In this dry autumn/winter season it’s often tempting to laze about, stay indoors, or warm yourself over a bowl of steaming, spicy hotpot. But if the believers of traditional Chinese medicine have anything to say, it’s these sorts of things that can lead to “shang huo.” Based on the Taoist principles of “yin” and “yang,” “shang huo” can occur if you have an imbalance of the two, with “yin” roughly pertaining to restful qualities, and “yang” pertaining to more active qualities. The idea is to have both in balance, but as the temperature drops, most people put on more clothes, stay in heated rooms and eat more hot (“yang”) and spicy food to warm them up, hence leading to “shang huo” symptoms – chapped lips, dry skin and nose bleeds. The supposed cure is to eat more “yin” foods, that is, food with higher water content. To help battle this Lotus in Moonlight have developed a special “shang huo” menu to help put your yin and yang back in balance.

Highlighting the menu are a few mushroom dishes (now is the season). The fake fish and crab soup is a light, soft and peppery soup complete with silky mushrooms; and the raw assorted mushroom salad is tossed in a dressing of lemon juice, salt, pepper and a touch of olive oil. If there were one very simple and nutritious way to get rid of “shang huo” then this would be it.

But it’s the vegetarian “goose liver” which makes best use of this key ingredient. Made from Yunnan mushrooms, the “goose liver” is made by boiling the mushrooms into a soup, mixing it with gelatine and then placing it in a mould to form into a hard substance. The result is a delicate jelly-like texture that tastes just like the real thing - buttery, smooth, melts in your mouth and full of flavour.

As always, LIM are terrific in taking the simplest dishes and elevating it to fine dining. The pickled veges and nuts in kumquat oil is made in typical Guandong style - sweet, sour and colorful but without a hint of oiliness. The tofu bamboo shoots and konjac is a combination of three very healthy ingredients separated into individual bowls and soaked in a soy sauce and vinegar combination; whilst the turnip pancake is nothing like your street variety.

Like always LIM never stop impress with their presentation. The “shang huo” menu was inspired by Tibetan meditation and took six months to plan. Perhaps then the most fitting way to finish off your meal and to perhaps help you get through the winter, is through the four fortune “l(fā)ucky” dumplings. The ingredients - fake sausage, carrot, green pepper and of course, mushroom – are meant to represent health, happiness, wealth and long life. You might not get all these fortunes in one go but at least you’ll be healthy and hopefully have had cured your “shang huo” after a meal at Louts in Moonlight.

Location: Louts in Moonlight, East Gate 4, Workers’ Stadium, Chaoyang District.// 北京朝陽(yáng)區(qū)工人體育場(chǎng)4號(hào) Tel:010-6268 0848

Service quality:

excellent

Food quality:

excellent

Environment:

excellent

Price per head (RMB):

200-300

Feature dish or menu:

“Goose” Liver – 108rmb

Mushroom Salad – 88rmb

Tofu, bamboo shoots and konjac – 59rmb

Vege chicken – 45rmb

Fake fish, crab and mushroom soup – 68rmb

Vegies in orange oil – 39rmb

Four colour dumplings – 18rmb

This article is brought to you by Best Food in China (www.bestfoodinchina.net ). Best Food in China is the first and leading English-medium website featuring reviews on food, cuisine and restaurants in China. For more information, please visit www.bestfoodinchina.net.