Garlic water spinach and pork slices on rice
Water spinach comes into season in April and clears heat and damp. Flash-fried with garlic and lean pork, it's crisp and sweet — lunch in 10 minutes.
- 20 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Damp-heat types get oily skin, spots and a bitter taste in the mouth, and Grain Rain's muggy heat makes it worse. Water spinach is sweet and cold, clearing heat and draining damp, lean pork moistens without heating, and brown rice keeps it light and filling — nothing spicy or greasy.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 10 min- 1Mix the pork with 1 tsp of the soy sauce and the cornflour and marinate for 10 minutes. Rinse the water spinach, separate the stems from the leaves and cut into lengths.
- 2Heat half the oil in a wok and stir-fry the pork until just cooked, then set aside.
- 3Add the rest of the oil and fry the garlic until fragrant. Stir-fry the stems over high heat for 1 minute, then add the leaves and toss until they turn bright.
- 4Return the pork, add the remaining soy sauce and the salt, toss and serve straight away with the brown rice.
Cautions
- Water spinach is cold, so eat less if your digestion runs cold or you have diarrhoea. Don't overdo the garlic, or it gets heating.
Chef's tips
- Add the stems before the leaves so the stems stay crisp and the leaves tender; cook on high heat without a lid so it stays green.
The TCM view
Water spinach is sweet and cold; it clears heat, cools the blood, drains damp and detoxifies. Lean pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin and building strength. Garlic is pungent and warm, offsetting the spinach's coldness; brown rice is sweet and neutral, supporting the spleen and draining damp. Cooling but kind to the stomach — it clears damp-heat at lunchtime.
