Pork is the most common meat on the people's dining table, but pork also has taboos; there are four foods that should not be eaten with pork.
1. Cilantro
Coriander is pungent and warm, depleting qi and harming the spirit. Pork is rich and greasy, promoting damp-heat and producing phlegm. Ancient books record: "All meats have a nourishing effect, except for pork, which has none." One depletes qi, the other has no nourishing effect, so consuming them together is harmful to the body.
2. Soybeans
From the perspective of modern nutrition, soybeans and pork are not a suitable combination because soybeans contain a high amount of phytic acid, with 60% to 80% of phosphorus present in this form. It often forms complexes with proteins and mineral elements, affecting their availability and reducing utilization efficiency.
Furthermore, minerals in soybeans, such as calcium, iron, and zinc, bind with those in lean meats and other non-vegetarian foods, thereby interfering with and reducing the human body's absorption of these elements. Therefore, pork and soybeans are not a suitable combination, and stewing pig's trotters with soybeans is an inappropriate pairing.
Pig's Trotters Stewed with Soybeans
3. Sheep Liver
Traditional Chinese medicine states: "Eating pork and sheep liver together causes a feeling of stuffiness in the chest." This is mainly because sheep liver has a bitter and cold nature, nourishing the liver, improving vision, and treating liver wind deficiency heat. Pork is rich and greasy, turning into damp-heat in the stomach. From the perspective of food properties, the combination is not suitable. Sheep liver has a gamey smell; when stir-fried with pork, it easily produces a strange flavor. From a culinary perspective, it is also not advisable.
4. Beef
The saying that pork and beef should not be eaten together has a long history. "The Correct Principles of Diet" states: "Pork should not be eaten with beef." This is mainly considered from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine. From the perspective of food properties, pork is sour, cold, and slightly cool, with a greasy and yin-cold nature. Beef, on the other hand, is sweet and warm, able to nourish the spleen and stomach, strengthen the waist and legs, and has the effect of stabilizing the middle and replenishing qi. The two are one warm and one cold, one nourishing the middle and stomach, the other cold and greasy that weakens a person. Their natures and flavors are in conflict, so they should not be consumed together.
Pork feet