Okra and grated Japanese yam rice bowl with a soft onsen egg
Star-shaped okra slices, silky grated Japanese yam and a soft onsen egg over rice with a splash of soy — slippery, cooling and soothing as autumn dryness begins.
- 30 min
- Serves 2
- Toss
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yin-deficient people are short of fluids, prone to a dry mouth and throat and hot palms, and Chushu's first dryness on top of the lingering heat easily drains yin. Okra and yam are both slippery, mucilaginous foods that generate fluids and moisten; yam nourishes the yin of the spleen, lungs and kidneys, and egg nourishes yin and blood. Nothing is fried, so it stays cooling.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 15 min- 1Bring the eggs to room temperature. Boil 1 litre of water, turn off the heat, add 200 ml cold water, lower in the eggs, cover and leave for 13 minutes, then transfer to cold water.
- 2Rub the okra with salt to remove the fuzz, blanch for 1 minute, rinse under cold water, trim the stems and slice into thin stars.
- 3Wearing gloves, peel the yam and grate it to a purée, then mix in a pinch of salt. Mix the soy sauce with the mirin.
- 4Spoon the rice into bowls, top with the yam and okra, crack an egg into the centre, scatter with shredded nori and sesame, drizzle with the sauce and mix before eating.
Cautions
- Okra and raw yam are cooling, so steam the yam first if your digestion is weak or you get loose stools; onsen eggs are not fully cooked, so pregnant women, older people and anyone with weak immunity should use a fully cooked egg.
Chef's tips
- Yam's sticky juice can make skin itch, so wear gloves; rubbing okra with salt removes the fuzz, and a cold rinse after blanching keeps it bright green.
The TCM view
Chinese yam is sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen, nourishing the stomach, benefiting the lungs and kidneys and generating fluids — raw, it nourishes yin even more. Okra is sweet and cool, clearing heat, moistening dryness and soothing the throat; egg is sweet and neutral, nourishing yin and blood and calming the mind; nori is sweet, salty and cold, clearing heat and resolving phlegm. Light yet nourishing.
