Ching Bo Leung

Ching Bo Leung is praised as "the coolness on the tip of the tongue", and is a popular summer snack in Hainan, Guangdong and Guangxi Province. According to legend, after uniting the seven kingdoms, Emperor Qinshihuang set out to pacify the Lingnan region. However, the soldiers of the Central Plains were not accustomed to the humid climate of the South and many of them fell ill, reducing the army's fighting capacity and causing repeated defeats. When the generals were at their wits' end, the military doctor invented a medicinal porridge that could be used as both food and medicine. The porridge was made of lotus seeds, lily, adenophora stricta, euryale ferox, yucca, Chinese yam and barley, and all those ingredients were processed and made into a paste. After eating it, the soldiers got better and became more energetic. This is the origin of Ching Bo Leung.
The recipe for Ching Bo Leung varies from place to place. In Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, Ching Bo Leung is a double-stewed soup to clear heat and get rid of dampness in summer. It is boiled with lotus seeds, adenophora stricta, barley, lily, red dates, and longan, and it can strengthen spleen and get rid of dampness. Ching Bo Leung in Guangxi is more similar to fruit assorted ice, with watermelon cubes, pineapple cubes and green beans as ingredients, and it is relatively simple to make. Ching Bo Leung in Hainan combines the strengths of Guangdong and Guangxi, and then is enriched with fresh coconut meat and coconut juice, which tastes fragrant and abundant.
Ching Bo Leung has a good effect of strengthening spleen, reinforcing Qi, clearing heat and moistening lung, and it is suitable for both young and old.