Dried Octopus Adzuki Bean Soup for Adrenal Fatigue | TCM
Dried Octopus Adzuki Bean Soup for Adrenal Fatigue (赤小豆章魚湯) is a TCM Recipe and Cantonese kidney tonic soup that nourishes kidney essence, fights adrenal fatigue, and restores energy naturally. This deeply nourishing TCM soup combines dried octopus, adzuki beans, dried scallops, conch, hyacinth beans, raw coix seeds, and Chinese herbs to rebuild Qi and blood depleted by chronic stress and burnout.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 3 hr
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 pieces dried octopus (50-60g total)
- ½ C adzuki beans
- ¼ C hyacinth beans
- ¼ C raw ciox seeds
- 50g Chinese yams
- 2 Dried Figs
- 1 Chinese Date
- 25g dried scallops
- 1 lb pork spare ribs or soup bones with marrow
- 2L filtered cold water
- salt to taste
- 5 slices fresh ginger (increase to 8 for cold-type adrenal fatigue)
- 3 pieces dried tangerine peel (chen pi)
- 1/4C Black Beans
- 10 red dates, pitted
Instructions
- 1
Rinse dried octopus under cold water. Place the octopus in large bowl and cover completely with room temperature water.
- 2
Soak for 4-6 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator. Save the soaking water.
- 3
Remove hard beak from centre where tentacles meet (push out with thumb). Cut into 2-3 inch pieces.
- 4
Bring a large ceramic pot of water to a boil. Add pork bones and boil vigorously for 3-5 minutes. Drain and rinse bones thoroughly under cold water, scrubbing off any gray foam. Set aside.
- 5
In large soup pot (at least 6-quart), combine blanched bones, soaked octopus pieces plus the soaking water (strained), both types of beans (adzuki and hyacinth), figs, Chinese mizao, raw coix seeds, and other optional ingredients/TCM herbs like ginger, tangerine peel, red dates, eucommia bark, EXCEPT goji berries. Add 12 cups of cold filtered water.
- 6
Bring to vigorous rolling boil over high heat. Skim off any foam that rises to surface (about 5-7 minutes).
- 7
Reduce heat to the lowest setting. Cover pot with lid slightly ajar. Simmer gently for 3.5 to 4 hours. Soup should reduce to about 8-10 cups. Octopus should be fork-tender and the beans completely soft.
- 8
In the last 30 minutes of cooking, add goji berries. Set a timer (they become bitter if cooked longer).
- 9
Turn off the heat. Taste broth and add a small pinch of sea salt if needed (octopus provides natural sodium, so start with ¼ teaspoon).
- 10
Serve warm (not boiling hot). Each serving should include octopus pieces, beans, meat from bones, and plenty of deeply coloured broth.