Snow Pear and Cogongrass Root Soup

Why people make this soup

Snow pear is a gentle, nourishing fruit that has been used in Cantonese kitchens for generations to address the lingering cough that tends to follow a cold or a week of too much fried food. In Chinese food therapy, there are two broad patterns of cough: one cold and damp (often worse at night, with thin clear or white phlegm), and one hot and dry (with yellow or thick phlegm, bad breath, a dry or burning sensation, and sometimes dark urine). This soup is firmly in the territory of the second type. It cools, moistens, and helps the lungs move phlegm and restore comfortable breathing.

The good news for parents: this soup tastes naturally sweet and pleasant from the pear and the touch of sugar. Children who normally refuse “bitter medicine teas” tend to accept this one without complaint.