Dried fig

The dried fig, in Cantonese soup use a small pale, squat variety sold whole, quite different from the dark pressed dessert fig. Rinsed and snipped in half, it releases honeyed sweetness and tiny crunchy seeds, rounding savoury pots the way honey dates do but with a fruitier note.

TCM properties

Nature · neutral　Flavour · sweet　Meridians · lung、spleen、large intestine

Traditional food therapy

In Cantonese food therapy a few figs are added to moisten the lungs and throat, gently open the appetite and smooth the bowels, a favourite in children's and clearing pots.

Cautions: read first

• High in sugar, so people with diabetes should take note
• Not in quantity if your stools are loose

Preparation

Rinse them, then snip them in half so they give more flavour.

Origin

Weihai in Shandong and Atushi in Xinjiang, among other districts, for the dried figs used in soup. mainstream AU supermarket dried figs are typically Turkish dessert figs; the pale Chinese soup fig comes via Asian grocers and herbal shops

Availability in Australia

Easy to find

Pairs well with