Black rice & chestnut sweet soup
A deep-purple black rice sweet soup with soft chestnuts, brown sugar and a hint of ginger — warming and gently blood-moving as Cold Dew cools.
- 1 hr 40 min
- Serves 2
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Blood Stasis hates the cold, and as Cold Dew turns cooler circulation slows. Black rice, chestnuts and brown sugar are all sweet and warm, gently moving blood and warming the kidneys, while a little ginger warms the channels — eaten hot, never icy.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 90 min- 1Rinse the black rice and soak it for 2 hours, or overnight.
- 2Drain the rice and put it in the rice cooker with the chestnuts, ginger and 1 litre water on the porridge setting (about 1½ hours); you can set the timer the night before.
- 3Stir in the brown sugar and adjust to taste; loosen with a little hot water if it is too thick.
- 4Pour into a pre-warmed flask and eat it warm at the office in the afternoon.
Cautions
- Black rice and chestnuts are both starchy; if you watch your blood sugar, halve the sugar and count this as your carbohydrate.
Chef's tips
- Vacuum-packed peeled chestnuts from the supermarket save time. The longer the rice soaks, the faster it softens.
The TCM view
Black rice is sweet and warm; it strengthens digestion, warms the liver and moves blood. Chestnuts are sweet and warm and strengthen the kidneys and sinews while moving blood. Brown sugar is sweet and warm and disperses stasis; old ginger is pungent and warm and dispels cold. Warm and freeing — nourishing with a gentle push to circulation, in step with Cold Dew.
