Purslane and Job's-Tears Barley Soup

Why people make this soup

Plenty of middle-aged and older people with lower immunity catch shingles (“growing a snake”) in autumn and winter. It’s the chickenpox virus, dormant in the body, flaring back up: clusters of red blisters like “pairs of eyes,” densely packed, that sting like needles and burn. Treatment matters in the first one to three days — Chinese or Western — and acting at the very start can clear it within a week, but once the virus has damaged the nerve, the pain can last months or even years. On the food-therapy side, Nourilo shares this soup of fresh purslane and Job’s-tears barley, which he finds especially helpful for the spleen-weak, damp-heat type, whose blisters are pale red, fragile and prone to weeping.

Method

1. Wash the fresh purslane with its roots and cut into segments.
2. Combine with the Job’s-tears barley and 1.2 L of water; simmer for half an hour, down to 600 ml.
3. Add slab sugar and stir until dissolved. Serve.

Nourilo’s Tips

Fresh purslane is available at Chinese or Asian grocers, or online; the fresh form works better than dried. Soaking the barley beforehand helps it soften. A lean-pork version (unsweetened) is more nourishing; with slab sugar as a sweet soup it is gentler on the system — both are fine for clearing heat and easing discomfort.