Chinese Herbal Soup

The best compliment I ever got about my cooking from my mom was about this soup.

A few months ago she caught a nasty cold that rapidly developed severe side effects. For several frightening days she slept almost constantly and barely ate. One day, my little sister took her to the hospital to do tests and get a formal diagnosis. I did the best thing I thought to do. I ordered an organic chicken and some pork bones. Luke spent half a paycheck on some very expensive roots. And we made my mom this soup.

My mom later told me it was perfect.

(My mom made a full recovery. After she fully regained her strength, she supplemented her initial feedback to tell me that I’d used an excessive amount of meat and herbs, both of which she worried were too expensive. I fear this is as good as it gets with Asian mothers.)

What is Chinese Herbal Soup?

Chinese herbal soup is a simple yet filling soup made with chicken and pork bones, which are simmered slowly with herbs used in Chinese cooking and medicine for their medicinal properties.

It is a fortifying soup that can be enjoyed at any time – though it seems to shine in times when a loved one is feeling unwell. I think part of its magic is that its broth alone has so many nutrients and that even if someone didn’t want to eat solids, the liquid alone is enough to give them a boost of energy.

A note before you embark on this soup making journey: If your kitchen, like mine, is not decked out like an Old Beijing apothecary, collecting the ingredients will be 90% of the work for this soup. On the other hand, half of why I like this recipe so much is that gathering all these roots makes me feel like an alchemist.

Information on where you can get the herbs is in the FAQ.

1. Equipment & Ingredients

Ingredients (full list in Recipe Card)

Equipment

Large stockpot
Skimmer

2. Step-By-Step Guide

STEP 1: Prepare the pork and chicken.

Rinse your pork neck bones well to remove some of the impurities.

Butcher your chicken into around 8 large even-ish pieces. You can make these cuts in any way, really. We’ll stew this soup for so long that the chicken will be fall-apart tender, any way you dice it.

I cut my chicken into the following parts: 2 each of thighs, legs, breasts, wings, and the leftover rack/skeleton. But again, please feel free to modify to what suits your taste or is easier for you.

STEP 2: Start soup and skim.

In a large stockpot over high heat, add chicken parts, pork neck bones, and enough water to just submerge the meat (approximately 16 cups).

Bring everything to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low so the soup is at a gentle simmer.

Simmer without a lid for 10 minutes. During this time you’ll notice a lot of grey/brown material – blood, marrow, fat, and other substances from the meats – float to the top of your soup. Frequently run a skimmer across the top of the soup to catch these impurities. We want to do all our skimming before we put the herbs and aromatics in, as they also float to the top and will get caught in the skimmer.

Jostle the meats occasionally to dislodge impurities that are stuck to the meat or hiding at the bottom of the pot. Discard the impurities.

STEP 3: Add (almost all) other ingredients and simmer.

After 10 minutes of skimming, or when you’re basically catching no more impurities when you run your skimmer through the broth, add everything else in the “Ingredients” list except the goji berries. That’s your bay leaves, sliced ginger, Chinese dried wild yam, astragalus root, codonopsis root, Chinese angelica root, and dried longan.

Note on angelica root: Though all the herbal ingredients here are pretty potent, the angelica root can be especially strong and warming (take one whiff and there will be no doubt!). If this is your first foray into Chinese herbal soups, you may find that 4 roots yields too strong a soup. You can use 1-2 to start, and increase next time if you were okay with the taste.

Reduce heat to as low as you can get it while still maintaining a simmer.

Close the lid and simmer for 2.5 hours. At this point both the chicken and pork should be fall-off-the-bones tender.

STEP 4: Add goji berries and serve!

Add your goji berries and continue cooking for just 1 minute. We don’t want to stew these berries – a light burble in the broth will keep them sweet and plump. Extended cooking can make them bitter. Then turn off the heat.

Ladle into bowls and serve. If desired, add salt to taste. The pork will leach natural salt into the broth…so make sure you taste the soup before salting – you may find it’s salty enough the way it is!

Sip and say “ahhh!”

3. FAQs

Where do I find the ingredients for Chinese herbal soup?

You can find these ingredients in most well-stocked Chinese grocery stores, or Chinese herbalist stores. The herbal ingredients will be stored in the dried goods section. If you need some help, you can show the staff a picture of the herbs and ask for help to find what you’re looking for.

If you live in an area without a Chinese grocery store, try online shops like this one (for the USA) or like this one (for Canada).

How long will this soup last in the fridge?

Always store leftovers in an airtight container.

I suggest consuming this soup within 3 days of refrigeration. The flavours will actually deepen overnight.

The soup will keep at least 4 months in the freezer.

Can I eat the herbs, or just the broth?

You can eat the herbs (except the bay leaves), roots, and berries! Note that the roots will be rather woody in texture; so feel free to discard if you prefer.

How strong or medicinal will this soup taste?

This soup should not taste too medicinal. If the soup is too strong for your liking, reduce the amount of angelica roots first, as it’s the strongest ingredient in our recipe. You can also halve the astragalus and codonopsis roots (i.e. use 2 each instead of 4 each). The dried yam does not have a strong taste.

Can I reuse the herbs for a second batch of soup?

You certainly can! However, your second batch will be significantly diluted compared to the first if you only rely on reused herbs. I suggest adding half of the original amount of the new herbs as well to supplement your soup, if you are reusing the herbs.

Can I make this soup in a slow cooker/Instant Pot?

Yes you can! Please note that you’d need a pretty sizable slow cooker or Instant Pot.

Slow Cooker: Follow Steps 1 and 2 of this recipe in a normal stockpot. For Step 3, pour all contents of the stockpot (careful to avoid splashing!) into your slow cooker set on “high,” put the lid on, and simmer for 5 hours, or until meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. Follow Step 4 as usual.

Instant Pot: Follow all steps with an Instant Pot instead of a stockpot. Do Step 2 in Sauté Mode. For Step 3, set Instant Pot to Pressure Cook mode on “high” and reduce cooktime to 1 hour. For Step 4, add goji berries and just let sit for two minutes – no need to cook.

4. Recipe Card

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