Hey, did I mention I am a Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Intern at the Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Los Angeles, California? If you are in the Southern California area, come see me for acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and medical Qi Gong!

My website just went up so come check it out! The address is based on my Chinese name. http://www.HenryJunWahLee.com.

Weasel Picked Coffee Truffles
Want to taste one of the most expensive coffee beans in the world but don’t want to pay $200 a pound? Now you can try it in my Coffee and Almond truffle. These coffee truffles were made using the old fashioned Vietnamese style of brewing to give it a nice deep flavor and aroma, plus a tad of grit. Paired with Valrhona Alpaco dark chocolate from Ecuador and organic almond extract. Yum!

So why is weasel picked coffee so good? From Wikipedia:

A popular and intuitive hypothesis to justify this coffee’s reputation proposes that the beans are of superior quality before they are even ingested. At any given point during a harvest, some coffee berries are not quite ripe or overripe, while others are just right. The palm civet (weasel) evolved as an omnivore that naturally eats fruit and passes undigested material as a natural link to disperse seeds in a forest ecosystem. Where coffee plants have been introduced into their habitat, civets only forage on the most ripe berries, digest the fleshy outer layer, and later excrete the seeds eventually used for human consumption. Thus, when the fruit is at its peak, the seeds (or beans) within are equally so, with the expectation that this will come through in the taste of a freshly brewed cup.

Human Picked Yuzu Truffles
Made with Yuzu juice from Japan and dark chocolate from the Caribbean! The fruit was most likely picked by human hands. This fruit is something of a blend between a grapefruit and a mandarin orange. Sour and aromatic, it is used a lot in cooking. Ingredients: Fair-Trade & Pesticide-Free Valrhona Caraibe 66% Dark Chocolate from the Caribbean, organic heavy cream, organic butter, yuzu juice from Japan, unsweetened cocoa powder, and lots of love. Enjoy!

For this week’s truffles, the theme is getting ur freak on. I decided to experiment with a couple of new flavor combinations involving aphrodisiacs: Durian and Rose. Hey, it’s spring time. Time to get freaky.

Durian-Coconut Truffles
Durian’s one of my favorite fruits from Southeast Asia. It’s a spikey fruit that can cause serious head injuries if it falls on you. Its smell is potent. Depending on who you talk to, it can be described as either fragrant and rich or overpowering and offensive. Due to its strong and penetrating smell, the fruit is banned in airplanes and finer hotels throughout Southeast Asia. I will be keeping these truffles in an airtight container.

According to Chinese Medicine, durian is a yang tonic with very warming qualities. The Javanese also believe it has aphrodisiac qualities. The fruit is high in vitamin C, potassium, and the serotonergic amino acid tryptophan, and is a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

These durian coconut truffles are vegan. I used the actual fruit and not an extract. Made with organic coconut milk and rolled in toasted shredded coconut and unsweetened cocoa powder, the coconut helps take the edge off the strong flavor of the durian while keeping its smooth, rich and distinctive flavor. This is probably not going to be the hottest selling flavor but for durian fans, it’s going to be a treat.

Rose-Almond Truffles
I had a request for rose truffles and I thought I’d have some fun and give it a try this week. I made an initial batch using Rose Water but getting enough rose flavor in the truffle caused the truffle consistency to be too soft. So then I did some research and found therapeutic grade white rose otto essential oil which I diluted in vodka. I paired the rose with organic almond extract to add more depth to the flavor. For these truffles, I am using Valrhona’s 66% dark chocolate from Ecuador. These beans have delicate floral notes of jasmine and orange blossoms, yielding to a long finish of refined bitterness and woody flavors.

A new batch of almond and blood orange truffles are now available at the Yo San Bookstore. Both are made with Valrhona Guanaja 70% dark chocolate (fair-trade and pesticide-free), organic heavy cream, organic butter and unsweetened Valrhona cocoa powder.

The blood orange truffles are made with real zest and you may find a few slivers of it in your truffle. Citrus and dark chocolate go so well together. The almond truffles are smooth and enhances the bitterness. Great for those of you who really like bittersweet dark chocolate.

FYI, I make a fresh batch every Tuesday. Flavors can change from week to week. Let me know if you have any flavor requests.

To maintain high standards of flavor and freshness, I will be bringing them in small batches each day from Tuesday through Thursday. If they sell out, that’s it for the day. $1.50 each or 4 for $5.00. You can also place special orders with me for quantities of 10 or greater.

Enjoy!

Every Saturday morning from 10 am – 12 noon, I lead a Qi Gong practice group at the Learning Garden in Venice, CA. The practice has been going for more than 5 years. It was originally formed to provide a place for students of Master Hong Liu to have regular group practice.

Starting Saturday, March 21 I will be opening the class up to new people who are interested in learning Grandmaster Hong Liu’s Medical Qi Gong. Whether you are a natural healer, a student of the healing arts or someone interested in self-healing and cultivation, this is a great place to get introduced to his forms.

To give a little history, I have been a student of Master Hong for over 8 years. His classes and the amazing results I personally witnessed from his treatments were what originally inspired me to become a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. I’ve seen him bring people out of comas, cure hepatitis and beat cancer using Qi Gong and medicinal herbs. I highly recommend his forms due to their simplicity, effectiveness, their specific medical applications and the wide range of exercises that are offered.

If you don’t know who Master Hong Liu is, he is one of the few Qi Gong Grandmasters in the world and is regarded as a living treasure in China and Hawaii. He was a western trained physician in China who studied under several Qi Gong Masters. He has written a book, The Healing Art of Qi Gong which tells about his story. The last 1/3 of the book is filled with practical, easy to learn and easy to teach Qi Gong exercises you can do for a variety of diseases. He currently travels around the country teaching classes, doing research on the benefits of Qi Gong and providing private healing sessions.

About the class
In the first hour we start with warm up and preparation exercises, followed by Spring seasonal Qi Gong which changes about every 15 days. The seasonal Qi Gong helps you stay in tune with the seasons and are great for general wellness as well as for specific Spring-related medical conditions. In the second hour, we do one of his more advanced forms. If you are new, I recommend doing only the first hour.

Cost is $5 per class. 20% is donated to the Learning Garden.

About the Seasonal Qi Gong
The movement of the Earth and the Sun create our seasons. The seasons affect your energy and your internal organs. The effect can show up in your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual states.

You can learn how to draw from the peaking energies of the seasons rather than fighting them, ending up drained and dry. Using 3,000-year-old practices, you can maximize your internal organs, sleeping and eating patterns, emotions, thought patterns– even your prosperity. Learn how to nourish the beginnings of yang energy in the Spring so that your mood, joints, liver and gallbladder are in their best shape.

Class Location:
The Learning Garden (www.thelearninggarden.org)
Southeast corner of Venice Blvd and Walgrove Ave, next to Venice High School in Venice, CA. Entrance is through the gate on Walgrove Ave. There is usually ample street parking on Walgrove and on Venice.

Class starts March 21, 2009 at 10 am.

Contact:
Henry Lee, e-mail henry@evosia.com or call 310-980-8645. Contact me if you plan to attend. Visit my web site: www.leejunwah.com