Food Therapy for Hemorrhoids by Cooking Therapy

Hemorrhoid Loans: Food, Care and Conversation

For this event, the artist (Yu Shuk Pui Bobby) invites visitors to share four traditional Chinese food therapy dishes that have historically been associated with supporting symptoms related to hemorrhoids, including constipation, dry stool, and mild bleeding. Rather than presenting these recipes as medical treatment, the event considers them as a way of exploring the relationships between food, embodied knowledge, care, embarrassment, and family memory.

The event takes the form of an informal drop-in gathering. Visitors are welcome to come by for a meal, stay for a conversation, or leave whenever they wish. Rather than a formal dinner or workshop, it offers a gentle space for sharing food and exchanging stories.

The menu includes:

* **Fig and Lean Pork Soup** – traditionally believed to help moisten the intestines and ease dry stool. For this event, the soup will be presented in a jelly mould.
* **Sophora Flower Stewed Pork Intestine** – a dish that traditionally uses sophora flower, believed to cool the blood and support symptoms involving fresh bleeding.
* **Black Fungus and Dried Persimmon Soup** – a soup traditionally associated with nourishing the body and supporting symptoms related to bleeding.
* **Honey and Cassia Seed Tea** – a drink made from ingredients traditionally used to moisten the intestines and support bowel movements.

The event forms part of the ongoing project Hemorrhoid Loans, in which hemorrhoids become a lens through which to consider pain, shame, care, and the body as a site of inherited debt. Through food and conversation, the project opens a space for reflecting on how everyday bodily experiences carry personal, familial, and cultural histories.