Hong Ahn (Egg Rub Remedy)

This is just a cute picture of a chick with the incredible edible egg.

As a child, whenever I fell ill with fever or a nasty cough, my mom would use an ancient Chinese remedy "Hong Ahn" on me and my brothers. She'd boil eggs, crack them open, then slice it sideways to remove the yolk and insert a genuine silver coin in the hollow where the yolk had been.

She'd wrap it in a small square white cloth, twist the ends and rub it against my forehead, temple, chest - wherever the aches or pains were until the egg cooled. My brothers and I would complain about the sticky gunky film that it left on our skin but strangely, it worked miraculously fast because the next day - we'd be good as new (or almost).

The silver coin purportedly sucks out the "bad vapors/air whatever" from one's body. The coin turns different hues of blackish/blue/reddish/orange. Blackish-blue hues meant we had too much "cool" air, and reddish/orangish hues meant "Gnat Hay" too much "hot" air, we'd been eating too many deep fried bad stuff like french fries or fried chicken, or whatnot.

As my mom got older, she'd "Hong Ahn" constantly as an alternative to Western medicine, which doesn't always work, but for her, as an immigrant raised in Hoisan, China - perhaps it gave her special comfort. She'd hoard cartons of eggs in the kitchen and boil eggs every night and rub her belly to quell her pain. However, it couldn't ward off her advanced health problems of diabetes, kidney failure, and heart disease. My brothers, our father, and I continually tried to reason with her to undergo open-heart surgery to save her life. She still refused. Eventually, she succumbed to a heart attack in 2003.

Now, whenever I get sick with a minor ailment, and after having tried over-the-counter remedies - I go back to this old-style egg rub - maybe it's a comforting placebo for me but I swear it still works.

Have you heard of this or did your family use this remedy? If so, I'd like to hear from you - email me at toisangirl@yahoo.com.