Soups
Watercress, Dried Duck Gizzard and Carrot Soup
traditionally used to clear lung and stomach heat, relieve dryness, and soothe a sore throat after rich or fried foods
In short: Watercress, Dried Duck Gizzard and Carrot Soup is a soup that traditionally used to clear lung and stomach heat, relieve dryness, and soothe a sore throat after rich or fried foods. It is most often made for respiratory & lung wellness, digestive wellness, cooling & summer heat. Total time about 3 hr 20 min. Key ingredients: watercress, carrot, ginger, honey dates.
Why people make this soup
After the Lunar New Year — or any period of festive eating — it is easy to overdo the melon seeds, candy, roasted nuts, and fried snacks. The result in Chinese medicine terms is “excess heat”: a dry throat, mouth ulcers, or a nagging feeling of inner dryness. Watercress has long been the go-to vegetable in Cantonese kitchens for exactly this situation. Simmered slowly for two to three hours with dried duck gizzard and carrot, it transforms into a beautifully clear, naturally sweet soup that gently brings things back into balance. It’s the kind of everyday remedy that Cantonese families have kept in their kitchen playbook for generations.
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.
- Ginger
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.
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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