Dragon's-Tongue Leaf, Shi Huang Pi and Apple Soup

Why people make this soup

After a cold, the throat often stays uncomfortable and a cough lingers on. Whether the cough is cold-type or heat-type, Nourilo reaches for fresh dragon’s-tongue leaf and shi huang pi — folk herbs long used to ease the lingering cough that follows a cold, as well as phlegmy cough and sore throat. With apricot kernels they are traditionally said to clear dryness and moisten the lungs, and adding two apples and a carrot makes the soup sweet and easy to drink for both cold and heat cough.

Method

1. Blanch the lean pork. Wash and core the apples and cut into chunks. Peel and chunk the carrot. Rinse the remaining ingredients.
2. Put everything in a pot with 1.8 L of water.
3. Simmer for about 1.5 hours, reducing to about 900 ml, then serve.

Nourilo’s Tips

If the cough is heavy with thick yellow phlegm (a heat-type cough), use snow pears in place of the apples. This soup is sweet and mild with little herbal taste; it also suits people with a dry, persistent cough — have it a few times. Fresh dragon’s-tongue leaf only needs 30-45 minutes to release its benefit, so there is no need to simmer it for 2 hours.