Green Olive Radish Water Chestnut Fig Soup (Qing Lan Qing Luo Bo Ma Ti Wu Hua Guo Tang)

Why people make this soup

Green Chinese olives (qing lan) are a seasonal treat — they start out a little sour and astringent, but chew them and the taste turns sweet — and they are traditionally valued for a sore, swollen throat and feverish thirst. Pairing them with green radish makes the old “Green Dragon White Tiger” soup that people once relied on to soothe the throat in flu season. Add water chestnut, traditionally good for clearing children’s “heatiness,” and figs, said to help a sore throat and hoarse voice, and you have a refreshing, heat-clearing soup the whole family can enjoy.