White Atractylodes and Sharpleaf Galangal Fruit Soup

Why people make this soup

A little drooling is perfectly normal in babies — they produce more saliva from about three to four months old and simply haven’t learned to swallow it all yet, especially when teeth are coming in. But if a child past the age of two still drools persistently, traditional Chinese food therapy looks for a pattern in the saliva itself: if it is thick and the corners of the mouth are sore and reddened, the approach is to clear heat from the spleen; if the saliva is clear and watery and the child also tends toward loose stools and a pale complexion, the cause is more likely spleen-qi deficiency, and that is where this simple three-ingredient soup comes in. Nourilo describes it as a gentle, practical formula that parents can prepare easily at home while the child is being monitored.