Fresh tomato and pork ragù spaghetti
Fresh tomatoes simmered down into a sweet-sour meat sauce — no jars needed. Make a big batch and freeze portions for later.
- 40 min
- Serves 2
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yin-deficient people tend to have a dry mouth, warm palms and poor sleep, and as Grain Rain warms up they need moistening food. Tomato is sour-sweet and generates fluids, pork nourishes yin and celery clears heat. The sauce is neither spicy nor drying, and reheats well for a packed lunch.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 30 min- 1Heat the olive oil in a wok or pan, fry the garlic until fragrant, then add the pork and stir-fry until it changes colour.
- 2Add the tomato and celery and cook until the tomatoes release their juice, then stir in the tomato purée, soy sauce, sugar and 150 ml water and simmer gently for 20 minutes until thick. Season with salt.
- 3Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pan of lightly salted boiling water according to the packet until just tender, then drain.
- 4Plate the spaghetti and spoon over the sauce. Cool any leftover sauce and freeze it in portions.
Cautions
- If you have excess stomach acid or get stomach pain, don't eat tomatoes on an empty stomach.
Chef's tips
- Score a cross in the top of each tomato and blanch for 30 seconds — the skins slip off and the sauce is smoother.
The TCM view
Tomato is sweet, sour and slightly cold; it generates fluids, eases thirst and aids digestion. Pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin and moistening dryness. Celery is sweet and cool, clearing heat and calming the liver; olive oil moistens without drying. Mild and moistening overall — right for a yin-deficient body in Grain Rain's muggy swings.
