In the five-element framework, late summer belongs to Earth — the season of ripeness, harvest, and the pause between summer’s expansion and autumn’s contraction. Earth governs the Spleen and Stomach, the organs responsible for transforming food and putting it into action in our bodies. This is the time of year to eat foods that are warm, naturally sweet, and easy to digest — think root vegetables, winter squash, and whole grains. For most people, it is time to pull out the crockpot and warm up to soups and stews rather than reaching for the raw, cold foods that tend to dominate in peak summer.
Here’s one of our favorites for this stretch of the calendar:
Simple Sweetness Squash Soup from Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen
Ingredients
1 winter squash of about 2 1/2 pounds, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 – 2 inch pieces
1 cup water
3 tablespoons sweet rice powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons (or to taste) rice syrup or another sweetener (such as honey or agave syrup)
1 – 2 tablespoons goji berries (optional)
Directions
- Place the squash pieces into a pot with the water, cover, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes, until the squash is very soft.
- Pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender and whir the mixture until smooth. (If you you have a small food processor, work in batches. If you don’t have a blender, you can mash the squash with a fork.)
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. While stirring, sprinkle in the sweet rice powder, a little at a time so it doesn’t clump, then add the salt, sweetener, and goji berries (if using). Bring back to a boil and continue to simmer, covered, for a couple minutes until the goji berries plump up.
In the Chinese tradition, pumpkin or winter squash is considered especially good for people with diabetes; the vegetable is described as sweet and neutral to warming, entering the Spleen and Stomach.
Want More Recipes Like This?
If this kind of seasonal, medicine-informed cooking speaks to you, a few books worth having on your shelf:
- Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen by Yuan Wang, Warren Sheir, and Mika Ono- Yuan Wang and Warren Sheir – both experts in Chinese medicine – and writer Mika Ono reveal how easy it can be to tap into the 3,000-year-old secrets of East Asian herbal cooking. This entertaining, easy-to-follow guide provides dozens of delicious recipes, anecdotes about various herbs, and all you need to know about acquiring ingredients – even if you don’t yet know the difference between a lotus seed and the lotus position.
- Welcoming Foods by Andrew Sterman – The two volumes of Welcoming Food offer a unique entry into understanding the energetics of food, explain how foods work in common sense language, and provide easy-to-follow recipes for everyday eating. The two books offer a step-by-step tour of digestion and the way to use foods to maintain or return to optimal health. The second book focuses more on actual recipes to try at home.
- The First Forty Days by Heng Ou — written for the postpartum period, but its warming, restorative approach to soups, congees, and broths rooted in the Chinese practice of zuo yuezi translates beautifully to any season the body needs extra support. You may consider this if you’re recovering from illness like the flu or even something like cancer. You might want to eat more of these foods if you’re feeling run down or suffer with chronic fatigue.
- Recipes for Self-Healing by Daverick Leggett — a wonderful, approachable guide to Chinese food energetics using familiar Western ingredients, with each recipe broken down by its effect on qi, blood, and the organ systems.
- Healing with Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford — a dense but foundational text on East Asian nutritional therapy, covering food energetics, seasonal eating, and therapeutic diets in depth.
Food is one of the most accessible tools we have in East Asian Medicine — you don’t need needles to start supporting your Spleen and Stomach qi, just a pot and some patience. If you’d like recipe or dietary suggestions tailored to your own constitution, that’s something we’re always happy to talk through at your next visit.
Whether you’re new to Jennum O’Hara Acupuncture or have been in our care for years, this welcome packet has useful information for how to get the most out of your treatments with us.
Keep this to refer back to when a new symptom arises or you receive an unfamiliar treatment.
As always, reach out to us with any questions or concerns!