Traditional Chinese wellness emphasizes the concept of "medicine and food sharing the same source," where many foods are also medicinal. Scientific and effective consumption can have therapeutic effects. There is no clear distinction between food and medicine. The theory of the "Four Natures and Five Flavors" of traditional Chinese medicine is applied to food, allowing everyone to cook nutritious soups that win lifelong health.
The Four Natures of food, commonly known as the Four Qi, are cold, hot, warm, and cool. The Five Flavors are pungent, sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, pungent flavor enters the Lungs, sweet enters the Spleen, sour enters the Liver, bitter enters the Heart, and salty enters the Kidneys. Liver disease contraindicates the pungent flavor, lung disease contraindicates the bitter flavor, heart and kidney disease contraindicate the salty flavor, and spleen and stomach disease contraindicate the sour flavor. By understanding the Five Flavors a little better, we can make the soups we cook more balanced and scientific, achieving the dual benefits of both food and medicine.
The plan of the day depends on the morning
Setting aside the therapeutic effects of soup, the soup itself is a blessing for many people who skip breakfast.
Many people have the bad habit of skipping breakfast. They work on an empty stomach for half a day and then overeat at noon. This is very bad for the body. By using the brief time in the morning to select ingredients like winter melon, carrots, tofu, and potatoes to cook a simple morning stomach-soothing soup, you can have more energy for a full day of work. At the same time, preparing a bowl of hot soup for your children in the morning, along with some staples like bread, makes breakfast simple yet nutritious.
Alternatively, you can choose some instant soups, such as Jidou Vermicelli Soup, which comes in various flavors like Shrimp and Winter Melon, Italian Tomato, and Low-Sodium Low-Calorie. It's ready to eat in just 3 minutes with hot water. It uses internationally advanced FD packet technology to preserve the original flavor of ingredients like shrimp and winter melon, making it both delicious and healthy.
Only by developing good living habits can you have a healthy body, thereby providing a continuous source of energy for study and work. Whether you are an office worker or a student, remember that the plan of the day depends on the morning. A bowl of soup in the morning keeps you energetic all day.
How to make your soup more delicious?
In the tradition of dietary wellness, there has always been the saying that "soup comes first." Soup can hold the essence of a hundred flavors. There is a common saying, "For the people, food is their heaven; for food, soup is its head." Li Yu wrote in "Xianqing Ouyi": "Soup is just another name for thick broth. Where there is rice, there should be broth; without broth, the rice cannot be swallowed." So, how can you make your soup more delicious?
First, the ingredients must be fresh. When buying chicken, duck, lean pork, pork elbow, pork bones, ham, salted duck, or fish for making soup, you should ensure they are fresh, have little off-flavor, and have little blood or impurities.
Second, when making meat soups, the meat should first be soaked in cold water and then blanched. This means putting the meat in cold water, bringing it to a boil, and parboiling it for a short time. This can effectively reduce the purine content. While the soup dissolves the amino acids and soluble vitamins from the ingredients, it also dissolves fats, cholesterol, and purines. Especially for "long-simmered premium soups" that are cooked for a long time, the purine content is even higher. Drinking such soup in large quantities over a long time can easily lead to high uric acid and even gout.
Third, when adding water for the soup, the principle should be to just cover the ingredients. The heat is key. After it comes to a boil, simmer it over low heat, but not for too long. Most soups are suitable for 1-2 hours, and soups that are mainly vegetable-based should not be cooked for too long. Add salt before serving; it should be light. Using too much salt or adding it too early will affect the soup's flavor.