Daylily, wood ear and lean pork congee
Soaked daylily buds and wood ear fungus simmered into creamy congee with tender pork slices, finished with ginger and spring onion — comforting when your mood feels heavy.
- 55 min
- Serves 3
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi-stagnant types are prone to low moods, sighing and a tight chest, and the sweltering days of Major Heat leave them irritable and off their food. Daylily, called the 'forget-your-worries herb' in Chinese, has long been used to lift the mood and calm the mind; wood ear moistens and moves blood, lean pork nourishes without heaviness, and ginger and spring onion whet the appetite.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 40 min- 1Rinse the rice, bring to the boil with the water, then simmer gently for 30 minutes until creamy.
- 2Meanwhile, soak the daylily and wood ear until soft. Trim the hard ends off the daylily and tie each into a knot; tear the wood ear into small pieces. Slice the pork and marinate with the soy sauce and cornflour for 10 minutes.
- 3Add the daylily and wood ear to the congee and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the pork and cook for 3 minutes until done. Season with salt.
- 4Ladle into bowls, scatter over the ginger and spring onion and eat hot.
Cautions
- Fresh daylily contains colchicine, so only use dried daylily buds, or cook fresh ones thoroughly.
Chef's tips
- Knotting the daylily stops it falling apart in the congee; wood ear swells many times when soaked, so 5 g dried is plenty.
The TCM view
Daylily is sweet and cool, clearing heat, draining damp, relieving constraint and calming the mind — the poet-philosopher Ji Kang wrote that 'daylily makes one forget sorrow'. Wood ear is sweet and neutral, cooling the blood and moistening dryness; lean pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin and tonifying; ginger and spring onion move qi and settle the stomach. Light and easy to digest, it eases a constrained chest in summer.
