Soups

Old Cucumber Mung Bean Barley Dried Scallop Pork Soup

traditionally used to relieve summer heat, support fluid replenishment, clear dampness, and nourish the digestive system

In short: Old Cucumber Mung Bean Barley Dried Scallop Pork Soup is a soup that traditionally used to relieve summer heat, support fluid replenishment, clear dampness, and nourish the digestive system. It is most often made for respiratory & lung wellness, digestive wellness, cooling & summer heat. Total time about 140 min. Key ingredients: mung beans, dried scallops, tangerine peel.

Prep
20 min
Cook
120 min
Total
140 min
Makes
1.5 L
Old Cucumber Mung Bean Barley Dried Scallop Pork Soup

Why people make this soup

The summer solstice — the day Nourilo wrote this recipe — marks peak yang energy, the most intense heat of the year, and also peak risk of dehydration and heatstroke. On days like this, the Cantonese tradition of cooking restorative soups comes into its own. Old yellow cucumber (the mature, large version of the cucumber, with a golden-yellow skin) stands out from other summer gourds for its relatively rich content of vitamins A, C, and E, which help support the immune system, protect against the effects of sun exposure, and provide cellular energy. When cooked in a long soup with mung beans, barley, dried scallops, and pork shin for two full hours, even those with weaker constitutions can comfortably drink it — the long cooking time turns this into something gentle and deeply nourishing rather than harsh.

What studies say about the key ingredients

Traditional use is not the same as clinical proof. Here is the strongest human research we found for each ingredient, limitations included.

  • Mung beans · Randomized crossover trial, 20 participants · 2019
    Breath hydrogen and methane were higher after wheat than after rice or mung bean noodles. Bloating scores after mung bean did not differ significantly from wheat, and mung bean produced gas levels similar to rice.Limitation: Small sample of 20 patients, with single meals tested rather than habitual intake, so longer-term effects of mung bean on symptoms are unknown.PubMed 31484315 · 1 more mung beans study
  • Job's tears (coix) · Randomized controlled trial · 2024
    Myeloperoxidase activity rose significantly in the placebo group after 8 weeks but showed no significant change in the adlay tea group. Vascular endothelial function improved in the adlay group, especially in those over 40.Limitation: Participants were healthy adults and the outcomes were surrogate markers, so the results say little about clinical disease outcomes. Tea is a polyphenol-rich extract, not whole grain.PubMed 38945894 · 2 more job's tears (coix) studies
  • Tangerine peel · Randomized controlled trial, 72 participants · 2025
    The tangerine peel drink group showed significant reductions in body weight and triglycerides after the intervention compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Safety markers showed no adverse effects. Gut microbiota and serum metabolite profiles also differed.Limitation: Small pilot trial with only 55 of 72 participants completing. The fermented product is not the same as plain tangerine peel, and the control group is not described.PubMed 40225325

From the Nourilo Research Library. Findings come from specific doses, extracts and populations and may not apply to a home-cooked recipe.

Safety first — read before you cook

This is a traditional food, not a treatment. Please check with your doctor or pharmacist before making it a regular part of your diet if you:

  • are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are cooking for a young child;
  • take regular medicines — especially blood thinners, blood-pressure, diabetes or immune-suppressing drugs;
  • have a kidney, liver or heart condition, or a known food allergy.

Stop eating it and seek advice if you notice an allergic reaction or feel unwell. Safety notes reviewed 8 October 2026 · How we write safety notes

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