Chinese Skincare Rice and Beans

This isn’t a recipe you need to follow closely, it’s a formula that you can create with whatever ingredients are closest to you. flexible enough to work with whatever’s already in your pantry. all you need to do is follow a few guiding principles. because chinese cooking was never designed to be short term outcome driven, like eating for glowing skin, it’s all about building the foundational habits to keep your body balanced.

Since rice is a staple in my household, thought why not elevate this daily ritual and make sure we’re not just increasing the fiber, but diversifying the bowl to have grains and beans, some of the best foods for in chinese medicine for digestion and grounding the body during periods of high stress and burnout. And we all know how much stress shows up on our skin…

So think of this rice like it’s your sunscreen step in your skincare routine. one you make sure to put on everyday and the step doing the most protective work.

To make your own, pick out a combo of five ingredients, that includes whole grains and beans of some kind. these are a list to choose from:

Grains:

• brown rice
• millet
• black rice
• barley
• farro
• buckwheat
• coix seeds

Beans:

• kidney beans
• red beans (adzuki’s my preference)
• black soybeans
• black-eyed peas
• mung beans
• chickpeas

But you can also find pre-mixed blends like this one and this one (my favorite)!

Here’s how to make a batch at home —