Cordyceps Flower, Palm Fruit & Carrot Soup

Why people make this soup

Fresh palm fruit — sold in small packs at Asian grocers — has a genuine traditional reputation for soothing phlegm and cough. Simmered with cordyceps flower, carrot, sweet almonds and red dates, it makes a clear, moistening soup. People reach for it when late nights, smoke or drink leave the throat dry and scratchy with a tickly cough, or when an allergic-type dry cough flares.

Method

1. Peel and cut the carrot into chunks; rinse the rest of the ingredients.
2. Put everything into a pot with 2.4 L of water.
3. Simmer until reduced to 1.2–1.5 L, then serve.

Nourilo’s Tips

The skin of the palm fruit carries more of the phlegm-soothing quality than the flesh, so there’s no need to peel it for soup. This soup is clear and moistening — good for a dry, scratchy throat and dry cough from late nights or too much smoke and drink. Cordyceps flower needs only a quick rinse under the tap; if its colour runs in the water, that’s normal, just like goji berries.