In fact, many of the plants used in Chinese cooking, such as scallions, fresh ginger root, garlic, dried lily buds, tree fungus, etc. have properties of preventing and alleviating various illnesses.

The Chinese have a traditional belief in the medicinal value of food and that food and medicine share the same origin. This view could be considered a forerunner of nutritional science in China. Notable in this theory is the concept that correct proportion of meat to vegetable ingredients should be maintained; one third of meat based dishes should be vegetable ingredients and one third of vegetable dishes should be meat. In preparing soups, the quantity of water used should total seven-tenths the volume of the serving bowl. In short, the correct ingredient proportions must be adhered to in the preparation of each dish or soup in order to ensure full nutritional value.