Soups
Fresh Smilax (Tu Fu Ling) and Grass Turtle Soup
Traditionally used to clear heat and damp and support skin troubled by itchiness
Why people make this soup
When autumn and winter dry the skin, many of us start to itch. For others it is the opposite — too much rich, fatty, “heaty” food plus too little sleep lets internal “damp-heat” build up, and the skin reacts with itchiness, boils and breakouts. Grass turtle is a humble, affordable cousin of the prized money turtle, but it is still a fine soup ingredient that traditionally nourishes yin, moistens dryness and clears damp-heat. Paired with smilax root, it is a soup folks have long reached for when heat-type itchiness flares.
Who it suits / who should be cautious
- Suits people whose itchy skin, breakouts or boils seem tied to “heaty,” rich eating and poor sleep
- Pregnant women should not take this soup (turtle shell is traditionally avoided in pregnancy, including turtle-shell jelly)
- The soup is fairly cooling, so those with a cold constitution should drink it in moderation
Why these ingredients (the food-therapy logic)
- Grass turtle (cao gui): Traditionally nourishes yin, moistens dryness and clears damp-heat — a gentle, balanced base for the pot.
- Fresh smilax root (tu fu ling): Classically used to clear heat and resolve toxins; associated with easing heat-type skin itch, mouth ulcers, constipation and urinary discomfort.
- Ginger and red dates: Warm the soup a little and protect the stomach, balancing the cooling herbs.
Ingredients (3–4 bowls)
| Ingredient | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Grass turtle (cao gui) | 1 | Ask the seller to clean and chop it |
| Fresh smilax root (tu fu ling) | ~75 g (2 liang) | Peel, slice thin; dried form ~19 g (5 qian) if fresh is unavailable |
| Fresh ginger | 3 slices | |
| Red dates (jujube) | 6 |
Method
- Clean and chop the turtle, blanch it, then pan-fry briefly in a little oil until fragrant.
- Peel the fresh smilax root and slice it thin.
- Put everything in a pot with 8 bowls of water.
- Simmer about 3 hours, reducing to 3–4 bowls. Serve.
Bro Niu’s tips
Ask the fishmonger to clean and dress the turtle and the smilax for you. The whole family can drink this. To strengthen the damp-clearing effect, add honeysuckle (jin yin hua) and dandelion (pu gong ying), ~11 g each, plus ~4 g licorice (gan cao). But fish those herbs out once the soup is done, so the turtle essence is not soaked up by the spent herb dregs. Note: not for pregnant women.
Community questions answered (selected)
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Q (Kayla): Can I add tu fu ling, di lao shu and niu da li together when making grass turtle soup? Bro Niu: You can, but tu fu ling and di lao shu are cooling, so add a bit more ginger and red dates to balance them.
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Q (Apple): Every spring my skin turns sensitive — red specks, peeling, sometimes itchy red patches, made worse by fried food and certain meats. Can I drink this soup? Is it cold-natured? Bro Niu: Simmered a full 2 hours it is not too cooling and does help skin troubles — you can take it for 3 rounds. The mung-bean-and-rehmannia soup clears heat and cools the blood, good for heat-in-the-blood skin issues, but it is on the cold side and not for cold-constitution people.
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Q (reader): I keep getting stress-related breakouts. Can I make something, and would this soup work? Where can I buy grass turtle? Bro Niu: You can use raw rehmannia (~19 g), mung beans (~38 g), Job’s tears (~38 g), 5 red dates and one young pigeon, simmered in 8 bowls of water for about 1.5 hours down to 4 bowls; split over 2 days, 3 rounds, to help calm breakouts. It is neither too cold nor too warming. Live grass turtle is rarely stocked at ordinary fishmongers — try specialty aquatic or exotic fish shops, or Chinese or Asian grocers, or order online.
Published November 10, 2011 · Adapted and translated for Nourilo from a traditional home-kitchen recipe. Approx. 3 min read.
