Sweet Soup

清補涼 (Qing Bu Liang Herbal Soup)

This classical tong sui (sweet) dessert soup (mandarin: Qing Bu Liang / Cantonese: Ching Bo Leung) is a traditional mixture of herbs cooked in a soup and enjoyed throughout China and Vietnam. Although the contents can vary depending on the method of preparation, the mixture generally consists of seven standard herbs: Dioscorea, lily bulb, dried polygonatum, fox nut, pearl barley, dried lotus seed, and dried longan. There are variations of this recipe, made with pork or chicken. It can be served hot adding pungent toppings like scallions, pickled pepper, or radish. More often it is served cold as a sweet dessert either plain or by adding fruit such as apple or pear or lo han quo monk fruit during cooking. A stock can be added and simmered over low heat for two to three hours.

This soup is popular all year round and is believed to detoxify the body, nourish the kidneys and lungs, and build up the blood. Individually, the ingredients have a wide array of indications. For example, lily bulb is used for mild cardiac insufficiency, arrhythmias, urinary tract infections, and kidney stones; pearl barley (coicis seed) is used for bronchitis. Round lotus seeds and lily bulbs are a very popular and common in South China and are classified in TCM as astringents, sweet and neutral, and good for the spleen, kidney, and heart.