Wild Watercress Soup

Why people make this soup

Wild watercress (ye ge cai) is a wild green that also doubles as a folk medicinal herb, making a clear, fragrant soup. In tradition it is associated with dispersing cold, easing the breath, settling coughs, and clearing “bone heat.” The folk dish “wild watercress and snakehead fish soup” is traditionally valued to nourish yin and clear heat; simmered simply with honey dates as a tea, it makes a pleasant autumn wellness drink for dry weather. Fresh wild watercress is available at Chinese or Asian grocers, or online.