Fresh Dendrobium, Chinese Yam, Goji Berry, Conch and Quail Soup

Why people make this soup

Somewhere in our forties and fifties, many of us start noticing subtle changes: skin that once bounced back now looks a little drier, joints that were never a concern now click and feel less fluid, and eyes that used to be sharp after a night’s rest now feel dry and tired by mid-afternoon. Traditional Chinese food therapy attributes much of this to a natural, gradual depletion of yin fluids — the body’s deep, cooling, lubricating reservoir — and the response is to nourish it gently with moistening foods.

Fresh Dendrobium stem (xian shi hu) is one of the most celebrated yin-nourishing herbs in Chinese medicine. When you cook it, the stem becomes wonderfully slippery and sticky — that viscous quality, rich in mucilaginous polysaccharides, is exactly what is considered so beneficial for the skin, joints, and eyes. Some Chinese herbal shops now stock the fresh version, which Nourilo greatly prefers to the dried; the fresh stem has a cleaner, more delicate fragrance. Combined with Chinese yam, goji berries, dried conch, and quail, this soup is deeply nourishing without being heavy.

Method

1. Clean the quail and blanch together with the soaked conch slices in boiling water for 2–3 minutes; drain and rinse.
2. Rinse the fresh Dendrobium and cut into segments.
3. Peel and rinse the fresh Chinese yam. Rinse the goji berries.
4. Place all ingredients in a pot with 2.4 L of water.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 2 hours.
6. Serve warm; eat both the broth and the soup ingredients.

Nourilo’s Tips

Fresh Dendrobium is increasingly available at Chinese herbal shops and some organic markets. Nourilo prefers the fresh over the dried for this soup — the fresh stems become gloriously sticky and fragrant when cooked, and that viscous quality is exactly what makes the herb so nourishing. If using dried Dendrobium, use 11 g (about 11 g). If fresh Chinese yam is unavailable, dried Chinese yam works equally well — use 38 g. Quail can be substituted with squab (pigeon) or partridge without any loss in quality. Frozen conch can substitute for the dried variety.