Major Heat · Tea break · Balanced
Watermelon sago sweet soup
Fresh watermelon juice with chewy sago pearls — cooling without ice and rehydrating on a scorching Major Heat afternoon.
- 30 min
- Serves 2
- Boil
- Easy
CoolingClears summer heatReplenishes fluids
Why it suits you: Balanced types simply follow the season. Major Heat is the hottest term, and watermelon — known as 'natural White Tiger Decoction' — clears heat and replenishes fluids. A pinch of salt replaces minerals lost in sweat, and gentle sago tempers the watermelon's cold.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 20 min- 1Seed the watermelon. Dice half; mash the other half in a large bowl with a spoon and strain to get about 250 ml juice.
- 2Bring 1 litre water to a rolling boil, add the sago and cook for 10 minutes, stirring. Turn off the heat, cover and leave for 10 minutes until clear.
- 3Tip the sago into a sieve, rinse off the excess starch under running water and drain.
- 4Stir the sugar and salt into the watermelon juice until dissolved, then add the sago and diced watermelon. Eat straight away — no ice.
Cautions
- Watermelon and sago raise blood sugar quickly — with diabetes, have a smaller bowl and skip the sugar.
Chef's tips
- Turn off the heat while the sago still has a tiny white dot in the centre; the residual heat turns it clear without going mushy.
- Don't use fridge-cold watermelon — let it sit out for 15 minutes first.
The TCM view
Watermelon is sweet and cold; it clears summer heat, eases irritability and quenches thirst. Sago is sweet and warm and supports digestion, softening the watermelon's chill. A pinch of salt helps replace what sweat takes out. Sweet, cooling and moistening, the bowl relieves the heat without upsetting the stomach.
