Eat More Spinach in Spring

Spring is the perfect time to enjoy nutritious spinach soup.
Spring is dry, making people prone to internal heat. When heat builds up, symptoms like mouth ulcers and constipation may appear. If heat isn't cleared, toxins accumulate in the body, potentially leading to various diseases.
Spinach is among the earliest vegetables available in spring and is highly beneficial for detoxification. *Essential Principles of Materia Medica* states: "All texts agree that spinach benefits the intestines. Because of its slippery nature, it opens the orifices. Spinach is slippery and laxative. Anyone suffering from long-term constipation or hemorrhoids should use it. It is also said to relieve heat and alcohol toxicity. Because cold treats heat, spinach is cold in nature and thus useful for treating boils, toxic swellings, and alcohol-related poisoning. Since toxins and heat typically start in the stomach before spreading to the intestines, medicines often enter via sweetness. Spinach is both slippery and cold, with a sweet taste, so it enters the stomach to clear heat and toxins, expelling them entirely through the intestines."
Spinach can be prepared in many ways. In folk traditions, it is commonly served as mustard spinach powder, especially popular in small restaurants. Preparation: Pour boiling or cold water over mustard powder until the spicy aroma emerges, then dilute with water. Wash spinach, blanch briefly in hot water to remove pesticides or impurities, then cool under running water, chop into small pieces, and place in a bowl. Mix in the diluted mustard, vinegar, salt, and sesame paste. Cut thin vermicelli into 2-inch lengths, blanch or boil, then mix into the spinach dish. Serve immediately. Do not add soy sauce; use fine salt instead. A little monosodium glutamate and sesame oil may be added, but not too much.