Watercress, Carrot, Fig & Pork Ribs Soup

Why people make this soup

Watercress is one of the most familiar ingredients in Hong Kong food therapy — available year-round, cheap, and genuinely versatile. Nourilo likes to use the tender tips for dumplings and wonton fillings, reserving the sturdier stalks and leaves for soups. In traditional food therapy, watercress is associated with clearing heat from the lungs, moistening the airways, and supporting bowel movement — making it a natural choice for people who stay up late, feel irritable, have a dry or scratchy throat, or experience a mild, lingering cough. The soup is also traditionally noted as soothing for menstrual cramps when drunk in the two days before a period begins.