Dampness-Clearing Winter Melon Soup (qu shi dong gua tang)

Why people make this soup

There’s a Cantonese saying about the hottest days of summer when no one wants to cook. But the heavy, humid air leaves people feeling tired and sluggish, so Nourilo reaches for a dampness-clearing soup. A proper “dampness-clearing winter melon” pack holds adzuki bean, hyacinth bean, raw and cooked Job’s-tears, fu shen, lotus leaf, lotus pod, kapok flower, ze xie and rush pith — heat-clearing, water-draining herbs that, simmered with winter melon, ease summer-heat restlessness, water retention, and a dry, thirsty mouth.