Soups

Fresh Dendrobium, Goji Berry, Fresh Abalone, and Chicken Soup

traditionally used to nourish the liver and kidneys, support eye health, and strengthen general vitality

In short: Fresh Dendrobium, Goji Berry, Fresh Abalone, and Chicken Soup is a soup that traditionally used to nourish the liver and kidneys, support eye health, and strengthen general vitality. It is most often made for children's wellness, liver wellness, kidney & urinary wellness. Total time about 2 hr 20 min. Key ingredients: goji berries, ginger, red dates, baby abalone.

Prep
20 min
Cook
2 hr
Total
2 hr 20 min
Makes
1.2–1.5 L
Fresh Dendrobium, Goji Berry, Fresh Abalone, and Chicken Soup

Why people make this soup

Fresh baby abalone, once a luxury ingredient, is now much more accessible and available at fishmongers and Asian grocery stores year-round. When combined with fresh dendrobium orchid stems and goji berries, you get a soup that Cantonese families traditionally serve during recovery periods, to people with tired eyes or blurry vision, and to anyone who simply wants a beautifully nourishing meal to start the new year.

Dendrobium orchid (shi hu) is one of the premier yin-nourishing herbs in classical Chinese medicine. Unlike many tonic herbs, it has a delicate grassy flavour that works beautifully in a light soup rather than dominating it. The combination with goji and abalone creates a broth that is deeply savoury, naturally sweet, and genuinely restorative.

What studies say about the key ingredients

Traditional use is not the same as clinical proof. Here is the strongest human research we found for each ingredient, limitations included.

  • Dendrobium · Randomized controlled trial · 2025
    Salivary flow rate and oral mucosal scores improved more in the Dendrobium group than in the control group using vitamin B12 rinse alone (P < .05). Serum IL-10 rose from baseline, and oral bacterial composition differed.Limitation: Small single-hospital sample; the Dendrobium group also used the B12 rinse, and the abstract does not say whether the control group received a placebo drink.PubMed 39811879 · 2 more dendrobium studies
  • Goji berries · Meta-analysis, 161 participants · 2012
    Compared with placebo (n=80), the goji juice group (n=81) reported greater improvements in several self-rated symptoms, including stress, mental acuity, sleep quality and overall well-being, under a random effects model.Limitation: Outcomes were self-reported symptom questionnaires, and several symptoms showed significant heterogeneity across the four pooled trials of a single branded juice.PubMed 22897500 · 3 more goji berries studies
  • Ginger · Meta-analysis, 23 studies · 2022
    Overall, acute and delayed nausea and vomiting did not differ significantly between ginger and control groups. A subgroup taking 1 g/day or less for over four days had less acute vomiting (OR 0.30).Limitation: Clinical heterogeneity between trials required subgroup analyses, and the authors state that sufficiently large, high-quality RCTs are still needed.PubMed 36501010 · 3 more ginger studies

From the Nourilo Research Library. Findings come from specific doses, extracts and populations and may not apply to a home-cooked recipe.

Safety first — read before you cook

This is a traditional food, not a treatment. Please check with your doctor or pharmacist before making it a regular part of your diet if you:

  • are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are cooking for a young child;
  • take regular medicines — especially blood thinners, blood-pressure, diabetes or immune-suppressing drugs;
  • have a kidney, liver or heart condition, or a known food allergy.

Ingredient notes for this recipe

  • Goji berries: A few cases of raised INR (a bleeding-risk marker) have been reported in people taking warfarin after drinking concentrated goji tea or wine. If you take a blood thinner, check with your doctor. Source: Memorial Sloan Kettering — Lycium

Stop eating it and seek advice if you notice an allergic reaction or feel unwell. Safety notes reviewed 8 October 2026 · How we write safety notes

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