Green Radish, Sweet Corn, Water Chestnut, and Fig Soup

Why people make this soup

There is an old Chinese saying: “Eat radish in winter, eat ginger in summer — and you won’t need a doctor.” Radish of all kinds is prized in Chinese food therapy, but the green radish (qing luo bo) has a special distinction: its nutritional profile is similar to the more familiar white radish, with the addition of vitamin A, giving it a slightly broader food-therapy benefit in traditional usage.

This soup is one of those all-family Cantonese staples that is just as good for prevention as for recovery. Sweet, naturally flavoured, and remarkably easy to make, it combines the best of the winter cooling pantry: green radish to clear lung and stomach heat, sweet corn for its gentle diuretic and digestion-supporting properties, water chestnut for its classically cooling and throat-soothing qualities, and figs to help lubricate the intestines and support immune function.

Method

1. Peel the green radish and cut into large chunks.
2. Husk the sweet corn and cut each cob into 3–4 sections.
3. Peel and rinse the water chestnuts.
4. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for 2 minutes; drain and rinse.
5. Add all ingredients to a pot with 2.4–2.7 L of water.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours until reduced to about 1.2 L.
7. Serve with the soup ingredients — eat both the soup and the contents.

Nourilo’s Tips

Both green radish and figs have a throat-soothing quality, so this soup is also helpful for sore throat and chronic bronchitis. If green radish is unavailable (it’s less common outside of Chinese markets), white radish is an excellent and nutritionally similar substitute. If someone in the family has blood deficiency or a weak spleen, add 5–6 red dates to moderate the cooling nature of the soup.