American Ginseng, Solomon's Seal and Dried Conch Soup

Why people make this soup

Work late, sleep too little, and your mouth can turn bitter and dry — what traditional thinking calls yin-deficient heat or excess liver fire. An easy daily fix is American ginseng slices steeped as a tea, with a little chrysanthemum. But if you simmer it with yin-nourishing yu zhu and dried conch, you get a soup that is both delicious and moistening, and is traditionally taken to ease that bitter, dry-mouth feeling.