Soups

Fresh Yam, Dendrobium and Silkie Chicken Soup

Traditionally nourishes yin, generates fluids, and soothes stomach heat

In short: Fresh Yam, Dendrobium and Silkie Chicken Soup is a soup that Traditionally nourishes yin, generates fluids, and soothes stomach heat. It is most often made for respiratory & lung wellness, digestive wellness, sleep & calm. Total time about 140 min. Key ingredients: chinese yam, dendrobium, ginger, silkie chicken (black chicken).

Prep
20 min
Cook
120 min
Total
140 min
Makes
1.5–1.8 L
Fresh Yam, Dendrobium and Silkie Chicken Soup

Why people make this soup

Yin deficiency is a pattern seen often in modern life: chronic stress, late nights, irregular eating, and overwork can all gradually deplete the body’s cooling and moistening reserves. The classic signs are a warm feeling in the palms or feet, mild thirst, dry mouth and throat, poor sleep, a constipated or dry stool, and a gnawing hunger that somehow does not translate into a real appetite — as if the stomach is smouldering without fuel.

Fresh Chinese yam (xian huai shan) and fresh dendrobium (xian shi hu) are two of the most respected yin-nourishing ingredients in Cantonese food therapy. Together in a silkie chicken soup, they create a broth that is genuinely delicious — sweet, clear, and delicate — without being heavy or hard to digest. It is also one of Nourilo’s recommended soups for people recovering from surgery who find that rich, warming tonics are too strong for their depleted system.

What studies say about the key ingredients

Traditional use is not the same as clinical proof. Here is the strongest human research we found for each ingredient, limitations included.

  • Dendrobium · Randomized controlled trial · 2025
    Salivary flow rate and oral mucosal scores improved more in the Dendrobium group than in the control group using vitamin B12 rinse alone (P < .05). Serum IL-10 rose from baseline, and oral bacterial composition differed.Limitation: Small single-hospital sample; the Dendrobium group also used the B12 rinse, and the abstract does not say whether the control group received a placebo drink.PubMed 39811879 · 2 more dendrobium studies
  • Red dates · Meta-analysis, 483 participants · 2025
    Jujube was associated with significantly lower BMI and triglycerides, and lower fasting blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. LDL and total cholesterol fell only in some subgroups. HDL, AST and ALT did not change significantly.Limitation: The authors state the overall quality of the evidence is limited, and results varied significantly by dose, treatment duration and disease type.PubMed 40399274 · 3 more red dates studies
  • Ginger · Meta-analysis, 23 studies · 2022
    Overall, acute and delayed nausea and vomiting did not differ significantly between ginger and control groups. A subgroup taking 1 g/day or less for over four days had less acute vomiting (OR 0.30).Limitation: Clinical heterogeneity between trials required subgroup analyses, and the authors state that sufficiently large, high-quality RCTs are still needed.PubMed 36501010 · 3 more ginger studies

From the Nourilo Research Library. Findings come from specific doses, extracts and populations and may not apply to a home-cooked recipe.

Safety first — read before you cook

This is a traditional food, not a treatment. Please check with your doctor or pharmacist before making it a regular part of your diet if you:

  • are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are cooking for a young child;
  • take regular medicines — especially blood thinners, blood-pressure, diabetes or immune-suppressing drugs;
  • have a kidney, liver or heart condition, or a known food allergy.

Stop eating it and seek advice if you notice an allergic reaction or feel unwell. Safety notes reviewed 8 October 2026 · How we write safety notes

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