August 6, 2007
Got Milk? - Papaya Fish Soup
I don’t know what’s the big deal about breastfeeding. There is so much hype here in the US about breastfeeding and its benefits that I feel soooo guilty everytime I give my baby formula. I struggled for the last eight weeks - with breastfeeding and with the guilt that I think it’s not healthy.
I wanted to breastfeed becos it’s free (and yes, of course not forgetting that antibodies in mom’s milk is good for the baby). Now I decided breastfeeding is not really free - I still had to buy a pump (pump extra to increase milk supply) and bottles and nursing pillow, nursing apron and OMG I bought a glider too! I thought it’s kinda cool to breastfeed in public. I now change my mind. It’s quite hard if I am struggling with a hungry baby. I thought breastfeeding will let me spend precious time with the baby - yes… too much time! I love my baby, but not to the extend that I want him latched on every other hour!
Anyways, I am currently only 70% feeding direct or with expressed breast milk and 30% formula feeding. What I learnt is that though breastfeeding has its own intended benefits, it may not be for everyone so don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t work. As long as you have given it your best shot, the baby’s and mommy’s health and sanity are the most important.
Friends told me to eat more fish postpartum so as to help increase milk supply for breastfeeding. Angela’s sister-in-law also had a baby recently. Her daughter is 10 weeks older than Baby J and she was so nice to pass me this recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 white fish tail or fish bones or fish meat ~ about 1kg
- 100g raw peanuts (or black beans)
- 1 raw or half-ripe papaya, about 1kg - cut into cubes/wedges
- 1 piece tangerine peel
- 4 slices old ginger
- 1.5 litres boiling water
- 2 tbsp oil
Cooking Method:
1. Heat oil & fry ginger slices, then fry fish in oil until brown.
2. Put all ingredients into the slow cooker and simmer for about 2 to 3 hrs - generally until the soup smells really fragrant. Enjoy!
Unfortunately, I could not find green papayas in the 2 Asian supermarkets I frequent so I made do with almost ripe ones. Also, since I belong to the Pork Lover’s Association, I HAD to add some minced pork to the soup. This is the picture of my version: (added minced pork 300g, and did not put raw peanuts and tangerine peel.)
Did this soup really increase my milk supply? I am not sure. All I know is that these days, Baby J seems contented after suckling. The “psychological” effect that the Papaya Fish Soup has on me seems to be working.
Bite This!
More recipes:
Got Soup? (3) - Stock For Soup And Its Uses
Got Soup? (2) - General Classes Of Soup
My Singapore Food Cravings (6): Blanco Court Fried Fish Soup
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August 7th, 2007 at 12:27 am
Hmm. I never knew that about fish and milk supply! Not that I need any right now anyway. ;) BTW, the VNese version of this uses ripe papaya and pork spare ribs. I know that’s more to your taste you pork-lover you. :)
August 7th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I wished someone told me about eating fish increasing milk supply and someone teach me how to cook fish then. I breastfed my daughter for 6 months. I didn’t have a lot of milk so most of the time it is supplement with formula. I did breastfeed her in public like nobody’s business. If she’s hungry, I just raised up my shirt or blouse and baby happy sucking. I even carried my baby latching on my breast around shopping groceries. :) hahaha … nobody even bat an eye. Lots of women (young and old) smiled at me and I can see what I’m doing warmed their hearts.
August 7th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Hey Chopsticks, I am sure you will have a river overflowing with milk and honey :D Is the Vnese version in your blog?
Cooking Ninja,
Fish and milk - could be a myth I don’t know. I am in fact counting down to make it to 6 months. BTW, how to breastfeed and shop at the same time? Did you have your baby in a sling?
August 7th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
hehehe… trying to remember how I did it. I didn’t use a sling (too stupid to know how to use one) but I know you can breastfeed your baby using sling. I use the pram most of the time. Sometimes I just carry her in my arms because we find wheeling pram and grocery cart at the same time too troublesome. I support her with 1 arm for a very short time and quickly choose the veggie or meat. (she was still small then of course). Other times, I point and other half pick the stuff. I think I look like seow char bo walking on the aisle of a supermarket carrying a baby still latching on my breast. I had this mentality then: look all you want, I don’t care. My baby’s hungry needs to be satisfied is more important than anything else. hehehe
August 7th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Ninja, You damn solid!
August 7th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Yich,
Nope. Don’t have a recipe. Just make a nice stock with spareribs, seasoning it with fish sauce of course, to make it VNese. ;) Then add chunks of ripe papaya. Top with diced scallions. I don’t remember my mom putting much else in there. It was just simple and supposedly “cooling” for summer?
The Koreans make new moms eat lots of seafood soup to replenish the iron in your blood.
And you can call your little one a pile of caca so the ghosts won’t steal him away. ;) OK, that’s all my new mommy advice. Haha.
August 7th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
My mother and mother-in-law both had the same papaya/fish increases milk claim. I tried it. I don’t think it worked. What did work for me was taking 2 capsules of fenugreek 3 times a day. It worked a little too well.
Breastfeeding is hard, but it burns 300-500 calories a day! Good luck with that. No shame in formula.
August 7th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I agree. Breastfeeding is good for the baby, but sometimes that’s just not possible. Just give it your best shot and don’t feel guilty about it.
August 8th, 2007 at 1:05 am
Hi :)
I’m just a passing flogger and is as familiar with breastfeeding as quantum physics. but i would guess eating a wide variety of nutrient and vitamin dense foods (e.g. kiwis) helps the most
August 8th, 2007 at 2:05 am
hehehe…not solid lah. I think it has to do with age. As one gets older, one tends to care less about what others think about our actions. When we are young, we tend to be very conscious about people’s look and thinking and we tend to be shy too. I’m a new but old mommy. ;)
August 8th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Let’s not forget the pain. According to another friend of mine who just had a baby, breast feeding hurts!
August 8th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Chopsticks:
Add fish sauce makes the dish VNese? :p Then I made VNese fried rice yesterday. haha
Alice:
Fenugreek not working for me as I had hoped. I take 3 tablets 3-4 times a day :(
DF:
Yeah and spouse support is very important too.
Hi Lawrence:
Thanks for dropping by! You are right. Eating nutritious food makes breastmilk nutritious, but how to increase volume? I surfed the web and checked out forums - there are a few other recommended things to eat and drink, like dates and Milo(dunno effective or not). Other than that, it’s pump and pump to PUMP up the volume.
Ninja,
I got a Primary School friend with your name. Maybe we are same age and I know you. :p
Panda:
Breastfeeding is not supposed to be painful (according to all the internet research I did in my desperate days) but when the baby is a newborn, his tiny tiny mouth may not be able to suck properly, hence causing pain to the poor mommy.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
hi there…first time here, and u have a nice blog…well written and very informative.
check out my blog http://funnfud.blogspot.com for indian recipes, food facts and more!
-mansi
August 9th, 2007 at 11:02 am
I was about to say something along the line of what wanderingchopsticks has said. When my cousin had a baby my grandma made her this soup that was made from eddo( similar to taro?) and pork ribs. Hope you and your little baby are all right. Don’t worry about the breastfeeding. My mum breastfed me 100% and I was a runt while my brother grew up on a 70-30 basis and he is much taller and stronger. So there you go. sending a virtual kiss to your baby.x
August 9th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Wow! That is so great to know seeing as how I will be giving birth and plan on breastfeeding our daughter in Nov. This recipe sounds delicious and one I will certainly be trying out.
August 9th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
i drank fish soup too! I don’t know how much it helped with the breastfeeding business, but it tasted good and was warming.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:21 am
hahaha…that would be so cool if we turned out to be Primary school mates ;) I don’t think I can recognise any of my primary school mates if they were standing in front of me.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:55 am
hello. i read ur blog quite frequently n am a first time mother myself. congratulations to u on the birth if ur baby! i totally agree with the push midwives etc have on breastfeeding. i am also topping up with formula. baby was jaundiced at birth and slow in breastfeeding. supply also wasnt the best. doing fine now but i felt as though i had let him down when i was told by doctors, midwives etc to supplement with formula. at the end of the day, u r doing the best u can for the lil’ fella. good luck!
August 10th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Mansi:
Thanks :)
Hedgehog:
Come to think of it, what you said is right. I was 100% formula fed and I turned out fine, rarely sick in my adult life. Companies should give me a bigger bonus for not taking sick leave.
Hi CookingYourBest:
Breastfeeding books never mentioned that sometimes the frequency of nursing can be HOURLY! That’s very challenging especially when you are already sleep deprived.
You may want to check out these 2 sites I found very useful. I should have referred to them BEFORE I gave birth! www.lalecheleague.org and www.kellymom.com. Also, do attend a lalecheleague meeting if possible to be with a breastfeeding support group. I visited them once when I was about to give up and their encouragement was what made me carry on.
Hi Steam:
Thanks for sharing with me (email) your breastfeeding challenges. It made me feel that I was not alone.
Cooking Ninja:
You’ve got mail :)
YYGarvin:
Thank yu for your encouragement and for leaving a comment. I TOTALLY understand how you felt about “letting (baby) down”. Wish I had more milk let-downs instead!! My bb was also jaundiced at birth and milk supply was slow to come (unlike what the books said - 3-5 days?!?! Not for me!) Glad you are doing fine now. :)
August 17th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Welcome back…got tipped by someone that you are back in blogosphere. We have missed you and congrats on J Junior.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Thanks Bee! And I am catching up on your posts :)
August 19th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I haven’t give breastfeeding much thought until now. :-) Now I need to get it off of my mind.
That said, the fish soup looks delish!
August 25th, 2007 at 12:16 am
Congrats again and that papaya fish soup looks interesting! Hope your milk is overflowing ;-) Hehe
August 28th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Congratulations and welcome back! Hope mom and baby are doing well. I am looking forward to meeting my own baby boy…in 10 weeks (hopefully). My cousin had her first kid back in May and also had breast feeding challenges. So did my mom when she had us so you’re not alone. The other night my mom made stir-fried rice cake and said that the rice cake is suppose to help with producing more milk. I forgot to take photos so no receipe at this time. I’ll have to try your fish soup receipe when time comes.
Mina
August 28th, 2007 at 11:19 am
Hi Mina, this must be an exciting time for you!!! Sleep all you can now for you will not be getting your 8-hr sleep for a very long time after the baby pops :p
As for the fish soup, I suggest not simmering for so long - 1 hr should be enough, else the fish will toughen. Mine did. Dunno why the recipe said simmer for 2-3 hrs. Have fun!
September 11th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Its been taught from generation to generation that papaya soup is good for a healthy breast growth. Oh yeah, my granny told me that.
Nice food blog.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:48 am
I sympathize - been there with BFing. I had milk problems in the beginning too, baby was jaundiced. I was able to increase my milk supply in the first few weeks by pumping for 5-12 min (yes, I counted down every min!) after I BFed my daughter. I did this about 1-3 times a day (that’s all I could do…she was nursing like every 2 hours!). I started to see an increase in my supply after doing this for 1-2 weeks. I also took fenugreek - which helped. I found that different batches had different effectiveness…perhaps some batches were older/stale. You know you’re taking enough when your milk and sweat smells like fenugreek (like maple syrup.) Good luck.
September 26th, 2007 at 8:04 am
I heard that eating shark meat will help in the milk production thingy. (sorry lah, i am not married and a guy somemore. hehe..)
I was staying with a friend when I was working in another city and the MIL came over to cook etc, and she was always cooking shark meat.
My colleague now pumps in the office, and then fills them up into bottles and put them in the fridge. Our lunch hours now changed to coincide with her timing. hehe..
November 13th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
just fyi, raw peanuts have a fungus on them which is a neurotoxin (aflatoxin). that’s why you never see raw peanut butter for sale. might not be a problem in super small amounts but i wouldn’t risk it in someone who is breast feeding.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin