Kudzu, Mung Bean and Job's Tears Soup

Why people make this soup

In hot, busy weather Nourilo finds many people get tight or aching shoulders, necks and back muscles, and outdoor workers especially feel sticky with oily sweat. A cooling pot of kudzu soup is a comforting way to settle things down. Kudzu root is traditionally associated with relaxing the nerves and muscles, calming the mood, and easing heat in the stomach while quenching thirst. Paired with mung beans and Job’s tears — both linked to clearing heat — it is a friendly bowl for those troubled by heat-type skin problems and breakouts.

Method

1. Blanch the pork bones to remove scum.
2. Peel the kudzu root and cut into chunks.
3. Rinse and soak the mung beans and Job’s tears.
4. Put everything in a pot with 3 L of water and simmer about 3 hours down to 1.2–1.5 L. Drink the soup and eat the ingredients.

Nourilo’s Tips

This soup is clean and naturally sweet. Besides supporting acne-prone skin, it traditionally suits those with high blood pressure or diabetes, and those who feel heat, fullness or a stuffy ache in the chest and stomach. Cooked an hour and a half or longer, kudzu is no longer strongly cooling; a piece of warming dried tangerine peel can be added.