Red date and peanut sweet soup
Peanuts simmered slowly until they melt in the mouth, with red dates, ginger and slab sugar — a traditional Cantonese sweet soup that warms and supports qi.
- 2 hr
- Serves 4
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi-deficient types feel the cold and tire easily at Minor Cold. Peanut soup is a traditional Cantonese sweet soup: slow-simmered until meltingly soft, the peanuts strengthen the spleen and moisten the lungs, while red dates support qi and a couple of slices of ginger warm the stomach.
Method
Prep 10 min · Cook 110 min- 1Rinse the peanuts and soak for 4 hours or overnight. Stone the red dates.
- 2Put the peanuts and their soaking water in a pot with the water, bring to the boil, then simmer over low heat for 1½ hours until soft.
- 3Add the red dates, ginger and slab sugar and simmer for 20 minutes more. Eat hot.
Cautions
- Avoid if allergic to peanuts; peanuts are rich, so have less with poor digestion or gallbladder problems.
Chef's tips
- Keep the red peanut skins, which are said to nourish blood; a pressure cooker softens the peanuts in 20 minutes.
The TCM view
Peanuts are sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen and stomach and moistening the lungs; red dates are sweet and warm, supporting the middle qi and nourishing blood; fresh ginger is pungent and warm, warming the middle and dispelling cold. Together they support the spleen and qi and warm the stomach.
