Purple Yam, Fresh Lily Bulb and Red Date Black Chicken Soup (Zi Huai Shan Bai He Wu Ji Tang)

Why people make this soup

Purple yam is not the easiest ingredient to source, but it is well worth seeking out at specialty Asian grocers or organic food stores. It looks like an ordinary Chinese yam on the outside but reveals a striking purple flesh inside, packed with anthocyanins that give it antioxidant properties beyond what the common white-fleshed variety offers. Traditional food therapy calls it “purple ginseng” (zi ren shen), a nickname that reflects how highly it is regarded for overall wellness support.

Combined with fresh lily bulb — which is moistening, calming, and lung-supportive — and the deeply nourishing silkie chicken (a breed with dark skin and bones, prized in Chinese cooking for its gentle tonic properties), this is a soup that manages to be both genuinely beautiful to serve and meaningfully nourishing to drink.

Method

1. Blanch the silkie chicken pieces in cold water, bring to a boil, drain, and rinse under cool water to remove impurities.
2. Peel the purple yam wearing rubber gloves (the raw mucilage can irritate skin). Cut into large chunks.
3. Separate the fresh lily bulb into individual petals and rinse under cool water. Pit the red dates and rinse.
4. Place all ingredients — chicken, purple yam, red dates, ginger — into a pot. Add enough water to cover (about 1.8–2.4 L).
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on low-medium heat for about 2 hours.
6. Add the fresh lily bulb petals in the final 10 minutes. Season with salt and serve the soup and all the solids together.

Nourilo’s Tips

Do not rinse the raw yam under running water — its sticky mucilage is considered part of what makes it therapeutically valuable for supporting blood vessel and connective tissue health. Simply peel it and cut it directly. Wear rubber gloves because the raw mucilage can cause itching on sensitive skin. Fresh lily bulb has a lovely, clean flavour quite different from the dried version — add it only in the final 10 minutes to preserve its texture and delicate taste.