The Chinese Soup Lady. COM

10/08/2026

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Your Body Is a Mini Universe | An Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine

Close your eyes and take one slow breath. In that moment, your lungs opened like a sky filling with wind, your heart kept its steady rhythm, and rivers of blood moved through you on their own.

Thousands of years ago, Chinese physicians looked up at the stars, the seasons and the rivers, then looked inward and found the same patterns inside us. In this first episode of my illustrated TCM series, we explore the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine: the idea that your body is a mini universe.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
🌙 Heaven, Earth and Human: the ancient idea that we are one with nature
☯️ Yin and Yang: the two forces behind every breath and every season
🌿 The Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, and the organs they connect to
👑 The organs as a royal court: the Heart as Emperor, the Lungs as Prime Minister, the Liver as General, the Spleen and Stomach as the Granary, and the Kidneys as the Root of Life

We have this one body, this gift called a body. My mission is to help us understand it, so that we can take care of it.

🌸 Want to bring these ideas into your kitchen? Get my starter’s guides to Chinese soups and teas: https://thechinesesouplady.com/starters-guide/

This series is for educational purposes only and isn’t a substitute for advice from a licensed healthcare practitioner.

10/05/2026

🌸 TCM Teas for (Peri)Menopause — easy teas for when the Yin is depleting 🌸

Around 49 ("the seventh seven," 七七) the Kidney essence naturally winds down and it's usually Kidney Yin that thins first. Yin is the cooling, moistening, grounding side of the body, so when it drops you get the classic cluster: heat rising up with nothing to anchor it (flushes), dryness, and a nervous system that's lost its "damper." That's why most (peri) menopause teas are gently cooling and yin-nourishing rather than warming tonics.

For all of these: pop the ingredients in a mug or teapot, pour over boiling water, steep 7 minutes, and enjoy.

🔥 1. For hot flashes, night sweats & dry eyes: Clears "empty heat," gently nourishes, and brightens tired eyes.
• 6–8 chrysanthemum flowers
• 1 tbsp goji berries
• a small piece of rock sugar (to taste)
• 1 tbsp floating wheat (add if sweats are the main issue)

🌹 2. For irritability, mood swings & tension headaches: Moves stuck Liver Qi, clears stagnation, and cools that "everything is annoying" heat. Steep only — never boil the mint or it turns bitter.
• 5–6 chrysanthemum flowers
• 5–6 dried rose buds
• a few fresh mint leaves

🌾 3. For insomnia, anxiety & palpitations: Settles the mind, anchors the Shen (spirit), and steadies the heart. An evening cup.
• 1 tbsp lotus seeds (use the lotus seed heart 蓮子心 if you're feeling very wired — it's bitter but it works)
• 1 tbsp dried lily bulbs
• 2 red dates (pitted and sliced — just 2 is enough or it'll be too heaty)

What are you experiencing? Let me know and I can suggest a tea!

Learn how to build your own Chinese soups with herbs: https://thechinesesouplady.com/starters-guide/

TCM concepts are shared here for education and aren’t a medical diagnosis. Persistent, new or unexplained excessive sweating should be discussed with your healthcare provider.

09/30/2026

Have a cough and sore throat? In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), how you treat a cough depends on how it presents. In this video, I share two versions of Chinese snow pear tea: one for a cough with yellow, sticky phlegm (with monk fruit), and one for a dry cough with little or no phlegm (with dried lily bulb). You’ll also learn the TCM food therapy logic behind each herb so you can mix and match for your own symptoms.

Download my Starter’s Guide to Making Chinese Soups and Teas: https://thechinesesouplady.com/starters-guide/ Learn Design principles, your basic herb pantry, equipment, and simple mix-and-match recipes.

Which version is best for you? 🍐
Version 1 (Phlegm + Heat): sore throat, cough, yellow sticky phlegm, sticky nasal discharge, fever, hot face or hot breath Version 2 (Dry Cough): sore or dry throat, dry irritating cough, little to no phlegm

From a TCM perspective, this combination helps to moisten the Lungs, transform phlegm, clear Lung Heat, generate fluids, and support the descending of Lung Qi. 🌿

You’ll need:
🍐 1 snow pear, cored
🌿 Chuan Bei Mu 川贝母
🌰 20 north + south apricot kernels 南北杏
🧊 Rock sugar, to taste
Optional:
💛 1/4 dried monk fruit 罗汉果 — for additional cooling support when there are signs of Heat, such as yellow phlegm
🤍 6-7 dried lily bulb 百合 — for extra Lung-moistening support with a dry cough

To make:
Cut the top off the pear and remove the core, seeds + a little flesh. Add the ingredients inside and replace the pear “lid.”

Place in a bowl and steam over gently bubbling water on low for about 45 minutes, or until completely soft.
Remove the herbs/kernels before serving, then enjoy the warm liquid + soft steamed pear. 🍐✨

Or you can chop the snow pears, add the ingredients into a stove top safe pot, add 2.5 L of water and boil on medium heat for 15 minutes.

A beautiful example of how TCM food therapy looks beyond the symptom and asks: what kind of cough is it? 🌿

TCM educational content only. Chuan Bei Mu and bitter apricot kernels are medicinal ingredients; use appropriately prepared products and seek professional guidance when needed.

09/28/2026

Match your headache to your pantry 🍵 a Traditional Chinese Medicine view

Not all headaches are the same — and in TCM, the type of head pain points to what your body's asking for.

Here's the cheat sheet. Find yours, then head to the kitchen 👇

🔥 STRESS + HEAT
One-sided, throbbing, worse with heat, stress or anger. Comes with irritability, red eyes, tight neck & shoulders, red-edged tongue.
→ Reach for: chrysanthemum, goji berries, mint, mung beans. More stress or PMS? Add rose buds, jasmine, dried tangerine peel.

☁️ HEAVY + FOGGY
Heavy or foggy head, nausea, that spinny/dizzy feeling. Comes with slow digestion, phlegm, a thick greasy tongue coating.
→ Reach for: Job's tears (barley), Chinese yam, daikon, dried tangerine peel, winter melon.

❄️ COLD HEADACHE
Pain at the top of the head, feeling chilly. Comes with cold hands & feet, clear runny nose, nausea, pale wet tongue.
→ Reach for: fresh ginger, brown sugar, scallion whites, cinnamon.

📍 STUCK + STABBING
Worst at night, same fixed spot, often chronic. Comes with a purple or dark tongue, maybe with spots.
→ Reach for: hawthorn, wood-ear fungus, roses, chives, vinegar, lemon.

🌬️ WEATHER + WIND
Sensitive to wind, weather and drafts — you want to bundle up. Chilled & sneezy? ginger, scallions, perilla leaf, brown sugar. Warm & feverish instead? mint, mulberry leaf, chrysanthemum, honeysuckle.

🔋 TIRED + DEPLETED
Dull, lingering, worse when you're tired or late in the day, better after rest. Comes with pale complexion, pale puffy tongue.
→ Reach for: red dates, goji, longan, Chinese yam, astragalus. Feeling dry too? black sesame, snow fungus, lily bulb, snow pear.

Save this for the next time your head starts talking 📌 and tell me — which type sounds most like you?

Learn how to build your own food as therapy in Chinese soups and teas: https://thechinesesouplady.com/starters-guide/

This is a general guide to how soups and teas can support Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts for balanced health. It's not a substitute for medical advice or diagnosis — please check with your own doctor or TCM practitioner first. 💛

09/23/2026

https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/wellness/next-generation-tcm

This is TCM for me. Know some basic TCM principles, some key ingredients (ones you love), and integrate what makes sense for you. That’s what it means to live it as a lifestyle. 💕

A new generation of young Chinese consumers is reshaping TCM, turning bitter herbs into gummies and lattes, but as the tradition becomes easier to buy, is it becoming harder to trust?

09/22/2026

🍊 Why do we preserve kumquats with salt?

This is one of those simple Chinese home remedies that I grew up drinking (my mom’s 24 year old preserved kumquats!), and there’s actually a beautiful logic behind the combination from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective.

Kumquats 金桔 (jīn jú) are traditionally used to help regulate Qi, particularly when there is a feeling of constraint or stagnation in the chest, and to help transform phlegm. Its aromatic citrus peel is an important part — so we use the whole fruit (including the skin), not just the juice.

Salt 鹽 flavours are associated with the kidneys and have a softening quality. Here, salt also serves the very practical purpose of helping preserve the kumquats and drawing moisture from the fruit.

Honey 蜂蜜 is sweet and moistening. Traditionally, it is used to support the lungs, soothe dryness and harmonize ingredients, which is why you’ll see it paired so often with ingredients used for a dry or irritated throat.

✨ And together?

You get a preserved kumquat that is aromatic + moistening + soothing, traditionally enjoyed when the throat feels dry or uncomfortable or when you want a little support for the lung and the movement of Qi.

I usually take a preserved kumquat, slice it up, add a little of the honey, mash it a bit, and mix it with warm water. 🫖

And this is one of the things I love most about Chinese food therapy...

Sometimes the simplest things sitting in our kitchens have generations of thinking behind them. ❤️

Learn how to build your own food as therapy in Chinese soups and teas: https://thechinesesouplady.com/starters-guide/

TCM food therapy is traditionally used as supportive wellness care and isn’t a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment.

#金桔

09/21/2026

Not all sweat is the same 💦

In TCM, when you sweat, how you sweat, and what else you’re feeling alongside it can give us clues about what may be happening in the body.

Sweat is considered the fluid of the Heart and is closely connected with Qi. And while sweating is completely normal, different patterns of excessive or unusual sweating are viewed differently in TCM.

For example:

☀️ Sweating during the day, even without much activity?
TCM may look toward Qi deficiency — especially if you’re also tired, weak or short of breath.

🌬️ Sweat easily + sensitive to drafts and cold?
This can point toward weak Defensive Qi (Wei Qi) — where the exterior isn’t securing the pores well.

🌙 Waking up sweaty at night?
Especially with warmth in the palms, soles or chest, a dry mouth or feeling flushed? TCM often associates this pattern with Yin deficiency.

🔥 Lots of sweat + feeling very HOT?
Thirst, a red face and irritability alongside heavier sweating can fit more of a Heat / excess Yang picture.

🥶 Sudden, profuse COLD + clammy sweat?
This one is different. In TCM, severe cold sweating with marked weakness is associated with Yang collapse. Sudden cold clammy sweating — particularly with chest pain, fainting, confusion, breathing difficulty or severe weakness — warrants urgent medical care, rather than trying to identify or treat a TCM pattern yourself.

The interesting part? “I sweat a lot” isn't quite enough information in TCM.

We ask:
• When does it happen?
• Does the sweat feel hot or cold?
• Are you sleeping? Exercising? Doing nothing?
• Are you thirsty, tired, dry, flushed or chilly?
• Are there areas where you sweat more on your body?
• Do you notice any patterns with the sweating?
• And often we check your tongue and pulse as well

Those little details help paint a much bigger picture. 🌿

SUBSCRIBE for more in-depth learning about TCM and your body!

TCM concepts are shared here for education and aren’t a medical diagnosis. Persistent, new or unexplained excessive sweating should be discussed with your healthcare provider.

09/18/2026

Some people tour museums and historical landmarks.

I tour supermarkets. Thank you H Mart | 한아름 and Maizon | Digital Marketing Agency ❤️ for this special tour!

You have to check out the HMART TORONTO OFFICIAL newest location in North York. It’s Canada’s largest HMart.

I found a lot of amazing soup ingredients!
• Fresh abalone and sea cucumber (for your kidneys!)
• High quality dried snow fungus
• Fresh Canadian ginseng (for your Qi!)
• All the dried seafood for that umami boost
• All sorts of precut soup bones
• All sorts of fresh poultry for your warming soups
• Incredible fresh and abundance of roots and veggies
• All your ceramic and cookware needs

Happy shopping!!

09/16/2026

💖 The Engineer in me was so excited for this project!

I needed an easy, digital app to capture my patient intakes (without personal information as that’s stored with the clinic). So took 2 days to design, hash out, test, and use this app custom built app. It’s been a game changer because I’ve added these cool learning features:

• Full intake with 10 questions
• Added some 1-10 boxes for energy (though could do this for pain as well)
• Body maps (female and male) for capturing pain, location, ashi points - with description box
• Needling points (L or R or neither) and the reason why - for my own learning
• Previous herbs used and why and how it’s working
• Full pulse capture - by each of the 9 levels on each wrist (so 18 data points)
• Full tongue capture boxes
• Syndrome differentiation analysis and diagnosis

This is version 1 and thinking of more to add to automate this and make it fun for me!!

I’m releasing this free to the public.

It’s a completely free standalone app that captures minimal PII data (first name and last name first letter, no DOB, or any other identifier). It’s purely for learning purposes!

If you’d like it, pls DM me and I’ll send you the link to download it.

Happy Learning!

09/15/2026

🍐 TCM Snow Pear Tea (for cough)

A classic TCM food therapy recipe for supporting the Lungs — especially when there’s cough, phlegm, dryness, or an irritated throat.

From a TCM perspective, this combination helps to moisten the Lungs, transform phlegm, clear Lung Heat, generate fluids, and support the descending of Lung Qi. 🌿

You’ll need:
🍐 1 snow pear, cored
🌿 Chuan Bei Mu 川贝母
🌰 20 north + south apricot kernels 南北杏
🧊 Rock sugar, to taste
Optional:
💛 Monk fruit 罗汉果 — for additional cooling support when there are signs of Heat, such as yellow phlegm
🤍 Dried lily bulb 百合 — for extra Lung-moistening support with a dry cough

Version 1: The steamed pear
Cut the top off the pear and remove the core, seeds + a little flesh. Add the ingredients inside and replace the pear “lid.”
Place in a bowl and steam over gently bubbling water on low for about 45 minutes, or until completely soft.
Remove the herbs/kernels before serving, then enjoy the warm liquid + soft steamed pear. 🍐✨

Version 2: Pear Tea
Peel and cut the snow pear into cubes, removing the core and seeds. Add in your chuan bei, apricot kernels, rock sugar, and dried lily bulbs (or monk fruit for phlegm). You can also use both. Add 2.5 cups of water, boil on medium for 20 minutes or until the pears are soft. Serve and enjoy!

A beautiful example of how TCM food therapy looks beyond the symptom and asks: what kind of cough is it? 🌿

Learn how to build your own Chinese soups with herbs: https://thechinesesouplady.com/starters-guide/

TCM educational content only. Chuan Bei Mu and bitter apricot kernels are medicinal ingredients; use appropriately prepared products and seek professional guidance when needed.