Taste: Dumplings! Tracing Roots to East Asian Medicine

• Wisdom Tradition: East Asian medicine
• Spotlight Cultures: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese
• Date & Time: Wednesday, April 30 | 1:10–2:00 PM
• Location: UCSF Mount Zion Campus, Osher Center – 5th Floor Bowes Room (523)
• Takeaway: A one-page guide on tongue diagnosis and how food can be used as medicine

Did you know dumplings—also known as “tender ears” (娇耳; jiao’er)—were first created by a Han Dynasty physician as medicine to improve circulation and protect against frostbite?

In this guided tasting, Helen Ye, MS, LAc, and Janice Mao, DAOM, LAc, share how dumplings have long been used as a form of food therapy in East Asian medicine. Seasonal ingredients are thoughtfully chosen to support digestion, energy flow, and internal balance—drawing from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Kampo (Japanese medicine), and Korean Traditional Medicine. The session also introduces tongue diagnosis as a window into the body’s inner landscape, offering a flavorful way to learn about East Asian Medicine.

Rooted in 8 Senses: Connecting to AANHPI Wisdom Traditions. This event is part of Rooted in 8 Senses, an experiential series co-created by clinicians, faculty, and trainees from the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health. The series explores time-honored healing traditions rooted in whole-person, collective, and relational well-being. Beyond the individual experience of sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch, many Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) healing traditions recognize three additional senses—balance, resourcefulness, and wholeness. These senses expand how we engage with the world: through community, in connection with nature, and within ecosystems of interdependence and care.

View the full April 28–May 9, schedule: apasa.ucsf.edu/aanhpi-wellness-week. The inaugural 2025 UCSF AANHPI Health & Wellness Weeks is a multi-organization collaboration co-led by the Asian Pacific American Systemwide Alliance (APASA). All events are free and supported by the UCSF Human Resources Community Wellbeing Grant. Everyone is welcome. To request a reasonable accommodation, please email apasa@ucsf.edu.