The soup of four wonders is made from Poria, Chinese yam, lotus seeds and Gorgon fruits.
It has many benefits to the human body, such as strengthening the spleen, strengthening the lungs, removing dampness, nourishing the face, clearing fire, and diuretic.
Legend has it that when Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty went to the south of the Yangtze River, the four courtiers accompanying him fell ill one after another due to stress, traveling in boats and vehicles, and unaccustomed to the soil and water.
Faced with such a situation, even the imperial doctor was helpless. Subsequently, a monk appeared after feeling the pulses of the sicks and prescribed a soup made of “stewed pork belly in equal amounts of lotus seeds, gorgon, Chinese yam, and Poria”.
After the four ministers took the medicinal soup, they recovered immediately. Since then, every court official on a southern tour will use this recipe to prepare soup to nourish their health.
Material:
Gorgon 20g
Lotus seeds 20 grams
Chinese Barley 20g
Poria 15g
20 grams of dried Chinese yam or half of raw yam
Codonopsis 20g
Jujubes 10 pcs
Unbleached rock sugar 30g
Preparation:
Wash the gorgon, lotus seeds, poria, jujube, Coix Seed and Chinese yam with cold water beforehand. If using raw yam, peel and cut into pieces.
Put the above ingredients into a pot, add cold water and rock sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat and simmer until the coix seeds and gorgon are soft then serve.
Why would you want to drink soup of four wonders often?
Remove dampness from the body. Because cold and dampness produces phlegm and coagulation, the viscera, blood vessels, and body fluids will become blocked and stagnated. Sweat, cold, low body temperature, staying up late, etc. can cause the dampness condition. Nourishes the face and improves the elasticity of the muscles: Soup of four wonders nourishes the spleen and removes dampness from the spleen, which, in turn nourishes the blood, improve the elasticity of the muscles and reduce the phenomenon of sagging. Therefore, women must consume soup of four wonders often. According to the TCM’s five elements, the spleen belongs to the earth, and the earth can produce metal. And, the lungs belongs to metal. Therefore, a good spleen and stomach can improve the function of the lungs. It has a beneficial effect on Qi deficiency, palpitations, and weakness that appear after illness or virus infection.
Who are suitable for drinking the soup of four wonders?
People above 6 years old with spleen deficiency
Loss of appetite, weight loss
Tongue with white coating with tooth marks around it
The stool is not formed and sticky
The complexion is yellow and dull
Dark circles around the eyes and big eye bags
Being overweight or too thin
Skin laxity
The function of various ingredients:
Gorgon has the functions of invigorating the spleen and stopping diarrhea, nourishing the kidney and strengthening the essence, removing dampness and stopping belts, etc.
Lotus seeds have the effects of invigorating the spleen and stopping diarrhea, nourishing the heart and soothing the nerves, nourishing the kidney and strengthening the essence
The main effect of Coix Seed is diuresis and to reduce dampness and strengthen the spleen
Poria “nourishes yin and dehumidifies”. It can also clear heat and detoxify, eliminate acne, refresh the face, strengthen muscles and bones, and has curative effects on women’s diseases and skin diseases
Chinese Yam can help people to improve the condition of weak body, weak spleen and stomach, insufficient kidney qi, lung deficiency and cough
Codonopsis is sweet and balanced in nature. There are invigorating Qi, quenching thirst, invigorating the spleen and benefiting the lungs, nourishing blood and producing body fluid.
Jujube is rich in vitamin C and vitamin P, which is very beneficial for improving microcirculation, maintaining the elasticity of blood vessel walls, and resisting atherosclerosis (in today’s pandemic, the virus attack and damage the walls of large and small blood vessels, so pay attention to ingesting jujube dates)
Unbleached rock sugar has the functions of invigorating the middle triple warmer （中焦）and replenishing qi, harmonizing the stomach and moistening the lungs, relieving cough and reducing phlegm, dispelong fire & quenching thirst, clearing heat and reducing turbidity, nourishing yin and promoting body fluid, relieving sweat and detoxifying, etc. Bloody phlegm, chronic cough due to yin deficiency, dry mouth and throat, sore throat, night sweats in children, toothache due to excessive exposure to external evils of wind and fire.
Information and photos provided by: Wellness Advocate, Edwin Low Nontoxic Wellness 62922991
