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    Back to Good Food

    Good Food

    Zuo Yue Zi: the ancient Chinese ritual of postpartum recovery

    When food writer Charlene Wang received a text in the middle of the night saying her niece was born, she went to the kitchen and started peeling ginger. Wang was practicing zuo yue zi, the Chinese ritual of cooking traditional meals for a new mother.

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    By Evan Kleiman • Jul 31, 2020 • 1 min read

    When food writer Charlene Wang received a text in the middle of the night saying her niece was born, she went to the kitchen and started peeling ginger. Wang was practicing zuo yue zi, the Chinese ritual of cooking traditional meals for a new mother. Wang says she took a crash course in zuo yue zi, which involved watching YouTube videos and reading “The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother.” She wrote abouther experience for Bon Appétit.

    The full episode

    2 of 6
    Postpartum rituals, Koreatown closure, COVID on farms
    1. 0:00Poetry and prose: ingredients for Phyllis Grant’s memoir
    2. 8:23Zuo Yue Zi: the ancient Chinese ritual of postpartum recoveryYou’re reading this
    3. 20:14Michelin-recognized gem Jun Won closes in Koreatown
    4. 29:23Bridging the gap between limited cooking skills and unlimited palates
    5. 39:45Hollywood Farmers’ Market: Helping vendors, plus cucumbers galore
    6. 47:40‘Devastating and dire’: Coronavirus cases rise in migrant communities
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Evan Kleiman

      host 'Good Food'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Joseph Stone

      Producer, Good Food

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Laryl Garcia

      Senior Director, Good Food

      CultureFood & Drink

    The full episode

    2 of 6
    Postpartum rituals, Koreatown closure, COVID on farms
    1. 0:00Poetry and prose: ingredients for Phyllis Grant’s memoir
    2. 8:23Zuo Yue Zi: the ancient Chinese ritual of postpartum recoveryYou’re reading this
    3. 20:14Michelin-recognized gem Jun Won closes in Koreatown
    4. 29:23Bridging the gap between limited cooking skills and unlimited palates
    5. 39:45Hollywood Farmers’ Market: Helping vendors, plus cucumbers galore
    6. 47:40‘Devastating and dire’: Coronavirus cases rise in migrant communities
    Back to Good Food