Watercress, Monk Fruit (Luo Han Guo) and Carrot Pork Soup

Why people make this soup

That stubborn cough that hangs around for weeks after a cold — with phlegm that won’t quite shift and a throat that stays scratchy — is one of the most common reasons Cantonese households reach for this particular soup. Tang ge cai (sometimes called wild watercress or pond cress) is a versatile wild herb with an interesting dual nature in Chinese herbal texts: some sources describe it as warming, others as cooling — which might seem contradictory. Nourilo’s view is that its properties depend on what it is paired with: cooked with fresh ginger and spring onion it addresses wind-cold colds; with white radish it suits wind-heat colds and hot lung phlegm; with fresh corn silk it addresses damp-heat conditions. In today’s recipe, paired with monk fruit and carrot for a pleasant, naturally sweet broth, it targets the post-cold phlegm and cough that can drag on after the main illness has passed. Monk fruit (luo han guo) is also increasingly well-known in the West as a natural sweetener — but in Chinese food therapy its primary role is as a cooling, throat-soothing, phlegm-clearing herb. The golden (jin) variety has been gently dried at low temperature to preserve more of its beneficial compounds.