Beef and water spinach rice vermicelli soup
Crunchy water spinach and silky marinated beef in a clear ginger broth over rice vermicelli — light, clean and refreshing on a humid morning.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Boil
- Easy
Why it suits you: Damp-heat people tend to have oily skin, a bitter taste in the mouth and breakouts, all worse when heat and humidity build at the Summer Solstice. Water spinach clears heat, drains damp and cools the blood, and beef strengthens the spleen without being heating. A clear broth with no chilli oil or pepper keeps oil and salt low, so you won't be left parched.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Mix the beef with the soy sauce, cornflour, 1 tbsp water and the oil and marinate for 15 minutes. Soak the vermicelli in warm water for 10 minutes until soft, then drain.
- 2Bring the water to the boil with the ginger, cook the vermicelli for 2 minutes, then lift into two bowls.
- 3Return the broth to the boil and add the water spinach stems for 1 minute, then the leaves. Add the beef, separating the slices, and turn off the heat as soon as it changes colour. Season with salt.
- 4Pour over the vermicelli, scatter with spring onion and eat straight away.
Cautions
- Water spinach is cold in nature; eat less if your stomach is weak or you have loose stools.
Chef's tips
- Slice the beef against the grain and stop cooking once it changes colour; add the stems before the leaves so both cook evenly.
The TCM view
Water spinach is sweet and cold, clearing heat, cooling the blood, draining damp and resolving toxicity. Beef is sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen and stomach and boosting qi and blood. Rice vermicelli harmonises the stomach, and ginger is slightly warm, settling the stomach and tempering the cold of the greens. It clears damp-heat without harming the digestion.
