Soups
Night-Blooming Cereus, Carrot & Lean Pork Soup
Traditionally used to clear lung heat, reduce phlegm, and ease cough
In short: Night-Blooming Cereus, Carrot & Lean Pork Soup is a soup that Traditionally used to clear lung heat, reduce phlegm, and ease cough. It is most often made for respiratory & lung wellness. Total time about 2 hr 15 min. Key ingredients: carrot, red dates, ginger, lean pork.
Why people make this soup
Ba wang hua — the dried flower of a night-blooming cereus cactus — has a long history in Cantonese kitchens, especially as a warming-weather soup for clearing what people describe as “lung heat”: thick phlegm, persistent cough, or the stuffy-headed feeling that lingers after a cold. The fresh flower is fragrant but quite cooling and makes the broth slippery; drying it reduces that coolness and makes the soup better suited to both adults and children. In traditional practice, this soup is also used to help children who have what is called “phlegm fire nodes” — swollen lymph nodes in the neck associated with excess phlegm.
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.
- 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 - 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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