Asian pear and sweet apricot kernel porridge
Diced Asian pear, sweet apricot kernels and oats simmered in milk until creamy and finished with a little honey — sweet, soothing for the throat and right for dry autumn mornings.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yin-deficient people are short of fluids, with a dry mouth and throat, and Liqiu brings the first hint of autumn dryness — and though Hong Kong is still humid, heavy sweating drains yin all the same. Pear generates fluids and moistens dryness, apricot kernels moisten the lungs, and milk and honey nourish yin. This soft, gently sweet porridge leaves your throat soothed.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 15 min- 1Soak the apricot kernels in water for 15 minutes and drain. Core the pear, dicing half and thinly slicing the rest.
- 2Bring the water and apricot kernels to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the diced pear and oats and cook for 3 minutes.
- 3Pour in the milk and cook gently until just simmering and the oats are creamy, stirring so it doesn't stick.
- 4Spoon into bowls, top with the pear slices and drizzle over the honey once slightly cooled.
Cautions
- Pear is cool, so cook it longer if you get loose stools; don't substitute bitter apricot kernels (bei xing), and never give honey to babies under one.
Chef's tips
- Sweet apricot kernels are sold at herbal shops and in supermarket dried-goods aisles; soak them in the fridge overnight and they soften faster in the morning.
The TCM view
Asian pear is sweet, slightly sour and cool, generating fluids, moistening dryness and resolving phlegm — the Bencao Gangmu says it 'moistens the lungs, cools the heart, resolves phlegm and brings down fire'. Sweet apricot kernel is sweet and neutral, moistening the lungs and intestines; milk is sweet and neutral, replenishing deficiency and generating fluids; honey moistens dryness. Sweet and moistening, it suits yin deficiency in early autumn.
