Prepared Mulberry Mistletoe, Lotus Seed & Red Date Sweet Water

Why people make this sweet soup

Nourilo remembers when teahouses everywhere sold “mulberry-mistletoe lotus-seed egg sweet soup” — a cheap, cheerful tonic for ordinary folk. These days the younger crowd turns up its nose at that faint medicinal taste, but mulberry mistletoe really does earn its keep: it is traditionally associated with dispelling wind-damp, calming the mind, supporting blood pressure, strengthening sinew and bone, and nourishing the liver and kidney. Cooked with lotus seeds and red dates into a sweet soup, it is a gentle, affordable everyday tonic.

Method

1. Rinse the mulberry mistletoe; remove the cores from the fresh lotus seeds; pit the red dates.
2. Put everything in a pot with 2.1 L of water.
3. Simmer 1 hour, then stir in brown sugar until dissolved and reduced to 1.2 L. Serve.

Nourilo’s Tips

This sweet soup is fragrant and smooth, fine for young and old. Besides being good for women, it also suits men with kidney-deficiency type lower-back and waist aches.