Raw Rehmannia Honeysuckle Mung Bean Soup

Why people make this soup

Hong Kong summers are hot and humid, and when you layer that with a diet heavy in fried or overly rich food, the body’s internal heat can manifest on the skin — as acne clusters, boils, or itchy eczema flares. Traditional Chinese food therapy associates these skin reactions with “blood heat and dampness,” and this simple three-ingredient soup has been a classic home remedy for generations. The soup is not a cure, but many families use it as a short course of 2–3 servings to help the body rebalance when breakouts coincide with hot weather and heat-type symptoms like constipation or dark urine.

Method

1. Rinse and briefly soak the raw rehmannia and mung beans.
2. Place the rehmannia and mung beans in a pot with 2.1 L of water.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low-medium simmer.
4. Cook for 1 hour until the mung beans are soft.
5. Add the honeysuckle flowers and raw cane sugar.
6. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then serve.

Nourilo’s Tips

Do not worry if the mung beans are very soft or mushy after an hour — that is exactly what you want. The skin of the mung bean holds the most nourishing properties, so eating the cooked beans along with the soup is encouraged. This soup is on the cooler side, so it is meant as a short-term intervention, not a daily drink. If your constitution tends toward coldness in general, consider a milder version: swap the honeysuckle for red dates and use a pigeon instead of water as the base — that version is warming enough to be safe for people with a colder constitution.