Wheat Berry and Red Date Congee

Why people make this congee

When a woman enters menopause, her body undergoes profound shifts that can leave her feeling unsettled in ways that are hard to name — heart palpitations, a sense of anxiety without a clear cause, broken sleep, night sweats, and a general feeling of being unmoored. In traditional Chinese medicine this cluster of symptoms is understood as an insufficiency of heart qi and heart blood. One of the most time-honoured remedies is a formula called Gan Mai Da Zao Tang — roasted licorice, wheat, and red dates — and this congee is its kitchen interpretation. By cooking wheat berries and rice together with red dates into a warm, mildly sweet porridge, Nourilo creates something that is both genuinely comforting to eat and traditionally associated with steadying the mind and reducing night sweats. The flavour is gentle, wholesome, and easy to eat every day.

Method

1. Lightly pound or crack the wheat berries using a mortar and pestle or by placing in a zip-lock bag and hitting with a rolling pin. This helps them cook evenly and release their flavour more fully.
2. Rinse the white rice. Pit the red dates.
3. Combine wheat berries, white rice, and red dates in a pot with approximately 2.1–2.4 L of water.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cook uncovered (or partially covered), stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour until the congee reaches a smooth, porridge-like consistency.
5. Serve warm in the morning and evening. A three-day course is a traditional starting point; it may be eaten regularly over weeks.

Nourilo’s Tips

Crushing the wheat berries beforehand makes a real difference — they cook more evenly and the congee becomes creamier and easier to digest. This porridge is about as mild as food gets; even young children and elderly people with sensitive stomachs can eat it comfortably. If heart fire feels more prominent (vivid dreams, mouth ulcers, difficulty falling asleep), consider adding 30–50 g lily bulb (bai he) and 3 g honey-fried licorice root (zhi gan cao) to the pot. If the night sweating is the main problem, switch to floating wheat (fu xiao mai) — the same weight — which has a specifically astringent action on perspiration.

For menopausal women also experiencing hair loss alongside these symptoms, Nourilo suggests adding black beans (hei dou) and mulberry fruit (sang shen zi) to the recipe for a variation that addresses hair nourishment alongside heart calming.