As midsummer arrives and temperatures rise, causing dry mouth and thirst, it's wise to opt for light, refreshing meals. Reduce rich, greasy foods and let legumes take center stage—lentils, mung beans, adzuki beans, and black beans all help dispel summer heat, promote diuresis, strengthen the spleen, and nourish the kidneys.
Incorporate more heat-clearing and summer-heat-dispelling foods into your diet, such as lotus seeds, eggplant, fresh lotus root, mung bean sprouts, lily bulbs, loofah, cucumber, winter melon, and watermelon. Remember to adjust based on your constitution.Those with qi deficiency or yang deficiency constitutions—characterized by susceptibility to colds, fatigue, pallor, and aversion to cold—should avoid excessive consumption of raw, cold, or cooling foods during this season to prevent damaging the yang energy of the spleen and kidneys. Summer-Beating Five-Bean Soup 30g each of adzuki beans, mung beans, stir-fried broad beans, and black beans; 6g licorice root.Rinse all beans and licorice, soak for several hours. Place in an earthenware pot with 2000ml water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer gently for 2 hours. Serve plain or with added sugar. Suitable for phlegm-dampness or damp-heat constitutions. Those with yang deficiency or qi deficiency may omit mung beans.
Lotus Seed and Lily Bulb Stewed with Rock Sugar
15g lotus seeds, 30g fresh lily bulbs, rock sugar to taste. Remove lotus seed cores. Place lotus seeds, lily bulbs, and rock sugar in a double boiler. Add sufficient water and steam for 2 hours. Especially suitable for Yin deficiency and Qi deficiency constitutions.
Five-Fingered Maotiao Stewed with Pork Spine
50g Five-Fingered Maotiao (Moraceae plant), approx. 250g pork spine, a little oil and salt. Place Five-Fingered Maotiao and pork spine in an earthenware pot with sufficient water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 1-2 hours. Season with oil and salt before serving. Suitable for individuals with Yang deficiency or Qi deficiency constitutions.