Summer must-tries: 5 simple cooling soup recipes to beat the heat, clear toxins, and reduce dampness!
Health2025-07-15
6 Mins Read
As summer arrives and temperatures soar, it's common to feel tired, lose your appetite, or even experience issues like prickly heat and poor sleep. While drinking plenty of water is essential to replace lost fluids, you might also consider sipping on some cooling soups. These can help your body combat 'internal heat' and 'dampness' from the inside out.
From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, soups aren't just a warm dish on the table – they're a way to regulate your constitution and balance your internal organs. Especially in humid, hot environments and with fast-paced lifestyles like in Hong Kong, using natural, heat-clearing ingredients to make soups can help detoxify the body, soothe the gut, calm the mind, and promote restful sleep.
We’re introducing 5 simple, family-friendly cooling soups—each designed to clear heat, detoxify the body, reduce dampness, and soothe internal heat. Pick your favourites!
The wellness principles of cooling soups: Understanding 'heat-clearing' and 'dampness-eliminating'
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory, summer is associated with the fire element. The body can easily accumulate excess heat due to high external temperatures, leading to symptoms like dry mouth, constipation, and sore throat. When paired with excessive greasy foods or cold drinks, internal dampness can accumulate, leading to symptoms such as a heavy head, fatigue, and digestive discomfort. That’s why summer wellness should focus on ‘clearing heat and dispelling summer heat’ as well as ‘fortifying the spleen and draining dampness’.
Several common ingredients for clearing heat and eliminating dampness include:
- Mung beans （綠豆）: Cooling in nature; helps clear heat, detoxify the body, relieve summer heat, and promote urination.
- Winter melon （冬瓜）: Sweet flavour and cold nature; promotes urination, reduces swelling, clears heat, and detoxifies.
- Job's tears/Coix seeds （薏仁）: Fortifies the spleen and drains dampness; particularly suitable for reducing water retention.
- Lily bulbs （百合）: Moistens the lungs, eases coughs, calms the spirit, and aids sleep.
- Honeysuckle flowers （金銀花）: Clears heat and detoxifies; counteracts internal fire caused by summer heat.
- Lotus seeds & Red dates （蓮子、紅棗）: Tonifies the heart and spleen; alleviates restlessness and lethargy.
- Dried tangerine peel （陳皮）: Regulates Qi (supports and balances internal organ function) and fortifies the spleen; neutralises strong odours and cuts through greasiness.
Handy Tip: When preparing soups, tailor them to your individual constitution and taste preferences. For example, those with cold-natured constitutions can add ginger slices to counterbalance cooling ingredients, or slightly reduce the rock sugar quantity to avoid stomach discomfort from excessive coldness.
5 Simple cooling soup recipes
1. Mung bean & coix seed detox soup
Ingredients: 50g mung beans, 30g coix seeds (Job's tears), 6 red dates, rock sugar (to taste)
Method:
1. Rinse mung beans and coix seeds separately, then soak for 1 hour.
2. Add to a pot with fresh water and red dates. Bring to the boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until mung beans just begin to split.
4. Add rock sugar to taste.
Benefits: Mung beans and coix seeds are both classic ingredients for summer wellness. When combined, they work synergistically to clear internal heat, promote gentle detoxification, support urination, and reduce dampness in the body. This light, cooling soup is especially beneficial for those prone to oily skin or puffiness during hot weather.
Tip: Add a few fresh mint leaves for extra freshness and a mind-clearing boost.
2. Mind-soothing winter melon & lily bulb soup
Ingredients: 300g winter melon (with skin), 20g dried lily bulbs, 30g lotus seeds, rock sugar (to taste)
Method:
1. Rinse winter melon and cut into chunks (skin on). Soak lily bulbs and lotus seeds for 30 minutes.
2. Add all ingredients to fresh water. Bring to boil, then reduce to gentle simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Sweeten with rock sugar before serving.
Benefits: Winter melon’s naturally cooling properties help dispel summer heat and refresh the body. When paired with heart-nourishing lily bulbs and lotus seeds, this soothing combination calms the spirit, relieves restlessness, and helps counter internal dryness.
Tip: Lotus seed cores impart slight bitterness – remove them unless you enjoy this note.
3. Honeysuckle & mint herbal infusion
Ingredients: 10g honeysuckle flowers, 5g fresh mint leaves, 2 slices liquorice root, rock sugar (to taste)
Method:
1. Rinse ingredients, add to 800ml water and bring to rolling boil.
2. Simmer gently for 10 minutes. Cool completely, then refrigerate.
3. Serve chilled.
Benefits: Honeysuckle helps clear heat toxins and combat internal pathogens, while mint refreshes the mind and dispels wind-heat. Together, they make an ideal midday drink to ease summer lethargy, irritability, and internal heat.
Tip: Adjust mint to taste. Use rock sugar sparingly to preserve the herbs' delicate aroma.
4. Calming asian pear & lily bulb decoction
Ingredients: 2 crisp pears (e.g. Ya/Nashi pears), 30g lily bulbs, 8 red dates, rock sugar (to taste)
Method:
1. Rinse pears thoroughly, core and quarter (leave skin on).
2. Combine with lily bulbs and dates in fresh water. Bring to boil.
3. Simmer gently for 15 minutes until pears soften.
4. Add rock sugar to serve.
Benefits: This soothing blend moistens the lungs, eases coughs, and helps clear phlegm—perfect for relieving throat irritation during the summer. Lily bulbs and pears work in harmony to calm the nerves and settle the mind, making it an ideal bedtime tonic.
Tip: No need to peel the pear—cooking it with the skin retains more nutrients. Just be sure to scrub thoroughly to remove any pesticide residue.
5. Lotus root & aged tangerine peel summer soup
Ingredients: 300g lotus root, 1 piece dried tangerine peel (chenpi), 200g lean pork (or pork ribs), 2 slices ginger, salt (to taste)
Method:
1. Peel lotus root and slice into rounds.
2. Blanch pork/ribs briefly to remove impurities.
3. Soak tangerine peel until pliable. Combine all ingredients in fresh water and bring to boil.
4. Reduce heat to gentle simmer; cook covered for 1 hour. Season with salt.
Benefits: Lotus root, with its neutral nature, helps fortify the spleen, drain dampness, quench thirst, and clear internal heat. Aged tangerine peel supports digestion, resolves phlegm, and cuts through the heaviness of rich summer foods. Combined with a savoury meat base, this balanced, family-friendly broth helps counter seasonal dryness.
Tip: Aged tangerine peel develops deeper, more complex flavour over time—use pieces matured for over 3 years to bring out optimal richness and aroma.
FAQs on cooling soups
Q1: Is it too cooling to consume these soups daily in summer?
A: These soups offer great benefits, but as with all things, moderation is key. Overconsumption may burden the digestive system. You can drink cooling soups in moderation, like Asian Pear & Lily Decoction or Lotus Root Soup. Individuals with cold constitutions or sensitive digestion should choose soups with neutral to warming properties, and consider adding ginger slices to help balance the cooling effects.
Q2: Are these soups suitable for children and older adults?
A: Most of these soups are made with natural ingredients and can benefit all age groups when consumed in moderation. However, it’s best to avoid strong flavourings like liquorice root or excessive rock sugar, and adjust ingredient portions based on age and individual constitution. For those with chronic health conditions or taking medication, it’s advisable to consult a doctor or licensed TCM practitioner before consumption.
Q3: Can these soups be consumed cold? Or must it be hot?
A: While warm consumption is generally more beneficial—especially for those with sensitive digestion—soups should not be taken piping hot, which can easily irritate the esophagus and oral cavity and cause discomfort. Some exceptions, like the Honeysuckle & mint herbal infusion, are naturally refreshing when served chilled and are ideal after outdoor activity. However, avoid drinking iced soups on an empty stomach.
Q4: When is the best time to drink these soups?
A: These soups are best enjoyed after lunch or before or after dinner. Avoid consuming them immediately after intense exercise or on an empty stomach. Taken as a post-meal tonic, they help dispel heat and support daily wellness. It’s best to limit intake close to bedtime, as some ingredients may affect sleep quality.
Q5: Can leftovers be stored overnight?
A: Leftovers can be refrigerated and should be consumed within 24 hours, with thorough reheating to ensure safety. However, due to the risk of bacterial growth in summer and the tendency for ingredients like pears and lily bulbs to lose texture and flavour, same-day consumption is recommended.
Time to enjoy your summer soups!
These five soups each offer unique benefits—whether it’s clearing heat and toxins, reducing dampness, or calming the mind and nourishing the lungs—making them suitable for a variety of body constitutions and lifestyle needs. For best results, enjoy them 3–5 times a week, paired with a light diet and a consistent daily routine. Wellness isn’t about quick fixes, but about sustained, mindful living. Let these soups become your go-to summer ritual—sip by sip—for a cooler, healthier season.
A word of caution: Everyone’s constitution is different. Those with cold-natured bodies or sensitive digestion should adjust ingredients and portions accordingly, and avoid overly cooling soups. If you have diabetes or are taking long-term medication, consult a healthcare professional or nutritionist before consumption.
The information and materials provided are of a general nature and do not constitute medical or health advice from AXA Hong Kong. They are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any express or implied representations and/or warranties of any kind. While AXA Hong Kong has exercised reasonable care in providing such information and materials, they are not tailored to your specific investment objectives, financial situation, health or medical condition, or particular needs. AXA Hong Kong and our affiliated or parent companies make no guarantee or assume any responsibility that the information and materials are non-infringing, secure, accurate, complete, adequate, fit for purpose, or free from computer viruses. To the extent permitted by law, AXA Hong Kong and our related and parent companies shall not accept any legal liability for any loss, damage, cost or other expense, whether in whole or in part, whether directly or indirectly arising from any errors, inaccuracies or omissions in connection with the information and materials provided.
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