Jade Screen pork shin soup with stir-fried baby pak choi
Pork shin slow-simmered with the three Jade Screen herbs — astragalus, atractylodes and saposhnikovia — with garlicky baby pak choi on the side.
- 1 hr 55 min
- Serves 4
- Slow-simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Sensitive types are prone to winter sniffles, sneezing and itchy skin. Jade Screen is TCM's classic trio for strengthening the body's defences: simmered with pork shin, astragalus, atractylodes and saposhnikovia make a sweet, mellow soup that helps fend off cold winds, with plain baby pak choi on the side.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 100 min- 1Cut the pork shin into large pieces, put in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse.
- 2Rinse the astragalus, atractylodes and saposhnikovia and put them in a muslin soup bag; pit the red dates.
- 3Bring everything to the boil with the ginger and water, then simmer on low heat for 1½ hours. Season with salt.
- 4Rinse the baby pak choi and halve any large heads.
- 5Fry the garlic in the oil until fragrant, add the pak choi and stir-fry over high heat for 1–2 minutes with a pinch of salt. Serve alongside the soup.
Cautions
- Pause during a cold, fever or sore throat, and adjust herb amounts with a TCM practitioner.
Chef's tips
- Ask a herbal shop for 'Jade Screen' herbs and they'll pack all three; a soup bag keeps the broth clear.
The TCM view
Astragalus is sweet and slightly warm, supporting qi and firming the exterior; atractylodes is sweet, bitter and warm, strengthening the spleen; saposhnikovia is pungent, sweet and slightly warm, expelling wind — together they form the Jade Screen formula. Pork shin is sweet, salty and neutral, moistening dryness; pak choi is sweet and neutral. It suits sensitive types in winter.
