Look after your Liver

You’ll probably know by now that I just love a soup recipe, so here’s a nice simple one for late spring.

Mustard greens and pork soup

Ingredients

300g mustard greens *

180g lean organic pork

2 slices of fresh ginger

* also known as kai choi

Method

1. Wash and slice the mustard greens.

2. Rinse and slice the pork.

3. Season the pork with a little sugar, salt, pepper, cornflour and sesame oil, and set aside.

4. Bring 850ml of water to the boil, add the greens and the ginger and simmer for 30 mins.

.5. Add the seasoned pork and simmer for another 6 or 7 mins.

And as a side dish, here is a Chinese medicine explanation of spring in easy-to-digest bullet point form:

Spring is the season of: rebirth and potential
Qi movement: upwards and outwards, like a seedling bursting through the ground
Associated organ: the Liver
Associated activity: planning and the achievement of those plans
Associated substances: Qi and Blood
Healthy Liver energy allows you to: move smoothly without hindrance, body AND mind
Wonky Liver energy: becomes stagnant and stuck, leading to:
frustration, irritability, anger and the inability to forge ahead with plans; and
stiff joints, muscle cramps, irregular/painful periods, digestive issues, and headaches