Skin Hydrating Pear and Snow Fungus Dessert Soup for Autumn Dryness
Does your skin feel drier lately?
Or have sore throat and dry cough?
If the answer is yes, then this is the perfect Herbal Dessert for you.
If you’ve been following my posts and stories or seen me in person in the clinic, it’s most likely I’ve mentioned this dessert soup at least once. This is because it has so many benefits for the body, and patients can really feel the positive changes after drinking it.
As the leaves fall, we begin to shift into Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Autumn dryness often leaves our skin feeling dry and our Lung and Intestines feeling dehydrated.
This dessert soup is perfect during this season as it helps to nourish yin fluids in the body. This in turn helps with symptoms such as dry skin, dry and painful throat, dry cough, hot hands and feet, insomnia, and constipation.
This soup is also great for the dreadful Post viral cough to help clear out phlegm stuck in your chest and moisten your throat to relieve pain and dryness.
I love this recipe because it is not only a simple yet effective herbal soup but also delicious. The chewy texture of the snow fungus and soft melt-in-your-mouth pear paired with the sweet refreshing flavour is just so delightful.
Functions:
Pear 梨 Li is a fruit with many benefits. It helps to moisten dryness, clear heat and dispel phlegm.
Snow Fungus 银耳 yin er is a fungus that is not beautiful to look at but also helps the appearance of your skin. It is rich in Vitamin D and helps with collagen production. It also has the ability to help replenish fluids and reduce inflammation in the body.
Rock Sugar 冰糖 bing tang does not only add sweetness in the dessert soup, it also has cooling properties.
- Recipe -
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 1.5 hr
Total Time: 2 hr
Servings: 3-4
Ingredients:
1 whole pear
20g of snow fungus
2L of water
Rock sugar to taste
Handful of Goji berries (optional)
Step 1
Slice the pear into wedges, remove the seeds. you can peel the skin or leave it on depending on the desired texture.
You can choose any pear in season for different texture and flavour, but my favourite is the Chinese Nashi Pear (雪梨) it has a more light and crunchy consistency.
Step 2
Rehydrate the snow fungus in cold water for 30 minutes and break into pieces. Remove the yellow roots.
Step 3
Place the snow fungus and pear into 2 litres of cold water and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour with lid on.
Step 4
After 1 hour, add the desired amount of rock sugar and goji berries (optional for colour and a bit more sweetness) and simmer for another half an hour.
When it is glistening and has a slightly thicker consistency, that’s when you know all the nutrients from white fungus has now been infused into the soup.
There you go,
And it’s done! You can have it as a heart warming winter soup or refreshing chilled dessert. Enjoy!
It’s been a delicacy since thousands of years ago served in the palace. Many concubines love it’s skin hydrating effects and drinks this regularly to help maintain youthful skin.
Tips:
Do not skip the rehydrating step as it would absorb all the liquid and make your soup waterless.
Always rehydrate them for 30 minutes - 2 hours. Never more than 4 hours at room temperature as this will allow bacteria to grow.
*You can find all the ingredients in the Asian groceries in your local area.
*As always, speak to me or your TCM doctor before performing any self-treatments if you have any concerns.
Sources:
Yang, Shou-zhong. The Divine Farmer’s Material Medica : a Translation of the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing by Yang Shou-Zhong . First edition. Boulder, CO: Blue Poppy Press, Inc., 1998. Print.