Dried Cabbage, Carrot, Fig and Pig Lung Pork Rib Soup

Why people make this soup

When the weather turns cool and damp, and a cold that seemed to be resolving leaves behind a stubborn cough and a rough throat, this is the soup Nourilo reaches for. Dried cabbage (cai gan) is a staple of Cantonese slow-cooked soups, imparting a deep, slightly savoury sweetness that works beautifully with the mild bitterness of apricot kernels and the gentle sweetness of figs. Pig lung, used in traditional cooking across South China and Southeast Asia, follows the classical Chinese principle of “like nourishing like” — where an animal organ is used to support the corresponding organ in the person eating it. Whether or not you find that logic compelling, pig lung does produce a remarkable depth of flavour in long-cooked soups, and the finished broth is genuinely soothing to drink on a cold evening.