Soups
Mulberry, Goji Berry, Baby Abalone & Chicken Breast Soup
Traditionally used to nourish liver-kidney, support eye health, and relieve mental and physical fatigue
In short: Mulberry, Goji Berry, Baby Abalone & Chicken Breast Soup is a soup that Traditionally used to nourish liver-kidney, support eye health, and relieve mental and physical fatigue. It is most often made for children's wellness, liver wellness, kidney & urinary wellness. Total time about 110 min. Key ingredients: mulberries, goji berries, longan flesh, red jujube dates.
Why people make this soup
After middle age, health has a tendency to decline quietly — and many people push through long working days on a screen, staring at phone and computer until their eyes ache and their minds feel dull. Mulberries (sang shen) and goji berries (gou qi zi) are two of the most widely used food-therapy ingredients for eye support in Chinese tradition; together they are classically used to ease eye dryness, reduce visual fatigue, and nourish the liver-blood that underpins healthy eyesight. Abalone — called “the fish of bright eyes” (ming mu yu) in Chinese tradition — is particularly valued for people who experience frequent nocturia, declining vision, and qi-blood weakness. Nourilo built this soup around these three vision-supporting ingredients and kept the protein source light (chicken breast), making it gentle enough for those who are “too deficient to receive tonics” — people whose bodies are so depleted that rich, heavy supplements feel overwhelming.
Method
- Rinse and soak the mulberries and goji berries briefly. Pit the jujube dates.
- Clean the baby abalone: scrub the flesh and the shell (if using the shell) carefully.
- Blanch the abalone and chicken breast together in boiling water briefly, then drain and rinse.
- Place all ingredients in a pot with 2.4 L of water.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1.5 hours.
- Serve warm, eating the abalone, chicken, and jujube alongside the soup.
Nourilo’s Tips
This soup can be cooked with the baby abalone shells included — the shell is known in Chinese medicine as “shi jue ming” and is associated with clearing liver heat, calming the liver, and supporting eye and blood pressure conditions. However, fresh small abalone shells can harbour parasites, so they must be thoroughly scraped and scrubbed before being added to the pot.
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.
- Mulberries
Post-prandial self-monitored glucose was lower than placebo (18.2%), but A1C did not differ between mulberry leaf extract and placebo. Serum creatinine rose about 15% in the extract group.Limitation: Small pilot: only 17 of 24 enrolled participants completed the study, limiting statistical power.PubMed 28619294 · 3 more mulberries studies - Goji berries
Compared with placebo (n=80), the goji juice group (n=81) reported greater improvements in several self-rated symptoms, including stress, mental acuity, sleep quality and overall well-being, under a random effects model.Limitation: Outcomes were self-reported symptom questionnaires, and several symptoms showed significant heterogeneity across the four pooled trials of a single branded juice.PubMed 22897500 · 3 more goji berries studies - Red dates
Jujube was associated with significantly lower BMI and triglycerides, and lower fasting blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. LDL and total cholesterol fell only in some subgroups. HDL, AST and ALT did not change significantly.Limitation: The authors state the overall quality of the evidence is limited, and results varied significantly by dose, treatment duration and disease type.PubMed 40399274 · 3 more red dates 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.
Ingredient notes for this recipe
- Goji berries: A few cases of raised INR (a bleeding-risk marker) have been reported in people taking warfarin after drinking concentrated goji tea or wine. If you take a blood thinner, check with your doctor. Source: Memorial Sloan Kettering — Lycium
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
Comments
Join the conversation — sign in or create a free account to comment.
Continue with GoogleBy continuing with Google or email you confirm you are 16 or older and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Loading comments…