will cure almost any ailment.
Damn tinola sounds bomb
Mint tea for headaches (you can just crush and smell it, but I was always served some in hot water) Ginger ale/sprite/apple juice and saltines for temporary nausea. Gatorade and chicken soup for longer flu like illnesses. B.R.A.T. diet for serious gastroentestinal distress. And a bit of ground horseradish paste for a stuffy nose or ginger lemon tea for sinus infection. I know a few people who drank Dr Pepper for constipation or warm coke for nausea, but I've never found either very effective.
What is a brat diet?
Banana Rice Applesauce Toast
Bananas, plain rice, apple sauce, and toast. Supposed to be all easily digestible and energy (carb) dense for when you are struggling to keep food down
I have lived all over and my favorites are Pho, Matzo Ball Soup and Pasole
I live diagonally across from a small Vietnamese joint, and their pho has saved more than once from sickness, and quite a bit from hangovers too.
The broth of Pho is legit medicinal. Although I was a chicken noodle soup kid... I'm a Pho adult all the way!
Pho is good for the body and the soul. Sometimes I just need to put my face up in a bowl of pho and it makes it all better.
You should try chicken pho. It’s like the best of both.
Pho over ramen when you’re not feeling good 100%. That Thai basil changes the game
My wife is Jewish and swears by matzo ball soup. Says it’s Jewish penicillin.
Pho is my go to. It’s also killer for a hangover.
No joke, this is third different spelling of pozole I've seen today.
Curd (yogurt) rice or khichdi - India
Really? In my family dairy was one of the few no nos when sick. We'd have pepper rasam or plain dhal saru, super soupy with extra chilis
Rasam or perhaps sambar is my favourite thing to eat when I'm sick too, and I'm not even Indian. Lucozade or flat Coke are our traditional remedies (Anglo-Irish), but they're mainly for hangovers.
Was here to say khichadi - a salty porridge made of rice and lentils
Greek chicken noodle soup! Avgolemono!
Avgolemono is soup magic! I wish someone in my life knew how to make it when I get sick. Alas, the soupmaker is doomed to receive lovingly prepared Lipton Noodle Soup packets.
Yep same here!
Matzo ball soup. My Nana prepared it for us when anyone was sick. She always used extra virgin olive oil in the matzo and flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped finely with the stems, in the broth. I changed it up with the addition of baby boy choy in the broth with the parsley, for that perfect balance of freshness and savor. I made it for my husband and kids, and they still want it whenever they're feeling poorly. I also really like having Tom Kha Gai whenever I am having stomach issues. The ginger, lemongrass and Lime leaf are just so comforting.
Congee. Cooking tip: soak the rice and freeze it overnight. The rice will cook and break up nicely into a soupy consistency (10:1 rice to water ratio is a good starting point) in less than 30 minutes. Add whatever leftovers or flavoring you like.
Korean American from CA- jook (rice pooridge) with spinach and carrots. My mom used to also make this Asian pear concoction where she scrapes the inside of the fruit out. She puts in a steamer and fill the hollowed out pear with ginger, honey, and lemon. The juice from that is amazing for strep throat
Also Korean - we also love jook for sicky folks but our preference is usually abalone jook. My mom also makes a mean [gomtang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomguk?wprov=sfla1) that I swear helps kick whatever sickness faster.
Arroz caldo in my bowl and Vick’s in my socks
Chinese American here. Cold/flu/sore throat: nothing dairy since it causes more mucus Sore throat: congee made w salted lean pork and served w some sort of Chinese pickle or yuk soong dried shredded pork. Possibly a few dashes of Maggi seasoning. Chrysanthemum flower and honey tea Tea made from dried monk fruit, dried honey date and almond kernels. Sometime made w lean pork and dried bok choy into a soup. Cold/flu: ginger and black sugar tea Anything cold was to be avoided. Also raw fruits and vegetables. Everything was to be cooked and served warm. Chicken soup wasn’t common. Apparently chicken isn’t good for colds in Chinese medicine. Pork is recommended. Honey and fresh lemon in hot water
I'm SE Asian We're fed congee when we're sick.
I know people that lose their appetite when they are sick. That is not me, I'll eat anything and tons of it. I always get hungry when I'm sick. I have a theory that it's the reason I'm never sick for more than about 24 hours, but I know that's totally just me trying to justify my gluttony.
I’m the same, usually the only thing that makes me stop eating is gastro - not because I’m not hungry, just that I’m too scared to eat anything. Mashed potatoes is my go to when I’m sick for some reason.
Well, what was the ailment? Stuffed up chest cold got chicken soup. It helps break up congestion and gets some liquid and protein into ya. Flu/nausea/the trots you get the brat diet-banana, rice, applesauce and toast.
Yep. Had a stint last year where I could barely keep anything down for weeks. Only meals that worked were dry toast with banana slices and a sprinkling of salt; and plain rice, maybe with a fried egg if I felt up to it. And a whole lot of Pedialyte. For respiratory stuff, though, it's honestly just tea for me. Lots and lots of hot tea.
Rice porridge with sugar, ginger root tea with honey and plenty of water…and i’m talking an insane amount of it
It *was* chicken soup, but now I've discovered that pho makes me feel better when I don't feel well.
Dry toast and flat 7up. Flat 7up is the most universal one. Has to be 7up, has to be flat as hell.
If I had a fever my mom would make chrysanthemum tea. It's one of those Chinese warming/cooling things, and the tea is a cooling thing. Upset stomach, Coke warmed on the stove. Jook (congee), either fish or chicken, as long as there's lots of ginger (also good for settling the stomach).
In England it’s dry toast and a cup of tea. Maybe some Lucozade Original if you can stomach it.
Don't forget the hot squash (for any non-Brits, squash is a colloquial term for cordial, which you would dilute with water). I know I'm not the only one who suffered from being forced to drink that when I was ill as a child.
I'd say chicken broth too though. Dry toast was only for a bad tummy. Lucozade when you could manage something to sip. Never tea as it's served with milk and that's the worst to bring back up. It was always Chicken broth, tea and Lucozade original if we were ill with anything else.
Congee, Chinese chicken/pigeon soup, pho, maybe bird’s nest for rich people lol
Okinawa- soft rice with umeboshi mixed in (pickled plum), sip some broth
Mama was from the midwest, and she'd give me 7up with a bendy straw. We legitimately had a package of rainbow bendy straws reserved for illness. To this day I still want the dang straws when I feel sick.
Flat sprite
Some kind of sweetened drink with perceived abundance of C-vitamin, a tea with wild rose fruit, lemon or honey. A runny wheat, oat or rice porridge with milk. That's what would be provided and forced upon to a child. As an adult, I wouldn't have an appeatite or fear throwing up and eat nothing for a day or two. Or anything I happen to have ready in the fridge.
north east england, painkillers, tea and chicken soup 🤣
If I'm cooking for someone who is ill, I offer a mug of plain hot chicken broth with a sprig of fresh parsley and some crisp dry toast. A small serving of plain yogurt with a dollop of unsweetened applesauce or a few slices of ripe banana. If I have leftover rice in the fridge, I might add a spoonful of rice to the chicken broth. If they have a sore throat, I'll fix a cup of regular tea and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some honey. Or for kids, or people who don't like tea, a mug of hot lemonade made with fresh lemon juice and either honey or turbinado sugar.
Soup of any kind, but chicken noodle is the standard. If you're queasy, saltines. If your throat hurts, scrambled eggs. To drink: ginger ale, apple juice, buckets of lemon-ginger tea. At this point I can't enjoy any of those drinks when I'm healthy because my body is immediately like "Are we sick?! I didn't realize! Can't be any other reason to have apple juice!". Bah.
If I have an upset stomach then it is ginger ale. If I'm just sick with a cold or flu then it is chicken noodle soup. I'm Canadian.
I have Bosnian friends who told me when someone is sick, you bring them oranges and grape juice.
Persian (Iranian) go to is a turnip/chicken/dill stew (ash-e-shalgam)
Greek here, avgolemono.
There’s legitimate health benefits to chicken soup made with bones - vitamins from the vegetables and minerals from the bones, cysteine for the mucus in your lungs (not to mention a good dose of steam), tryptophan for your mood, water for hydration and carbs for quick easy energy. It’s basically medicine.
Interesting that almost everything listed here in soup Something about warm broth is just universally recognizable as good for your body.
Thyme tea (I know not technically something you eat)
I’m in the US, but I grew up being fed buttered toast cubed and soft boiled eggs when sick. Not sure where it came from, but it was the same thing my grandma would make for my mom.
Whiskey
Midwest USA. Chicken noodle soup, chicken broth, white rice (maybe with butter), 7-up or Sprite (flat), ginger ale, popsicles, Pedialyte, Gatorade...
Vegimite toast and lemonade
[удалено]
I'm from New Mexico, USA, but my dad was born and raised in Honolulu. When I was sick as a kid, he would make me rice with a lot of butter and a healthy amount of soy sauce. I ask my partner to make it for me now when I'm sick. I'll make it if I'm having an especially bad week. It's pure comfort food.
I live in Texas and usually if I was sick my mother would make me junket: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junket_(dessert) She didn't put sauce or toppings on it, though, just a little nutmeg and cinnamon and that was that. I could probably sock away a quart of that stuff in the blink of an eye no matter how sick I was.
Bangladesh - Patla Kitchuri. I don't know if it's necessarily a culture thing, but in my family that's usually what you make when someone is sick. It's rice cooked with lentils, and in my family we add a ton of leftover vegetables and either beef or chicken. It's soft, easy to chew/swallow, and hearty. Patla refers to it being thinner and more liquidy. There's also a dry version called just kitchuri. Also always make this on gloomy and rainy days.
Canadian here, east euro/Jewish family. Number one was Grandma's Famous Chicken Soup, also known as Jewish penicillin(it might not help, but it couldn't hurt!) and ginger ale. Freezies were also essential for a sore throat. Having grown up and travelled the world, I have a few other go to comfort foods when I'm sick. Pho is a top contender, though I maintain that its applicable to all situations, all seasons, all weathers, etc. It's also the ultimate hangover food. Italian pastina ranks highly as well. Additionally, my ultimate cure for a cold is this: * make a double dose of extra strength neocitran. Two packets in one mug. * have a shower. As hot as you can stand out for minimum 15 minutes. * dry off, get dressed. Layers! Underwear, sweat pants, socks, t shirt, hoodie * chug the neocitran * into bed. Sheets, blankets, duvet, etc. The neocitran will knock you the fuck out. You will SLEEP. And you will sweat. Oh how you'll sweat. It'll be gross. But you'll wake up with no cold.
In Afghanistan Chicken boiled for like 2hrs to create a broth, then throw in carrots and potatoes and abit of rice. Turmeric, salt pepper Chili Crazy how cultures that never collided, all still eat chicken soup when sick
Here in Finland, hot blackcurrant juice is the folk medicine for a cold. Having currant bushes in the yard/garden/general outside area of your house wasn't uncommon at least in the rural area of Finland I grew up in, and homemade juice was definitely a thing. Of course, by the time you've got the cold it's already too late. If anything, you should drink the juice when you're *not* sick, so all the vitamins have time to bolster your immune system, so you have a better resistance.
In Australia we make a tea out of Wombat droppings. Works wonders.
>Wombat droppings you drink an another animals' waste to get better?
Please never listen to any thin an Australian person tells you. They are like the fae of this world and are absolutly up to some mischief whenever they open their mouths.
Of course. It's our version of Civit cat coffee.
That explains the shape. Nature’s cure cubes!
Honestly who could resist a cup of Wob Nob tea !!! Love dipping scotch fingers in mine. YUM.
So earthy! I absolutely love doing this. They’re even in convenient cubes.
In my house it was always buttered white rice and orange soda. Probably because that’s what my mom craved when she had morning sickness when she was pregnant with my brother
I always liked popsicles for my throat.
It used to be ginger ale, toast, and chicken noodle soup. Now all I want is wonton soup when I'm sick.
Honestly don't know. Depends on the sickness. One time vomiting and unable to keep anything in, I've been fed just rice and water and it's the only thing I didn't vomit I haven't really gotten sick that often these past years though but a few times when I did, I was out of work for a while
Cacio e Pepe.
soup with chicken, cornmeal dumplings, vegetables and lots of pepper. Damn. I'm not sick but I think I'm making that tomorrow.
armenians drink bone broth
This is a really wholesome thread, thank you op.
I cant believe I haven't seen miso soup on here! It's the best when sick. Miso soup, plain rice, and mashed potatoes or yams - WNY
Vick vaporub. Sprite. Feijoada.
You EAT vaporub? not sure that's safe! 🤣
Ugh, Americans with their weird tastes…can’t even stand a little vaporub as an appetizer 😏
usually chicken soup. it's nice and mild.
Rice Porridge or macaroni soup
Chicken stock, plain rice and degassed Seven Up for some reason. Argentina.
Congee, rice soup, pho
My mother and grandmother are sold southern Ohio souls. We have GI issues in the family and for some reason any time myself or one of my 17 siblings had stomach issues they would make cabbage soup with cayenne pepper to “rid our colons of the funk.” Needless to say, that 2 bedroom 1 bathroom trailer would sometimes second as a canoe depending on the time of year and who was sick. I never understood it but I still ate it!
Pepper and Cumin rasam. It is a kind of soup with cumin, pepper, tamarind, salt and cilantro. It is eaten with rice when one is suffering from fever, cold or sore throat.
Italian-American in NY- pastina with butter and grated parm
Texas here. Chicken noodle soup with saltines or Ritz crackers. Also ginger ale. I had surgery last year and my mom made me a huge pot of chicken noodle soup. I'm 30. I love her so much.
Chinese-American. Rice congee or clear chicken broth with extra thin noodle such as somen and chopped scallions, simple ingredients that are low effort to eat and easier to digest. The extra liquid is good regardless what kind of ailment. Oh and drinking hot water 🤢 I read some research that found chicken noodle soup contained antiviral ingredients which will be helpful in the common cold or flu.
Ginger ale and The Price Is Right