【Ingredients】
Poria, Dioscorea, Lotus Seeds, Euryale Seeds (or Job's Tears)
【Benefits】
Tonifying the Spleen, Clearing Heat, Diuretic, Nourishing the Complexion, Reducing Dryness
The Four-Herbal Soup is a renowned traditional Chinese dietary formula for invigorating the spleen. The "four deities" in this context are Poria, Dioscorea, Lotus Seeds, and Euryale Seeds (or Job's Tears). These four "deities," when combined, complement each other's effects. The resulting soup offers a variety of benefits to the body, including tonifying the spleen, enhancing complexion, and reducing dryness. The efficacy of this combination is so remarkable that the title "Four Deities" is well-deserved.
Dioscorea: Formerly known as "shu yu," its taste is sweet, and its nature is neutral. It enters the spleen, lung, and kidney meridians. It functions to tonify the spleen and stomach, making it a common choice for regulating poor gastrointestinal function, such as diarrhea or reduced appetite due to spleen deficiency. It also supports the kidney and helps with issues like nocturnal emissions in men, excessive vaginal discharge in women, enuresis, frequent urination, and long-term cough due to lung deficiency.
Poria: Its taste is sweet and bland, and its nature is neutral. It enters the heart, lung, and spleen meridians. Poria promotes urination, leaches dampness, invigorates the spleen, calms the mind, and settles the spirit. It has the effects of promoting urination, reducing edema, and improving conditions of phlegm-fluid cough and diarrhea.
Euryale Seeds: Its taste is sweet and astringent, and its nature is neutral. It enters the spleen and kidney meridians. Similar in function to lotus seeds, both are seeds from plants in the water lily family. However, when there are symptoms of heart fire agitation and dryness, lotus seeds are preferred for nourishing the heart Qi, while Euryale seeds are emphasized for their astringent properties. They are used to treat frequent urination, enuresis, seminal emissions, and excessive vaginal discharge.
Lotus Seeds: Its taste is sweet and astringent, and its nature is neutral. It enters the heart, spleen, and kidney meridians. Lotus seeds nourish the spleen and astringe the intestines. They are beneficial for chronic diarrhea due to spleen deficiency and excessive menstruation or vaginal discharge in women. They also nourish the heart and kidney, making them suitable for heart palpitations, insomnia, restlessness, and frequent urination accompanied by nocturnal emissions.
You can actually cook it without adding meat as well, although nowadays it's common to include pork ribs or chicken when simmering. Some people also add ingredients like pork stomach or small intestines. This depends on personal preference, there are no fixed requirements. You can add and cook whatever you like. Of course, the longer you simmer it, the more fragrant it becomes, and it won't give you the sensation of consuming traditional Chinese medicine.
The cooking method is also very simple. First, blanch the fresh meat once. Then, add water and bring the meat to a boil before adding Poria, Dioscorea, Lotus Seeds, and Euryale Seeds (or Job's Tears) to simmer for at least half an hour. You can add a bit of rice wine towards the end, and season with salt. However, it's also fine if you choose not to add them – it's all up to you.
As for the four herbal ingredients, you can easily purchase them from a Chinese herbal store. The quantities are often pre-measured, so not knowing the exact amounts shouldn't be a concern. For example, in the herbal store we frequently visit, they sell a package of the four-herbal-soup ingredients for NT$100 , which is enough for around 2 meals.
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