Wolfberry Greens, Goji Berry and Egg White Soup

Why people make this soup

Most people are familiar with goji berries (the small, dried red berries found in health food shops), but fewer know that the young tender leaves of the same plant — goji shoots, or wolfberry greens — are a prized seasonal vegetable in Cantonese cooking. When goji shoots come into season in autumn, they are worth seeking out: every leaf is the real thing, and the goji plant’s leaves are, by some measures, even more nutritionally dense than the berries. They are rich in betaine, rutin, multiple amino acids, and vitamins A, C, B1, and B2. In traditional food therapy the leaves are described as clearing liver heat, brightening the eyes, softening blood vessels, and nourishing a depleted constitution. This simple soup — shoots, goji berries, and a wisp of egg white — is light enough to serve on a weeknight and beneficial enough to make regularly during the cooler months when goji shoots are in season.