Fresh Beef Vine, Eucommia & Black Bean Soup

Why people make this soup

Fresh beef vine root (niu da li) is available at Chinese or Asian herbal produce shops and online; when buying fresh, ask the vendor to peel and slice it thin for you to save preparation time. It has a reputation in food therapy for smoothing and strengthening the liver and kidney, loosening tight muscles and ligaments, and gently relieving the joint aches that come with cold weather or overwork. Paired with eucommia bark and chain fern, both traditional herbs for the sinews, bones, and lower back, this herbal broth needs no meat to be satisfying — the black soy beans and southern dates carry their own gentle sweetness and substance. It is the kind of soup Cantonese families keep on rotation through autumn and winter, particularly for anyone whose knees and lower back have been complaining.

Method

1. Rinse all ingredients; soak the black soy beans for about 30 minutes, then discard the soaking water.
2. Soak and rinse the eucommia bark and chain fern.
3. Place all ingredients in a pot with 2.4 L of cold water.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer.
5. Cook for 2 hours until the liquid reduces to roughly 1.2 L.
6. Drink the broth warm; eating some of the beans will add to the nourishing effect.

Nourilo’s Tips

This soup is especially good for middle-aged and elderly people who feel their kidney energy and blood circulation are not what they used to be — it can be taken regularly as a maintenance soup. If using dried beef vine root instead of fresh, 38 g (about 38 g) is enough. Do not use during fever or any acute illness. Those who are breastfeeding can drink this soup, but please feed your baby first and then have the soup — herbal ingredients pass through breast milk, and a young infant’s organs are still maturing.