Shiitake Mushroom and Sea Cucumber Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Nourishes yin and essence; harmonizes blood and lowers blood pressure. Suitable for all types of hypertension, and particularly beneficial for hypertension caused by liver and kidney yin deficiency.
because it runs warm overall, this decoction is best avoided in yin-deficient, fire-prone constitutions; in those with yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity, excess liver fire, or internal damp-heat, this warming formula may fuel fire and should be avoided; in the absence of frank deficiency, or where an excess or heat pattern prevails, indiscriminate warming tonic use is inadvisable; warming tonics readily stir heat and burden the spleen; caution is advised where dampness-heat or food stagnation accumulates in the middle; the rich, cloying ingredients may obstruct the stomach; caution is advised in those with poor appetite or internal dampness
Commentary
The sovereign is shiitake mushrooms, nature neutral, flavor sweet, channeled into the Spleen, Stomach; it supports the upright, tonifies deficiency, strengthens the spleen, and opens the appetite, anchoring the central strategy of the formula. The ministerial layer, sea cucumber (nature warm, flavor salty, channeled into the Kidney, Heart, tonifies the kidney, enriches essence and moistens dryness), and winter bamboo shoots (nature cold, flavor sweet, channeled into the Stomach, Large Intestine, clears heat, resolves phlegm, and harmonizes the stomach), lends support that reinforces the sovereign’s main effect. The formula is rounded out by ham, rich in blood-and-flesh essence, nourishing the righteous qi, and scallions, harmonizing the stomach and supporting dietary nourishment, and ginger, acting as the envoy to harmonize the various ingredients, keeping the combination balanced and well-tempered. The combined effect is tailored to the yin deficiency pattern.