Spinach & onion egg pancake with black soy milk
A golden spinach and onion egg pancake with black soy milk warmed with ginger and brown sugar — warming and good for circulation.
- 20 min
- Serves 2
- Pan-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Blood Stasis shows up as a dull complexion, easy bruising or period pain. As yang rises at Awakening of Insects, it is a good time to get qi and blood moving: onion, ginger and brown sugar warm and unblock, spinach nourishes blood and frees the vessels, and black beans move blood.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 10 min- 1Wash the spinach, blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds to remove its astringency, rinse under cold water, squeeze dry and chop. Finely dice the onion.
- 2Beat the eggs with the flour, 3 tbsp of the black soy milk and a pinch of salt until smooth, then stir in the spinach.
- 3Heat the oil in a frying pan and soften the onion over medium heat for 2 minutes. Pour in the egg mixture, spread it out and cook over low heat for 3 minutes until golden underneath.
- 4Flip it with the help of a plate and cook for another 2–3 minutes until set through, then cut into wedges.
- 5Heat the rest of the soy milk with the ginger and brown sugar over low heat until just simmering, lift out the ginger and drink it hot with the pancake.
Cautions
- On blood thinners such as warfarin? Keep your intake of spinach and other dark leafy greens steady rather than suddenly eating a lot.
Chef's tips
- Use black soy milk from a soy-milk maker or an unsweetened carton. If you grind your own and cook it on the hob, boil it for a full 5 minutes before drinking.
- To flip the pancake, cover the pan with a plate, turn it over in one go, then slide the pancake back in to cook the other side.
The TCM view
Spinach is sweet and cool, nourishing blood and freeing the vessels; onion is pungent and warm and moves qi and blood; black beans are sweet and neutral and invigorate blood; ginger and brown sugar are warm and help circulation; eggs nourish yin. Warming, moving foods on a neutral base get blood flowing without fanning this term's liver fire.
