October 11, 2014

Chinese Pear Herbal Tonic Soup 川貝雪梨湯

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One lovely autumn day long, long ago, my Grandma, the dearest stubbornest little old Chinese lady that ever was, decided enough was enough!  She had waited and watched over the large pear tree in our neighbor's yard, just drooping with ripe juicy fruit, for days upon days.  Our neighbors evinced no interest at all in their luscious pears and they were starting to fall to the ground and rot.  

Waste not, want not was ever my Grandma's motto, and so very early that morning she, a little old Chinese lady armed with a big long stick, marched over to our neighbor's garden fence and began to knock those juicy pears right out of the tree.  Whatever fell outside the fence was hers and she came proudly  home that day with huge bagfuls of pears.  

My 爸爸 was so exasperated!  "You could have been shot!" he huffed.  But Grandma didn't care one whiff and soon a delicious potful of Chinese Pear Herbal Tonic Soup  川貝燉雪梨 was simmering on the stove.  I still remember that first golden spoonful of deliciously sweet, light, soothing soup.  Just the thing to sooth and heal sniffles and a cough.  There's really nothing quite like Grandma's pear soup!

Now, flash forward eons later, it's that time of the year again.  The cool autumn air is creeping in and every one's starting to get sick.  Yuck, I hate getting sick!  But it happens anyways, regardless of one's desires.  

My little girl has finally started school and, well, you know how that goes, she's bringing home not only her homework (she has homework every night in kindergarten!) but also coughs and sniffles galore.  So I've been making Grandma's Chinese Pear Herbal Tonic Soup for her! 

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I, unfortunately, did not have a neighbor's juicy tree to pilfer from, so I went to the wet market and bought myself some Yali pears, or 鴨梨.  But I think one could use any kind of Asian pear for this soup. 

The distinguishing characteristics of an asian pear is the high water content (almost 90%!), the crisp texture, and the thin usually yellow sometimes green skin with brown speckles.  Western pears have a more buttery texture.  And these Yali pears are soooo delicious served just as fruit, the absolutely unique crunchy sweet juiciness is really satisfying, so be sure to get yourself some extra pears just to eat plain!

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Fritillary Bulb  川貝母

There are only four ingredients in all for this Chinese Pear Herbal Tonic and you can get three of them at your local Chinese pharmacy store.  

First of all is a Chinese herb called Fritillary Bulb , or 川貝母.  This herb sooths coughs and clear phlegm and body heat.  It's a little bit pricey but worth it for this soothing remedy for coughs.  Interestingly, this herb is actually the bulb of a beautiful flower, the Fritillaria Cirrhosa, as you can see in the illustration below.

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Fritillaria Cirrhosa image from Institute for Traditional Medicine

The second herbal ingredient is the Northern Apricot Kernel, or 北杏仁.  This herb helps soothe the lungs and stop the cough.  Please do be sure to buy the prepared Northern Apricot Kernels that one finds at the Chinese pharmacy, as the unprepared ones (ie. skin on) are cyanide toxic and should not be used!  When buying, differentiate between Southern 南杏仁 and Northern Apricot Kernels 北杏仁 as they look very similar.

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Northern Apricot Kernel  北杏仁

And last of all, my favorite, honey dates, or 金黄蜜枣.  These little guys are amazing in all kinds of soup, from simple tonics to more complex Cantonese style slow cooked soups , or 老火湯, adding a sweetness and a richness of flavor that is really wonderful.  Honey dates naturally sweeten your soup tonic as well as nourishing the body and warming the yang energy.

Just throw these four things in a pot and simmer away.  And just wait till you taste it!  This tonic soup is supposed to be for my coughing little girl but (oops!) me and my 老公 somehow greedily accidentally drank it all up!  So I've got another potful simmering away on the stove as I write this post.  

My Grandma's amazingly simple home made soup has actually been an herbal cure for hundreds of years in China!  Besides providing truly delicious nourishment for a weakened body, this Chinese Pear Herbal Tonic Soup will help to sooth away your cough and clear away that yucky phlegm.  

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Chinese Pear Herbal Tonic Soup Recipe
川貝燉雪梨
(Prep time: 3 mins  Cook time: 1 hour 30 mins)

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 asian pears
  • 1/3 cup Fritillary Bulb 川貝母
  • 10 northern apricot kernels 北杏
  • 6 honey dates 金黄蜜枣
Directions:

Clean and peel pears.  Slice into bite sized chunks, discarding the core.  Add all ingredients into large pot and add enough water to cover by 2 inches.  Boil over medium heat for 30 mins.  Add more boiling water at this point if water level is low.  

Simmer over low heat for another hour or until pears soft and the soup is well infused with pear flavor.  Serve hot.  Enjoy!

Tip:  The soup is naturally sweetened by the pears and dates.

Tip 2:  You can and should eat everything in this tonic soup.

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40 comments:

  1. I've made this, and it was very refreshing. (I did substitute the fritillary bulbs with lily bulbs out of desperation.) Thanks for such a wonderful recipe! I'll be making this a lot, even if nobody's having cough or flu. :)

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    1. Hi Eiraelis - So glad that you enjoyed the pear soup! It's a real treat, I agree, and we also make it sometimes just because we want something refreshing and soothing. ~ellen

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  2. Super late comment, but do you know how long this would keep in the fridge? I mean we would eat within a week, but would it last a week?

    Thanks :)

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    1. It would keep definitely 3-4 days, most likely a week if you used clean dry utensils when scooping from it. ~ellen

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  3. May I know your portion is for one bowl only ? I have followed your recipe except that I have added in 20 northern apricot kernels as I intend to cook for 3 pax. All ingredients just need to wash and throw into cold water for boiling?

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    1. Makes a potful, enough for 6-8 bowls. ~ellen

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  4. May I know can I add 20x northern apricot kernels instead of 10? And all ingredients just need to wash with cold water and put to boil with cold water too?

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    1. Hi August - Yes, you can add a bit more apricot kernels, I usually just pour a good bit in without counting them out. Only the pears and the dates need to be rinsed, everything else just throw into the cold water and bring to a boil. ~ellen

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  5. Hi Ellen,
    Can 11 month old baby and 3 year old kid eat this recipe? How long they need to eat to stop the cough and cold? Eat before winter or anything when they get cough and runny nose?

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    1. Hi kanha - yes, baby and kids can drink the pear soup, my little girl has it all the time, but I think just to be super careful don't let them eat the apricot kernels. But do have it in the soup when cooking, as it will sooth the cough. ~ellen

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  6. What about 南杏?can it be used?

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    1. Yes, can be used but 北杏 is usually used as it is better at soothing and reducing cough. ~ellen

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  7. Thankѕ too my father who informed me regarding thiѕ website, this blog
    іs really remarkable.

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  8. Hi, can I use red dates instead of honey dates?

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    1. Yes, red dates are fine as dates are added in for the sweetness. ~ellen

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  9. Hi Ellen, it it possible to use brown in colour pears instead of Yali Pears? Thanks so much!

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    1. Yes it's okay to use the brown skinned pears, as long as they are the crisp and juicy asian pear variety and not the western pears which are buttery in texture. ~ellen

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  10. Hi! Since we're all crazy with this Coronavirus thing, i was thinking a lot about this formula. Do you know if there's much difference between the asian and the western pear? We have the "water" pear, wich is mostly juice, but I don't know if there's some deep component difference

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    1. Hey - the water pear is an asian pear I believe. The difference is that asian pears are crisp in texture and very juicy while the western pears are buttery in texture as well as being juicy. Hope that helps, stay safe!

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  11. Is soup as effective if someone cannot eat the solids? I an thinking of making this for a friend with very bad sinus infection such that she cannot keep anything but broth down. Also, do you have more immune boosting sinus yuck busting soups? I thought maybe a selection would help.

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    1. Soup is totally effective as nutrient but does depend on what you put in the soup. For nutrition I think soup with meat and veg cooked in and then pureed or removed before consuming would be best. For sinus clearing and comfort I would recommend boiling a few slices of ginger in water and then adding honey and maybe some lemon to make a tea. ~ellen

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  12. Can you make this in an instant pot?

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  13. Yes, absolutely, but I haven't had the chance to use instant pot so don't know the conversion exactly. Try following a similar recipes conversion or using one of the conversion charts available online. ~ellen

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  14. Hi, I noticed that you mentioned to use cold water to boil for the first 30min. Can I ask what is the rationale? Cuz I've never used cold water to start boiling a soup before. Also, cold as in ice cold temp?

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  15. Hi Kenneth - Just room temp water is fine. I've changed it, thanks for pointing that out! ~ellen

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  16. Can you drink this cold from the fridge like juice?

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  17. Yes, it's delicious cold! ~ellen

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  18. Thank you for sharing this recipe! Sounds delicious. Just wondering if the apricot kernels should soften or if they stay crunchy? Thank you.

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  19. Can I use red apples(royal gala) instead chinese pears. As I can't get hold of any at my Chinese shop

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    1. Yes you can but it will be more like apple soup than pear soup. Pears are more soothing I think ~ellen

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  20. Hello! Is this ok to make for young children? Like a 2 year old boy?

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  21. Reduce the fritillary bulbs down to 10-15 bulbs and cut out the apricot kernels completely if making for young children. ~ellen

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  22. Hi how much water do I need?

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  23. Add enough to cover pears by 2 inches

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  24. My 20 month baby having cough since 1 year . Every after 15 days he get cough . Can I give him daily this soup ? And how many apricot kernel should be added in 1 bowl of soup ?

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  25. Yes can give him daily but don't add apricot kernels for children. Hope that his cough gets better soon. ~ellen

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  26. Can this be given to a pregnant person?

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    1. If pregnant, please don't include the northern apricot kernel and fritillary bulb. It will still be quite soothing and yummy without these two ingredients. ~ellen

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