Codonopsis, Cordyceps Flower & Quail Soup

Why people make this soup

When the weather swings unpredictably between warm and cold — prime conditions for seasonal flu to spread — Nourilo turns to this nourishing soup as a gentle preventive measure for those with weaker constitutions. Wild cordyceps (dong chong xia cao) is one of the most celebrated tonic ingredients in Chinese medicine, but its price has climbed sky-high in recent years. Fortunately, cultivated cordyceps flower (chong cao hua, also called jin chong cao) offers a practical alternative — it is the fruiting body grown from the same fungus species, widely available in Chinese herbal shops and Asian grocery stores, and sold at a fraction of the cost. Combined with codonopsis (a gentler substitute for ginseng), goji berries, red dates, and small but protein-rich quail, this soup is traditionally understood to tonify the five organs, nourish qi and blood, and help the body stay resilient when illness is going around.

Method

1. Defrost the quail completely. Rinse and blanch in boiling water for a few minutes; discard the blanching water and rinse the quail.
2. Rinse all herb ingredients and soak briefly. Remove date pits.
3. Place all ingredients together in a pot. Add approximately 2.4 L of water.
4. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim any foam, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
5. Cook for about 2 hours until the broth is flavorful and the quail is very tender.
6. Drink the soup and eat the quail and other solid ingredients.

Nourilo’s Tips

• If quail is difficult to find, pork shin or lean pork can substitute; silkie chicken (wu ji) works beautifully and adds a more yin-nourishing character.
• Chinese yam and chestnuts can be added alongside the existing ingredients without any issue.
• Cordyceps flower is not heating or drying in nature — it is quite gentle and can be paired with fig (wu hua guo) to make a simple everyday tea for preventing tonsillitis.
• For those worried about gout: cordyceps flower, being a fungal ingredient, does contain purines; cook for no more than 1 hour and drink moderately, or replace with a non-fungal alternative such as Chinese yam.