Green Bean Summer Porridge
Ingredients
50g green beans, 50g millet, 50g rice, a small amount of glutinous rice.
Method
Soak the green beans overnight. Rinse the millet, rice, and glutinous rice. In a pot, add water and the above ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer for 50 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. After turning off the heat, let it sit for 10 minutes before serving. If you prefer sweetness, you can add sugar for flavor.
Effects
Glutinous rice helps strengthen the spleen and nourish the blood, while green beans have a cooling and detoxifying effect. In the hot summer, this porridge is neither too cold to harm the stomach nor too hot, effectively relieving summer heat.
Green beans are an excellent summer food. They are cold in nature and sweet in flavor, with the ability to clear heat, dispel summer heat, and detoxify. After outdoor work or activities in summer, it is beneficial to drink a bowl of green bean sweet water or porridge. Those prone to hemorrhoids or heat rash in summer can consume it regularly, but those with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold should avoid excessive consumption. Additionally, green beans can be used externally; if you have acne, grind them into a fine powder, cook into a paste, wash the affected area before bed, and apply it to help treat the condition. Avoid cooking green beans in iron or aluminum pots.
Chinese Yam and Job’s Tears Porridge
Ingredients
30g Chinese yam (Huai Shan), 30g Job’s tears (Yi Yi Ren), 15g lotus seeds, 10 red dates, 50g millet, a small amount of white sugar.
Method
Chop the Chinese yam finely, remove the core from the lotus seeds, pit the red dates, rinse the Job’s tears, and cook them with millet to make porridge. Once the porridge is cooked, add white sugar and mix well.
Effects
Beneficial for those with spleen deficiency and damp-heat diarrhea.
Job’s tears are a great food, especially for people in the south, as they are commonly used in soups. They are also a beauty food; long-term consumption can make the skin smooth and fair. Additionally, due to their low fat and low calorie content, they are ideal for weight loss. For women, there is no reason not to love them. Modern science has proven that Job’s tears have anti-cancer properties, as the coixol contained can inhibit the growth of cancer cells and harm to the body. In TCM, Job’s tears are classified as a diuretic and damp-resolving herb, beneficial for those with urinary difficulties, frequent urination, edema, and also helpful for spleen deficiency and damp-heat diarrhea. However, they should not be consumed alone for long periods. Those with spleen deficiency can eat them with Chinese yam and lotus seeds.
Red Bean Longan and Black Rice Porridge
Black rice, also known as black glutinous rice, was historically a tribute rice and is also called longevity rice, known for its ability to strengthen the spleen and combat aging. Red beans are neutral in nature, sweet and sour in flavor, and have the effect of nourishing blood and moisturizing the skin. Longan, or dried longan, is warm in nature and sweet in flavor, known for its ability to strengthen the spleen, nourish blood, and calm the mind. Lotus seeds are neutral, sweet and astringent, also nourishing the heart and calming the mind, while helping to strengthen the spleen and stop diarrhea. Red dates, one of the five fruits, are warm in nature and sweet in flavor, known for their ability to tonify the middle, benefit qi, nourish blood, and calm the spirit.
Ingredients
100g black rice, 30g red beans, 15g longan flesh, 30g lotus seeds, several red dates.
Method
Rinse the black rice and red beans with water; shell and pit the longan, pit the red dates, and remove the core from the lotus seeds. Place everything in a soup pot, add 6 bowls of water (about 1200ml), bring to a boil, then simmer for about half an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add a small amount of red sugar before serving.
Millet, Euryale Seed, and Lentil Porridge
During the long summer, with heat and humidity, loss of appetite, bland taste, fatigue, and excessive sweating, the tongue coating is thick and greasy. It is advisable to strengthen the spleen, dispel dampness, harmonize the stomach, and stimulate appetite. Here, I recommend a Millet, Euryale Seed, and Lentil Porridge.
Millet, also known as proso millet, is cool in nature, sweet and salty in flavor, and has the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, tonifying the kidneys, and harmonizing the middle. Euryale seed, also known as “chicken head rice,” is neutral in nature, sweet and astringent, beneficial for the kidneys, solidifying essence, tonifying the spleen, stopping diarrhea, and dispelling dampness. Fried lentils are neutral in nature, sweet in flavor, and have the effects of strengthening the spleen and stomach, relieving summer heat, and dispelling dampness. Dried tangerine peel, ginger, and red dates have the function of regulating qi, harmonizing the stomach, and nourishing blood.
Ingredients: 100g millet, 50g fresh Euryale seeds, 50g fried lentils, 10g dried tangerine peel, 3 slices of ginger, 3-5 red dates.
Method: Rinse the millet with water, shell and rinse the Euryale seeds, wash the lentils, tangerine peel, and red dates with clean water, peel and slice the ginger, place everything in a soup pot, add 2000ml of water, bring to a boil, and simmer for about an hour.
Strengthening Spleen and Nourishing Beauty “Meiling Porridge”
It is said that during the hot weather in Nanjing, Mrs. Soong Mei-ling had no appetite, and the chef made a porridge with Chinese yam and soy milk, which greatly stimulated her appetite. Thus, “Meiling Porridge” became popular in Nanjing, known for its sweet aroma and smooth texture. It is suitable for those with spleen deficiency and a bland appetite.
Soy milk is a traditional Han beverage made from yellow or black soybeans, which is cool in nature, sweet in flavor, strengthens the spleen and stomach, nourishes deficiency, clears heat, and is easily digestible, suitable for the elderly, children, and those with weak constitutions. Chinese yam is neutral in nature, sweet in flavor, and tonifies spleen qi and yin. Goji berries nourish blood and enhance beauty.
Ingredients: 200g fresh Chinese yam, 800ml soy milk, 80g glutinous rice, 20g white rice, 10g goji berries.
Method: Steam the fresh Chinese yam until cooked, peel, and mash into a paste. Rinse the glutinous rice and white rice, soak in water for about half an hour. Rinse the goji berries and soak them for later use.
Add 4 bowls of soy milk and 1 bowl of water, bring to a boil over low heat, add the soaked glutinous rice and white rice, bring to a boil again, then add the yam paste, stirring while cooking, and simmer for about 40 minutes. Add rock sugar to taste, serve in bowls, and sprinkle with soaked goji berries. You can also sprinkle with rose petals.
Licorice, Wheat, and Red Date Heart-Nourishing Porridge
Traditional Chinese medicine advocates “nourishing yang in spring and summer, nourishing yin in autumn and winter.” In summer, it is especially important to nourish the heart. I recommend a Licorice, Wheat, and Red Date Heart-Nourishing Porridge.
The Licorice and Wheat Decoction is a classic formula from Zhang Zhongjing’s “Essentials of the Golden Chamber.” It is used to treat women’s irritability and has the effect of nourishing the heart and calming the spirit. Adding red millet, which is one of the five grains (proso millet); lotus seeds, neutral in nature and sweet and astringent; also nourish the heart and calm the spirit, and help strengthen the spleen and stop diarrhea.
Ingredients
100g wheat, 30g red millet, 10g licorice, 30g lotus seeds, several red dates.
Method
Rinse the wheat and millet with water; pit the red dates and remove the core from the lotus seeds. Place them with licorice in a soup pot, add 6 bowls of water (about 1200ml), and simmer on low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. You can add a little salt or red sugar according to personal taste before serving.
Glutinous Rice and Wheat Porridge
Glutinous rice is sweet in flavor and neutral in nature. It enters the spleen, stomach, and lung meridians. It tonifies the middle, benefits qi, warms the stomach, stops diarrhea, and consolidates sweat. It has effects of restraining deficiency sweat, reducing nocturia, and stopping cold deficiency diarrhea.
Wheat is sweet in flavor and cool in nature. It enters the heart, spleen, and kidney meridians. It has effects of nourishing the heart, benefiting the kidneys, clearing heat, and quenching thirst. Glutinous rice and wheat porridge has the effect of benefiting qi and nourishing the spleen and stomach, calming the heart and spirit. It is suitable for the transition from spring to summer, for those with poor appetite, menopausal women experiencing irritability and excessive sweating, as well as those with weak constitutions, pale tongue, thick white coating, frequent nocturia, and early morning diarrhea.
Ingredients:50g glutinous rice, 50g wheat,5g dried tangerine peel, 5 red dates.
Method:Rinse the glutinous rice and wheat with clean water, wash the red dates and remove the pits, soak the dried tangerine peel in clean water and slice it, place everything in a soup pot, add 1500ml of water, and simmer on low heat to make porridge, adding sugar to taste.