Chinese Celery and Red Date Soup

Why people make this soup

We usually cook with crisp Western celery, but Nourilo points out that for food-therapy purposes Chinese celery (the fragrant, slimmer kind) is preferred. There is a folk observation worth noting: when blood pressure spikes from a swing in mood, fresh Chinese-celery juice is traditionally said to bring it down quickly. Simmered with red dates into this simple soup, it is traditionally associated with clearing heart-fire and calming the “liver-yang rising” pattern — the dizziness, head-tightness, irritability, ringing ears, restless dreams, bitter dry mouth and constipation that can come with high blood pressure.