Pork Heart Soup with Dried Longan Fruits

Purpose:

To heal weak qi of the spleen and lungs; to benefit qi and blood; to nourish the heart and calm the spirit.  This soup can be used as food therapy for sleepless dreams, heart murmur, weakness and low spirit, and insomnia due to weakness and disturbance.  It is useful for patients who have thready and weak pulses and white furred tongues with a slightly red tongue proper.       

Material:

Pork heart （猪心）                                        1 (about 300 g)
Dried longan fruits （龙眼干）                        30 g 
Dangshen （党参）                                         30 g 
Dried red dates （红枣）                                 5
Salt                                                               some
          

Note:

All the four main ingredients are available from Chinese grocery stores.  Longan fruits grow only in tropical or subtropical climates - southern China or south eastern Asia.  Freeze-dried longan fruits have a lighter color than sun-dried or oven-dried.  Dried red dates are produced mostly in northern China.  There are many varieties of dangshen; for better therapeutic effects, you might want to buy this herb from a Chinese herb shop.  All these three ingredients are revered nourishing herbs.  Pork heart is considered as neutral and sweet, and has a calming and sedating effect.  

Procedure:

a.   Remove fatty tissues from the pork heart, and cut into about 1 inch pieces.  Rinse clean dried longan fruits, dried red dates, and dangshen.

b.   Put the pork heart into a pot.  Add about 5 cups of water and bring to boil with high heat.  Remove foam and scum if there is any.  Add the herbs.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to simmer for 2 hours.    

c.   Add some salt to taste.  Ready to serve. 

        

Comment:

This is a soup with an amber color and a sweet  taste.  It is easy to imagine that pork heart muscles are somewhat tough since the heart serves as a pump to push blood circulation.  After cooking, the meat is slightly chewy, but already quite manageable.  Cooked longan fruits and red dates are edible.  Some people also eat cooked dangshen.  My suggestion is that you can eat it if you find dangshen tasteful; but you are not wasting much if you do not eat it.  The useful components of dangshen have already been extracted into the soup after such a long period of cooking together with other ingredients. 

Dried longan fruits（龙眼）

Pork heart （猪心）

Dangshen（党参）

Dried red dates（红枣）