fish maw
Aliases：Yu Piao、Yu Bai、Biao、Bai Biao、Yu Pao、Xuan Jiao、Yu Du
Yujiao (Fish Maw) is a Chinese medicinal herb. It is the dried swim bladder (air bladder) of marine fish such as Pseudosciaena crocea (large yellow croaker), Pseudosciaena polyactis (small yellow croaker), Nibea albiflora (spotted croaker), Miichthys miiuy (miiuy croaker) (family Sciaenidae), or of sturgeon species including Acipenser sinensis (Chinese sturgeon) and Huso dauricus (Kaluga sturgeon) (family Acipenseridae).
Efficacy & Actions
Tonify the Liver and Kidney, nourish Blood and stop bleeding, dispel stasis and reduce swelling.
Indications
Kidney deficiency with spermatorrhea, weakness of the lower back and knees, low back pain, dizziness and tinnitus, leukorrhea (vaginal discharge), habitual miscarriage, blood deficiency with sinew spasm, postpartum tetany (postpartum convulsive disease), tetanus, epilepsy, aplastic anemia, hematemesis, hemoptysis, hematuria, flooding and spotting (metrorrhagia and metrostaxis), traumatic bleeding, yin-type carbuncle (cold-type sore), fistula, chronic ulcer, chapped skin (fissures), gout, and hemorrhoids.
Modern Pharmacology
This product has certain effects on ulcers.
Ingredients
It mainly contains collagen, and is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, mucopolysaccharides (glycosaminoglycans), and various vitamins.
Usage & Dosage
1. Internal use: 10–30 g in decoction; or 3–6 g when ground into powder. 2. External use: Appropriate amount, dissolved (melted) or burned to ash and applied topically.
Contraindications
Contraindicated in cases of poor appetite with profuse phlegm.
Selected Formulas
1. For nocturnal emission and spermatorrhea due to kidney deficiency with insecure consolidation (Jujing Pill from Zhengzhi Zhunsheng) Take 500 g of large yellow croaker swim bladder (cut into pieces, stir‑fried with clam powder until beads form, then mixed with milk curd), 300 g of Shayuanjili (Astragalus complanatus seed, soaked in mare’s milk overnight, steamed over water for one incense‑stick time, then dried), and 75 g of Wuweizi (Schisandra fruit). Grind into fine powder. Boil refined honey with aged wine, then let it cool slightly. Mix the powder into the honey to form pills the size of mung beans. Take 80–90 pills each time on an empty stomach, with warm wine or salted water. 2. For generalized soreness and weakness, and low back pain (Yujiao San from Waike Dacheng) Take 120 g of fish maw, fry in fragrant oil until yellow, then grind into fine powder. Take 15 g each time, with warm yellow wine. 3. For postpartum convulsions and rigidity (from Jingxiao Chanbao) Take 30 g of fish maw, fry with clam shell powder until charred, then remove the powder. Grind the fish maw into fine powder. Divide into 3 doses, each taken with a decoction of Chan tui (cicada slough). 4. For tetanus with lockjaw and rigidity (from Sanyin Fang) Burn fish maw until 70% charred (retaining its activity), grind into fine powder, and add a small amount of Shexiang (musk). Take 6 g each time, mixed with wine. For those who cannot drink alcohol, mix with rice water.
Daily Consumption
Soup / stew: 15-20g dried fish maw, slow-cook with chicken or pork ribs for 1-2h. Congee: 15-20g dried fish maw, chopped, cook with rice; add goji berries before serving. Dessert / tea: 15g dried fish maw, stew with lotus seeds, red dates, rock sugar (dessert); or with American ginseng and goji berries (tea). Steamed (plain): 15-20g dried fish maw, steam in a double boiler for 2-3h. Dosage: 15-20g per serving, 2-3 times per week. Precautions: Avoid if allergic to fish, or with hyperlipidemia, hyperuricemia, weak digestion. Stop during cold/fever. Do not cook with radish or hawthorn.
Medicinal Parts
fish swim bladder
Selection & Storage
Store in a dry, airtight container in a cool, dry place, protected from moisture and insects.