Kelp and tofu soup with nori rice balls
A light kelp and tofu soup with two nori-wrapped rice balls filled with cucumber and sesame — a clean, filling breakfast for sticky mornings.
- 30 min
- Serves 2
- Boil
- Easy
Why it suits you: Damp-heat types tend to have oily skin, a bitter taste in the mouth and breakouts, all worse in the steamy heat of Minor Heat. Kelp and nori clear heat, drain water and resolve phlegm, and tofu clears heat and moistens, in a light, low-oil soup. Shape the rice balls the night before and breakfast is just a pot of soup — no frying.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 15 min- 1Soak the kelp for 20 minutes, rinse off any grit and cut into strips; dice the tofu.
- 2Bring the water to the boil with the ginger, simmer the kelp for 10 minutes, then add the tofu for 3 minutes. Season with salt and scatter with spring onion.
- 3While the rice is still warm, mix in a pinch of salt, the sesame oil and sesame seeds. Divide into four, put a cucumber baton in the middle of each and shape into triangles using cling film.
- 4Wrap each rice ball in half a sheet of nori and serve with the soup.
Cautions
- Kelp is very high in iodine; eat it sparingly if you have an overactive thyroid.
Chef's tips
- Wet your hands and the cling film so the rice doesn't stick; wrap the nori just before eating so it stays crisp.
The TCM view
Kelp is salty and cold, clearing heat, draining water and softening hardness. Nori is sweet, salty and cold, clearing heat, resolving phlegm and promoting urination. Tofu is sweet and cool, clearing heat and moistening; cucumber clears heat and drains damp; and rice harmonises the stomach. Salty-cold with sweet-cool ingredients clears damp-heat without harming the digestion — well suited to Minor Heat.
