Cordyceps-Flower Yam Goji Fox-Nut Teal-Duck Soup (chong cao hua huai qi qian shi shui ya tang)

Why people make this soup

Nourilo loves teal duck (a wild river duck) for soup because, traditionally, it nourishes yin and the kidney while being neither too cooling nor too heating — gentle enough for those who feel “too weak to take strong tonics.” This soup is balanced and mild, the kind he reaches for when a child is frail, often coughing or run down, or when an adult feels dizzy, weak-backed or troubled by frequent night urination.

Method

1. Clean and cut up the duck, then blanch in boiling water; rinse and soak the other ingredients.
2. Put everything in a pot with 2.4 L of water and simmer about 3 hours down to about 1.2 L. Drink the soup and eat the ingredients.

Nourilo’s Tips

This soup is good for frail children who tire and cough easily, and for those with a weak spleen and stomach. It’s also a suitable choice for cancer patients who shouldn’t use chicken-based tonics.