When I used to make soy milk at home, I always felt it didn't taste as good as the ones sold outside. Later, I thought that since a soy milk maker can also make rice porridge, I added a small scoop of rice to the soybeans and red beans. The result was delicious, fragrant, and thick. There were even little bits of rice porridge in the bean dregs, just like in milk tea, whereas before, using only beans, it tasted quite bland and thin. Thinking about it, this is a really great combination. Rice is a natural thickener for soy milk, and it's also very healthy for you.
Beans nourish the kidneys and liver, with soybeans being the most commonly used. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, beans are considered the "grain of the kidneys" because their shape resembles a small kidney, and they are believed to enter and nourish the kidneys. There's a principle in TCM that states "when something is deficient, nourish its mother," and in this case, the liver ultimately benefits. Soybeans are yellow in color and correspond to the spleen and stomach, making them beneficial for these organs as well. Red beans, on the other hand, have a blood-nourishing effect and a delicate flavor. Rice is the "grain of the lungs," being white in color and corresponding to the lung. When combined with soybeans, the kidney-nourishing effect is enhanced. Therefore, this combination is very good for our daily health and wellness. Some street vendors add thickeners to their soy milk, but it's hard to know what exactly those ingredients are. How can they compare to the rich nutritional value of rice?
For making soy milk, it's important to use high-quality soybeans and try to avoid mixing in black beans, as they will make the color dull and the taste astringent. Furthermore, some medical practitioners say that black beans can deplete kidney energy, and long-term consumption may lead to hematuria. That's why black beans were often used to feed horses in the past. Additionally, individuals with abnormal liver or kidney function, especially those with cirrhosis, renal failure, or gout, should not drink soy milk. Because their liver and kidney function is poor, it can加重加重 the burden on these organs and lead to elevated uric acid levels. It's like the saying "the body is too deficient to accept tonification." In such cases, Chinese herbal medicine is needed to regulate and maintain the balance of qi, blood, yin, and yang.