How to use this guide:

• This is based on a Cantonese-styled approach (how we were raised) and a sharing of our experience, knowledge collected over time from multiple generational sources, and feedback!  We would love to continue expanding out this knowledge with your feedback, too! 

• Do see a Chinese medicine practitioner as this information is not a replacement for a doctor.

• You can follow this post for what ingredients are cooling or warming for soups and teas as a start.

Pork (猪肉, zhū ròu)

• Nature: Cool to neutral and often used in cooler broths, but are also added as flavor enhancers to double-boiled chicken soups. Some of the most flavorful Chinese soups have both chicken and pork pieces.

• Uses: Ribs, pork bones, or lean pork shoulder are the bones that are used in soups, but often also using pork meat such as shank for longer boils. 

• Prep: Blanch bones first to remove impurities. You can watch this video on YouTube on blanching pork bones.

• Recipe Ideas:

• Recovery Healing Soup (for Coughs and Nourishing Lungs)
• Papaya and Snow Fungus in a Pork Herbal Soup
• Eliminate cough and phlegm with this chayotes and seabed coconut Chinese herbal soup in pork broth
• How to make a cooling bitter melon pork bone Chinese soup (with sour mustard greens)

Chicken (雞, Jī)

• Nature: Chicken is a warmer (more yang) meat and often used in warmer soups (although can also be used in cooling soups)

• Uses: Whole chicken, bones, feet, or thighs are ideal for broths, especially warmer broths.

• Prep: Blanch bones first to remove impurities. Simmer 2–3 hours for collagen-rich broth.

• Recipe Ideas:

• How to Make a Warming Chicken Herbal Soup to Replenish Qi & Blood, Fight Fatigue & Boost Energy!

• How to Make a Warming and Healing Chicken Herbal Soup
• Double-boiled Healing and Warming Chicken and Ginger with Red Dates Chinese Herbal Soup
• Warming Chicken and Coconut Herbal (Healing) Chinese Soup

Beef (牛肉, Niúròu)

• Nature: Warm. Beef is considered a warm (and sometimes slightly more yang) type of meat. It’s not often used for long boil broths (which is chicken and pork)

• Uses: In Cantonese-styled Chinese soups, it’s more often used for quick boils (as sliced beef). It is a big different from Korean styled soups, which uses beef bones in long boil broths. Funny, as I was looking for recipes ideas, I don’t have that many beef based Chinese soups for you!

• Prep: You can pre-blanch or pre-fry. Beef used in soups will produce some brown broth, which you can scoop off with an oil strainer.

• Recipe Ideas:

• Winter Melon and Beef and Fish Balls Soup

• Beef Brisket Vegetable Soup

Duck (鴨, Yā)

• Nature: Raw duck is a cool meat, but when roasted warms up (although this isn’t the case for all foods).

• Uses: The Cantonese-styled Chinese soups don’t often use duck in long boil broths, but if you do, pair with vegetables. I like using roasted duck (as it’s more flavorful), using it in quick boils, served as a stew sauce on top of noodles, or in congee. The other common way to use duck is with their eggs, either preserved as salted or century old. These are commonly found in quick boils or congee. Duck gizzards though, are a common ingredient found in Cantonese-styled Chinese soups.

• Prep: You can pre-blanch raw or roasted duck, which produces a lot of oil which you can scoop off with an oil strainer.

• Recipe Ideas:

• How to make fragrant salted egg soup base with vermicelli, tofu, and napa cabbage

Seafood (海鮮, Hǎixiān)

• Nature: Seafood in general is cool in nature. This includes fish, shrimp, mollusks (often used dried), scallops, oyster, octopus. These are the very distinct smelling vats of products you find on the streets of Sheung Wan in Hong Kong.
• Uses: Depending on the seafood, some are for long boils and double-boil and some are for quick boils.
• For example: Dried scallops and shrimp are often used in double-boil and long boil soups
• Dried octopus are often used in long boils
• Dried fish maw is often used in long boils
• Prep: For most fish, I will pre-fry to explode the flavors and give it a crisp flavor by browning the skin and putting it into a fish or soup bag (which you can get on Amazon here). You can check out this video on how to use fish bags. 

• Recipe Ideas:
• Healing Chinese Chicken Herbal Soup with Fish Maw
• How to make a delicious Cantonese-styled Tomato Fish Soup (with vegetables)
• Vietnamese Sour Fish Soup

Tofu (豆腐, Dòufu)

• Nature: Soy based products are cooling in nature.

• Uses: Tofu is often used for quick boil soups unless they are super hard, fried, and can hold its shape because of how malleable and soft they are. The best way to use tofu is in stews and quick soups. I will sometimes use deep fried tofu balls in long boil soups, but never double-boil. 

• Prep: Use directly from the package is OK.

• Recipe Ideas:

• Hot and slightly spicy Korean Kimchi and Tofu Jjigae (soup)
• Tofu and Mushrooms Miso Soup

For further reading, I’ve found some more scientific and published articles.  Here are some to read up on: 

• Shen, 2007, “Yin Deficiency”, Science Direct [online], “https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/yin-deficiency“
• Ting-Ting Jiang,Ji-Cheng L, 2020, “Review on the systems biology research of Yin-deficiency-heat syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine”, American Association for Anatomy [online], “https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.24354″