Water Chestnut, Fig & Apricot Seed Lean Pork Soup

Why people make this soup

After a run of fried chicken, spicy hot pot, or late-night snacks, many people wake up with a parched throat and that sticky, unpleasant feeling that just won’t clear. This light, naturally sweet soup has been a go-to in Cantonese households for exactly that moment. Water chestnuts cool things down, figs moisten and soften the throat, and the classic nan bei xing (sweet and bitter apricot seed) combination does the quiet work of loosening stubborn phlegm. It is particularly well-suited to what Chinese medicine describes as “phlegm-heat” — a thick, hard-to-shift phlegm that comes with a warm or inflamed feeling rather than the watery, clear phlegm of a simple cold.

Method

1. Peel the water chestnuts and rinse well.
2. Halve each fig lengthways; rinse the apricot seeds.
3. Slice the lean pork into thick pieces, blanch briefly in boiling water to remove impurities, then drain.
4. Place all ingredients in a pot with 2.4 L of water.
5. Bring to the boil, then simmer over medium-low heat for about 90 minutes until the liquid reduces to roughly 1.2 L.
6. Serve the soup and the solids together.

Nourilo’s Tips

This soup has a clean, pleasant sweetness and is particularly good for chronic bronchitis of the heat-phlegm type. A word of caution about water chestnuts: they grow in ponds and waterways where contamination is possible, so never eat them raw. Cooking them thoroughly is essential to avoid parasitic infection (specifically liver fluke).