Kudzu Root and Job's Tears Pork Soup (Fen Ge Yi Mi Shou Rou Tang)

Why people make this soup

Many people notice that when they get tense, stressed, or spend too long hunched over a screen, it is their neck and shoulders that seize up first. Kudzu root — a large, knobby tuber that looks a bit like an irregular sweet potato — is a Cantonese kitchen staple that is also a serious food-therapy ingredient. In traditional Chinese medicine, kudzu is associated with relieving surface tension, easing stiff neck and shoulder muscles, clearing heat and irritability, and supporting healthy blood pressure. It also has a gentle mild flavour that makes the soup pleasant and drinkable for the whole family. Combined with raw Job’s tears (pearl barley), which is associated with clearing internal dampness and easing inflamed or tight muscles, this becomes a particularly useful soup for the office worker, the driver, or anyone who has been holding tension in their upper body. Although both kudzu and Job’s tears are slightly cooling in nature, proper long cooking (at least 2 hours) rounds off their sharp edges and produces a soup that is clear and nourishing without being weakening.

Method

1. Peel the kudzu root using Nourilo’s technique: press a small knife firmly against the skin at the widest part of the top and peel downward in strips, following the contours. Cut into chunks. For the irregular areas, use the same technique rather than a vegetable peeler.
2. Soak and rinse the Job’s tears and tangerine peel.
3. Blanch the pork in boiling water for a few minutes, then drain.
4. Combine all ingredients in a large pot with 2.4 L of water.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook for 2 hours until the liquid reduces to about 1.2 L.
6. Drink the soup and eat the solid ingredients.

Nourilo’s Tips

Although kudzu root and Job’s tears are both somewhat cooling in nature, cooking the soup for a full 2 hours rounds off the cooling effect — the finished soup is described as “clear and nourishing without being cold and depleting, promotes sweating without damaging the body, and supports urination without weakening the kidneys.” This makes it suitable for the whole family. If fresh kudzu is unavailable, you can use 75 g (about 75 g) of dried kudzu root instead.