Astragalus, Angelica, Ginger and Lamb Soup

Why people make this soup

When cold weather arrives and your hands and feet stay icy no matter how many layers you wear, it may be a sign that your body’s warming energy — what Chinese medicine calls yang qi — or blood supply is insufficient to reach the extremities. Lamb is one of the most warming meats in the Chinese culinary tradition: it benefits qi and yang, supports blood production, and helps the body generate its own heat. Paired with the blood-moving angelica root, the qi-boosting astragalus, and the warming ginger, this is a soup that many women with menstrual irregularity, pale complexion, or cold-type period pain turn to through the winter months. The smell of good lamb broth is deeply comforting on a cold evening.