Wait, what in the hell is “Ming Men”? Good question. Ming Men or “Gate of Life” is thought to be located between the two kidneys and is closely related to Jing, which was described in this previous post. Ming Men is responsible for the “fire” that fuels our bodily functions. An easy way to think of Jing vs Ming Men is to conceptualize Jing as the logs upon which the “Fire of Life” burns. When our fire dims or goes out entirely, so does our Jing and vice versa. Don’t overcomplicate this concept.
One thing that you can be sure of is that our crazy busy lives can dampen our natural life fires and deplete the levels of Jing that we are born with. Food therapy is a great way to support them both.
I LOVE this recipe because, hey, its deelish, and with the ginger and sesame seeds playing prominent roles its a real crowd pleasing Jing and Ming Men booster. We got this recipe in our weekly Sunbasket meal delivery (More on Sun Basket in a later post, but for now just know that its AMAZING!)
Ginger-Sesame Chicken with Sugary Snap Peas and Red Rice
You’re gonna need:
1/2 cup Bhutanese Red Rice (or any old rice will do) 
1 tablespoon (or more) sesame seeds
3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 red bell pepper
Peeled fresh garlic
Fresh cilantro
6 oz (a handful) sugar snap peas
Splashes of rice vinegar, tamari, sesame oil (soy sauce works if you don’t have tamari)
1 1/2 teaspoons (or more to taste) chili paste or Sriracha
Directions:
Cook up that rice!
Toast up those sesame seeds until lightly browned (about 2 minutes) transfer to plate to cool 
Brown the chicken in a neutral oil like vegetable oil
While chicken is cooking prep the veggies for stir fry, grate or chop the ginger, chop cilantro
Remove chicken and in the same pan cook up the veggies
Add chicken back in and add in a bit of the rice vinegar, Tamara and sesame oil
Cook until veggies are soft but firm and reintroduce the sesame seeds
Serve with the rice and garnish of cilantro and chili paste
Eat the hell out of this (great with a cold glass of white wine)
