Angelica, Rehmannia, Black Bean & Southern Jujube Soup

Why people make this soup

In traditional Chinese food therapy, people with a cold-deficient constitution — which often overlaps with hypothyroid presentations — are thought to benefit from warming, blood-nourishing ingredients. This soup centres on two classic blood tonics, angelica root and prepared rehmannia, paired with black soybeans for their kidney-nourishing reputation and southern jujubes for gentle sweetness and spleen support. The combination is traditionally valued for those who experience fatigue, pallor, dizziness, or irregular menstruation associated with liver-kidney insufficiency. Adding silk-feather chicken (wu gu ji) is a time-honoured way to make the soup richer yet easier to digest.

Method

1. Rinse and briefly soak all ingredients in cold water for 10 minutes.
2. Combine all ingredients with 1.8–2.1 L of water in a pot.
3. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer.
4. Cook for about 30 minutes until the liquid reduces to 600 ml.
5. Serve and drink the soup; eat the softened dates and beans as well.

Nourilo’s Tips

• You can add silk-feather chicken (wu gu ji) to cook together — it makes the soup richer and more nourishing without being greasy.
• For gout sufferers, swap the black soybeans for goji berries (11 g / 11 g).
• The whole family can drink this soup, but stick to 1–2 servings per week to avoid internal heat build-up. For children, double the black soybeans and keep the rest of the ingredients the same.