Soups
Five-Color Mixed Bean and Lean Pork Soup
Traditionally used to nourish the five organs and support overall vitality
Why people make this soup
Bro Niu picked up a couple of bags of five-color kidney beans at a farmers’ fair and threw in a few more beans of different colors to make a hearty pot of soup with lean pork. In Chinese food-therapy thinking, a bowl built from many colors of beans is a simple way to give the whole body a little support — it is filling, nourishing, and the kind of thing a family can drink any day.
Who it suits / who should be cautious
- Suits most people as an everyday nourishing soup; nice in cooler weather.
- Anyone with favism (G6PD deficiency) should skip the large broad-bean-like beans in a five-color mix — ordinary soy, mung and adzuki beans are usually fine, but to be safe a child with favism should avoid the big ones.
Why these ingredients (the food-therapy logic)
- Mixed beans (za dou): Traditional thinking holds that red foods relate to the heart, green to the liver, yellow to the spleen, white to the lungs, and black to the kidneys — so a mix of colored beans is associated with broad, balanced nourishment for the organs.
- Black soybeans (hei dou): Traditionally linked with the kidneys and with keeping hair dark.
- Dried tangerine peel (chen pi): Added to support digestion and round out the flavor.
- Red dates (hong zao): Traditionally used to nourish and add natural sweetness.
Ingredients (4–5 bowls)
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Five-color kidney beans, mung beans, adzuki beans, soybeans, broad beans, black soybeans | a handful each (to taste) | soak 1 hour, discard the soaking water |
| Dried tangerine peel (chen pi) | 2 pieces | soak until soft |
| Red dates (hong zao) | 6 | |
| Lean pork | ~225 g (6 liang) | blanch first |
Method
- Soak the mixed beans in water for 1 hour, then pour off the soaking water.
- Soak the tangerine peel until soft; blanch the lean pork briefly to clean it.
- Put everything in a pot with about 8 bowls of water.
- Cook for about 2 hours, reducing to 4–5 bowls. Drink the soup and eat the ingredients.
Bro Niu’s tips
Discarding the soaking water keeps the soup clean. If you have a child with favism, leave out the large broad-bean-like beans from the five-color mix to be safe.
Community questions answered (selected)
- Q (May): Is it true that a child with favism cannot eat any kind of bean at all? Bro Niu: Not at all — everyday beans like soybeans, mung beans and adzuki are usually fine. But some of the large beans in a five-color kidney-bean mix look a lot like broad beans, so to be safe a child with favism should leave those out.
- Q (So): Will this soup make me feel a bit “heaty”? I have some gum swelling. If so, what can I add to balance it? Bro Niu: The base soup is fine. To make it more moistening and soothing you can add about 8 g of snow fungus (xue er) and about 40 g of lily bulb (bai he) and cook them together.
Published January 3, 2012 · Adapted and translated for Nourilo from a traditional home-kitchen recipe. Approx. 2 min read.
