Congee and Medicinal Soups - Westside

Any recommendations? I usually get congee from Moon House in Westwood and it’s quite tasty.

In SF and Oakland, there are shops that specialize in medicinal soups. Do we have that here?

Probably not qualifying as “medicinal” but traditionally Cantonese places serve soup. Soup is very much a part of Cantonese people daily diet. In those soups sometimes you will find medicinal things like goji berries, red dates, ginseng, gingko, etc. Generally this is included in the meal. I wouldn’t qualify it as pure medicinal soup. Also with the soup is some type of bones, root vegetables ie daikon, shanyao/nagaimo, carrots, maybe some dried mushrooms and dried orange peel. Sometimes a fresh vegetable like mustard green or watercress is added. It is delicious!!

A pure medicinal soup from an actual Chinese herb place is disgusting.

The only place I could think of was actually in Rowland Heights in Diamond Plaza called Country Bistro (FYI Diamond Plaza is a hellhole to get to and out of).
It was Taiwanese and Taiwanese-Mainland style but had a whole menu of different medicinal soup from an extra $1-2 dollars. Some of the soups were more balanced and others lean more towards the medicinal taste. Wasn’t uncommon to see some Cantos up in that joint because of the soups. It’s gone now btw RIP.

I never been but I remember around Sawtelle area there is like 2 Cantonese places I seen one on Olympic and one on Santa Monica around Sepulveda. Not sure if a soup is offered with the meal.

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Was going thru the Sea Harbour posts here and they also have soups that have some medicinal ingredients. Looks like dinner only and must be ordered in advanced.

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My thoughts exactly. :wink:

Yah, but some people need the medicinal taste to believe it’s working. This is for a friend.

If you want truly effective medicinal soups, you have to buy the herbs yourself (preferably from a licensed acupuncturist/herbalist) and then brew it yourself at home.

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VN style:

Luc Din Ky, little Saigon

A little something extra there for my friends @PorkyBelly , @JeetKuneBao, @Chowseeker1999

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I think you’re right. I need to go shopping.

Aww snap how could I forget!!

Thanks @Ns1. Which of the soups did you try before? This sounds interesting. :slight_smile:

Their soups are too hardcore for me. Usually stick with the crispy rice dishes or clay pot dishes.

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I remember having a version of the chicken thuoc bac soup growing up. My grandmothers both really loved it…and then it slowly disappeared from their menus as they cooked less and less. It is no joke and super pungent in the herbal eastern medicine shop kind of way.

Nice soup list. It might be nice to try something different, thanks.

Here is where we go in Oakland, Imperial Soup.

(Photo from Yelp.)

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Item #3 - Beef “Long”. What euphemism. Or am I reading the blurry Chinese character incorrectly? :rofl:

Long could mean offal

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@JeetKuneBao is correct. One of the meanings of long can mean offal. In other uses, it can also mean soul.

Yeah but let’s be real here, given the Vietnamese translation it’s probably bull penis.

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Fo’ shizzle, dat’s pizzle…

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I should get that for my friend.

You want medicine?? I’ve got your medicine right here.

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