Rainbow Vegetable Soup

Why people make this soup

The “rainbow diet” idea — eating vegetables of many different colours every day — is well established in Western nutrition, and it turns out that traditional Chinese food therapy has long shared the same logic. Each colour family of vegetables carries different phytonutrients and different food-therapy associations: greens for detoxification, reds for antioxidants, orange-yellows for eye health and slowing ageing, purple-blacks for heart protection, and whites for calming and nourishing. Nourilo put those ideas together in this simple, everyday soup using accessible ingredients: fuzzy melon (light green), carrot (orange-red), corn (yellow), seaweed (dark green-black), and garlic (white-purple). The result is a mild, naturally sweet soup that is easy on the stomach and pleasant for the whole family.

Method

1. Peel the fuzzy melon and carrot; cut both into chunky pieces.
2. Husk the corn and cut into rounds.
3. Rinse the seaweed well.
4. Slice the lean pork and blanch briefly in boiling water; drain and rinse.
5. Combine all ingredients in a pot with 2.1 L of water.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
7. Serve the broth and eat the vegetables — both are important for the full benefit.

Nourilo’s Tips

This soup must be eaten with the vegetables, not just sipped as broth — most of the nutritional and food-therapy value comes from actually eating the colourful ingredients. The recipe is also flexible: feel free to swap the vegetables based on the season or your personal taste. The key principle is simply to use vegetables of different natural colours. Seaweed (hai zao) is typically available from supermarkets such as SOGO or Jusco (Aeon), sold in the seaweed and dried goods section.