Steamed pork patty with lotus root and shiitake on rice
Minced pork mixed with diced lotus root and shiitake and steamed until juicy, the lotus staying crisp — spoon the savoury juices over rice for a moistening lunch.
- 35 min
- Serves 3
- Steam
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yin-deficient people are short of fluids, with a dry mouth and throat and hot palms, and Bailu's rising autumn dryness drains yin further. Lotus root generates fluids and cools the blood, pork nourishes yin and moistens dryness, and shiitake boosts qi. Steamed with little oil, the sweet, savoury juices soothe the throat without being heating.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 15 min- 1Soak the shiitake until soft and dice. Peel the lotus root, cut into small dice and keep in water so it doesn't discolour. Finely chop the ginger and spring onion.
- 2Mix the pork with the soy sauce, sugar and cornflour, adding the water a little at a time and stirring in one direction until sticky. Fold in the lotus root, shiitake and ginger.
- 3Spread the mixture on a plate, pressing the centre slightly thinner, and steam over boiling water on a medium-high heat for 12–15 minutes until cooked through.
- 4Drizzle with sesame oil, scatter with spring onion and spoon the juices from the plate over the rice.
Chef's tips
- Use minced pork with a little fat for a silkier patty; dice the lotus root rather than mincing it to keep the crunch, and spread the patty thin with a dip in the middle so it cooks evenly.
The TCM view
Lotus root is sweet and cold raw, warmer once cooked, entering the heart, spleen and stomach — raw it clears heat and generates fluids, cooked it strengthens the spleen and nourishes blood. Pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin, moistening dryness and nourishing blood; shiitake strengthens the spleen and boosts qi.
