Spinach
Fresh spinach, sold in rooted bunches, soaked and washed well and cut into lengths; careful cooks blanch it first to shed most of its oxalate. In quick soups it wilts to velvet in a minute, classically paired with pork liver for a double-iron blood-nourishing pot.
TCM properties
Nature · cooling Flavour · sweet Meridians · liver、stomach、large intestine
Traditional food therapy
In Cantonese food therapy spinach is regarded as blood-nourishing and moistening, traditionally taken to ease dryness, smooth the bowels and support the liver and eyes.
Cautions: read first
- High in oxalate: anyone with a history of kidney stones should blanch it before it goes into the soup, and should not eat large amounts long term
- Oxalate blocks calcium and iron absorption, and blanching first removes most of it
- Those with a weak, cold spleen and stomach or loose stools should eat only a little
Preparation
Trim the roots, soak and wash it for half an hour and cut into lengths; the fussier cook blanches it first to take the oxalate out.
Origin
Widely grown throughout China. Australian bunched spinach is locally grown; baby-leaf salad packs are the most common
Availability in Australia
Easy to find
