Sweet corn and winter melon fish ball soup
Shop-bought minced dace mixed with tangerine peel and shaped into balls, simmered with winter melon and sweetcorn into a clear, damp-draining soup.
- 45 min
- Serves 3
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Phlegm-damp types feel heavy and puffy, and Qingming's humid 'returning south' weather piles on more damp. Winter melon and sweetcorn drain water, dace strengthens digestion and tangerine peel resolves phlegm. No oil goes in, so it is light but still filling.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 25 min- 1Mix the dace with the tangerine peel, cornflour, a little salt and 2 tbsp water, stirring in one direction until sticky, then slap it against the bowl a few times.
- 2Wash the winter melon and cut into chunks with the skin on, then boil with the corn and ginger in the water and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes.
- 3With wet hands, squeeze the fish paste into small balls and drop them into the soup. Cook for 2 minutes after they float.
- 4Season with salt and a little white pepper, scatter over the coriander and serve with rice.
Chef's tips
- Cook the winter melon with its skin on for the damp-draining effect, then just leave the skin when eating.
The TCM view
Winter melon is sweet, bland and slightly cold, draining water and clearing heat. Sweetcorn is sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen and draining damp. Dace is sweet and neutral, boosting qi and promoting urination. Tangerine peel is pungent, bitter and warm, moving qi and drying damp to resolve phlegm, so the spleen is protected from the coolness.
