Fo-ti, Polygonatum, Goji & Black Bean Soup

Why people make this soup

Plenty of middle-aged friends fret over greying and thinning hair. Chinese tradition has a lovely saying — “the hair is the surplus of the blood” — and beyond heredity, illness and stress, premature grey and heavy shedding are often linked to the liver and kidneys running low and the blood being thin. So the food-therapy approach leans on ingredients that support the liver and kidneys and replenish essence and blood. This soup does exactly that, and also suits people with a dull complexion and that tired, slightly warm, depleted feeling.

Method

1. Soak and rinse all the ingredients.
2. Put everything into a pot with 2.4 L of water.
3. Simmer about 3 hours until reduced to 1.2–1.5 L.

Nourilo’s Tips

This works as both a meat and a vegetarian soup — for vegetarian, add fresh Chinese yam or lotus root; or add pork shin or chicken. Suitable for the whole family. But people with phlegm-damp or an unresolved cold should not take it. If you have no fo-ti, use black sesame instead, or add some black mulberries — both are associated with darker hair.