Night-Blooming Cereus, Carrot and Dried Duck Gizzard Soup

Why people make this soup

When autumn turns dry, a lot of folks notice their throat scratching and a tickly cough creeping in. Nourilo likes this old-fashioned pot because dried night-blooming cereus, simmered slowly with carrot, fig and dried duck gizzard, makes a soup that feels clean and moistening — the kind of bowl you reach for on a crisp, dry evening. Fresh cereus is available, but it turns the broth slippery and is colder in nature, so for home cooking the steamed-and-dried flower is the gentler choice.

Method

1. Rinse the cereus, apricot kernels and figs. Peel and chunk the carrot.
2. Blanch the dried duck gizzards and lean pork to clean them.
3. Put everything in a pot with 2.4 L of water.
4. Simmer about 3 hours until reduced to roughly 1.2 L.
5. Drink the soup and eat the ingredients.

Nourilo’s Tips

This soup is clean and nourishing. Besides loosening phlegm and easing a cough, it is also traditionally said to help settle the kind of “phlegm-fire” lumps children sometimes get.