Chinese Celery, Red Date and Lean Pork Soup

Why people make this soup

Celery is one of those vegetables that has long had a reputation, both in Western nutritional science and Chinese food therapy, for supporting healthy blood pressure. There are two main types: the thick-stalked Western celery found in most supermarkets, and the slender, intensely fragrant Chinese medicinal celery (yao qin) available at Asian grocery stores. The Chinese variety has a far more concentrated flavour and is considered more therapeutically effective in traditional food therapy. Crucially, it is the leaves — often discarded when stir-frying — that contain the highest concentrations of carotene, vitamin C, calcium, iron and potassium. This recipe turns those nutrient-rich leaves into a flavourful broth by pairing them with red dates and lean pork. The result is light, slightly bitter-sweet, and genuinely easy to make on a weeknight.