Soups
Lotus Seed, Lily Bulb, Longan and Silkie Chicken Soup
traditionally associated with nourishing the blood, supporting restful sleep and easing fatigue
In short: Lotus Seed, Lily Bulb, Longan and Silkie Chicken Soup is a soup that traditionally associated with nourishing the blood, supporting restful sleep and easing fatigue. It is most often made for sleep & calm, energy & vitality, blood nourishment. Total time about 110 min. Key ingredients: lotus seeds, lily bulb, longan flesh, ginger.
Why people make this soup
As autumn deepens and mornings start with a chill, this is the soup Cantonese families reach for. It is the kind of pot that warms you from the inside — not just physically, but emotionally. In traditional Chinese food therapy, silkie chicken (wu ji, literally “black-boned chicken”) is considered more medicinally valuable than regular chicken: darker in colour, richer in certain minerals, and associated with nourishing the liver, kidneys and blood. Combined with the classic sleep-supporting trio of lotus seeds, lily bulb and longan flesh, alongside nourishing red dates, this is a soup with real purpose and genuine warmth. Nourilo recommends it for anyone feeling persistently tired, mentally foggy, pale, or struggling to sleep well.
Method
- Rinse and soak lotus seeds and lily bulbs for 30 minutes.
- Pit the red dates.
- Chop the silkie chicken into large pieces and blanch briefly in boiling water to remove impurities. Drain.
- Place all ingredients into a pot with 2.4 L of water.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a medium-low simmer and cook for about 1.5 hours until the liquid reduces to about 1.2 L.
- Serve with both the soup and the cooked ingredients — the chicken and lotus seeds are excellent to eat.
Nourilo’s Tips
This is a rich, deeply nourishing soup — not one to drink every day, but wonderful 2–3 times per week through the cooler months. Because longan, red dates and silkie chicken are all warming in nature, do not drink this during a cold, fever, or when you are already feeling hot or heavy with dampness — the warmth will make things worse, not better. Pregnant women should swap the longan flesh for goji berries, which provide nourishment without the excessive warming effect.
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.
- Lotus seeds
Lotus seed meals had a low glycemic index (GI 21–51 across the lotus seed and adzuki bean meals), while several other starchy foods did not differ significantly from rice. Lotus seed's in vitro hydrolysis index was also lower than that of other test foods.Limitation: Only ten healthy participants and acute single-meal tests, so findings may not apply to people with diabetes or to long-term intake.PubMed 30875961 - 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 - 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.
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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