Soups
White Peppercorn, Pickled Mustard Green and Pork Stomach Soup
Traditionally warms the stomach and dispels cold
Why people make this soup
When the weather stays cold and you’ve worked through a pile of fruit gifted over the holidays, the stomach can feel chilled and uneasy. Bro Niu’s remedy is this warming pot. White peppercorns are warming and traditionally helpful for a cold stomach, chilly belly pain and that rumbling-tummy feeling; paired with pickled mustard greens they whet the appetite and aid digestion, while ginger and pork stomach make a sweet, savoury broth. It’s just the thing on a cold day.
Who it suits / who should be cautious
- Suits people with a cold-feeling stomach who want a warming, savoury soup; the flavour is good and it suits young and old.
- Caution: those with yin-deficiency heat or a sore/irritated throat should avoid it, as it is warming.
Why these ingredients (the food-therapy logic)
- White peppercorns (bai hu jiao li): Warming in nature; traditionally used for a cold stomach, chilly abdominal pain and loose, rumbling digestion.
- Pickled mustard greens (xian suan cai): Tangy and savoury, traditionally used to whet the appetite and aid digestion.
- Ginger (sheng jiang): Adds warmth and balances the dish.
- Pork stomach (zhu du): Makes a rich, savoury broth and is traditionally regarded as supportive of the stomach.
Ingredients (5 bowls)
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| White peppercorns | 1 tablespoon | Rinsed |
| Pickled mustard greens | ~2 liang (~75 g) | Soaked in light brine, cut |
| Fresh ginger | 3 slices | |
| Pork stomach | half to 1 whole | Cleaned, cut |
| Lean pork | ~4 liang (~150 g) | Blanched |
Method
- Rinse the peppercorns. Soak the pickled mustard greens in light salted water, then cut into pieces. Blanch the lean pork.
- Turn the pork stomach inside out, trim away the fat, and scrub thoroughly with salt and cornflour; cut into pieces and blanch.
- Put all ingredients in a pot with 8–9 bowls of water.
- Simmer for 2 hours until reduced to 5 bowls. Serve the soup with the ingredients.
Bro Niu’s tips
White peppercorns work better than black ones here — but whiter isn’t necessarily better; the greyish-yellow ones are best. This soup is tasty and suits young and old, but those with yin-deficiency heat or throat discomfort should not drink it.
Community questions answered (selected)
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Q (Wing): Can the “four gentlemen” (si jun zi) soup be made with codonopsis if you have high blood pressure? If not, what can replace it? Bro Niu: You can replace codonopsis with 5 qian of tai zi shen (prince’s-feather ginseng). Its qi-supporting action is a little milder, but as it is from the pink family, it doesn’t raise blood pressure.
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Q (Kathy): During cancer chemotherapy, what soup or food-therapy can help with appetite and ease nausea? Bro Niu: You can use costus root (mu xiang) 3 qian, amomum (sha ren) 2 qian, ginger 4 slices, one tangerine peel, 4 red dates and licorice 2 qian, simmered from 4 bowls of water down to 2. Take 2 doses; if it helps, rest 2 days and repeat. Chemotherapy affects blood-cell production, so you can regularly cook a soup of red beans, red-skinned peanuts, goji and red dates (cook about 1 hour until the beans are soft; add a tangerine peel if you tend to bloat) to support the blood.
Published February 5, 2025 · Adapted and translated for Nourilo from a traditional home-kitchen recipe. Approx. 3 min read.
