Carrot, Corn & Vegetable Soup

Why people make this soup

Bro Niu picked up some fresh organic carrots, corn and other produce at a local farmers’ market and turned them into this gentle, all-vegetable beauty soup. It comes out clear, sweet and lovely to sip — and you can eat the soft ingredients along with the broth. Organic vegetables really do taste that bit better. It’s the kind of pot you make when you want something nourishing, easy and entirely meat-free.

Who it suits / who should be cautious

• Anyone wanting a light, sweet vegetable soup that’s friendly to the complexion
• Suitable for young and old; an everyday soup with no special cautions

Why these ingredients (the food-therapy logic)

• Carrot (hong luo bo): traditionally associated with supporting healthy skin and eyesight.
• Corn (su mi): adds natural sweetness and body to the broth.
• Water chestnut (ma ti): a cool, juicy addition prized for its clean, sweet taste.
• Chestnut (li zi): lends a gentle, warming sweetness.
• Red dates (hong zao): long used to enrich the blood and round out the flavour.

Ingredients (4–5 bowls)

Ingredient	Amount	Notes
Carrots	1–2	peeled, cut into chunks
Corn	2 ears	husked, cut into pieces
Water chestnuts	8	peeled, washed
Chestnuts	10	shelled and skinned
Red dates	6	pitted

Method

1. Peel the carrots and cut into chunks; husk the corn and cut into pieces.
2. Peel and wash the water chestnuts; shell and skin the chestnuts; pit the red dates.
3. Add all ingredients to 8 bowls of water and simmer for about 1.5 hours down to 4–5 bowls. Serve.

Bro Niu’s tips

This soup is clear, sweet and tasty — fine for all ages. It is traditionally considered especially helpful for those with a pale complexion, rough skin, brown blotches on the face, or weakening eyesight.

Community questions answered (selected)

• Q (Kk): Bro Niu, two questions. 1) My lotus seeds have turned yellow — can I still use them? 2) I always buy 10-year aged tangerine peel (chen pi), but sometimes the soup comes out bitter and astringent so the kids won’t drink it, while other times it’s sweet and clear — even though both bags smell fragrant when opened. Why? Bro Niu: Yellowed lotus seeds that have sat a while are still usable if there’s no mould and no off smell — but buy small amounts so they don’t sit forgotten. As for the peel, some unscrupulous sellers dye green peel with spent pu-erh tea leaves and dry it to look aged; that “peel” is really green peel and tastes bitter-astringent. Buy aged peel from reputable or long-established shops. Genuine 5- or 10-year peel is mostly fragrant with little bitterness.
• Q (A-Yi): Bro Niu, I have a 6 cm uterine fibroid. What should I eat more of, and what should I avoid? Do I have to have surgery to remove it? Bro Niu: If a fibroid isn’t causing heavy periods or other problems, you can leave it for now; it often shrinks on its own around menopause. Avoid hormone-rich foods like bird’s nest, snow toad gland, placenta and seahorse; fast-grown poultry and farmed pond fish are often raised with hormones, so eat less. Black fungus in brown-sugar water can be taken regularly (eat the fungus too) to help keep the fibroid from growing. Chinese medicine can be effective here, but it takes a few months of treatment to shrink it. Please also follow up with your doctor.

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Published September 29, 2024 · Adapted and translated for Nourilo from a traditional home-kitchen recipe. Approx. 3 min read.