Four-Blacks Soup

Why people make this soup

Nourilo once shared a “Three-Blacks Soup” of black soybean, black sesame and southern dates for those prone to chronic hives. This “Four-Blacks Soup” adds black mulberry, and beyond its traditional roles in clearing free radicals, brightening the complexion and easing recurring hives, it is also associated with nourishing the blood and the liver and kidney, and supporting healthy, dark hair. In traditional thinking, “hair is the surplus of the blood” — when the blood runs thin, grey hair and shedding tend to follow, and a depleted qi-and-blood is what lets hives keep coming back. Those affected can take this soup, one batch every other day, until things improve.

Method

1. Soak and rinse the ingredients separately.
2. Place everything into a pot with 1.8 L of water.
3. Simmer for about 40 minutes until reduced to 900 ml. Serve.

Nourilo’s Tips

Nourilo used a jar of ready-roasted black soybeans this time, but unfried green-kernel black soybean is fine too. This soup is gentle enough for young and old, and is traditionally associated with supporting the liver and kidney, nourishing qi and blood, and keeping hair moist and glossy.