Night-Blooming Jasmine Flower Pork Liver and Lean Pork Soup

Why people make this soup

In Chinese food therapy, flowers in general are associated with liver-calming and vision-supporting properties, and night-blooming jasmine (ye xiang hua) is particularly valued. This fragrant climbing vine flower is warm in nature — meaning people with a cold constitution can enjoy it without worry, unlike many liver-calming ingredients that are cooling. It is traditionally used to help with both acute and chronic eye inflammation (conjunctivitis), and the combination with pork liver makes a soup that smells and tastes far more interesting than its simple ingredient list suggests. That kind of cooking — fragrant, comforting, and genuinely nourishing — is exactly what traditional food therapy is about.