Soup Name: Coconut, Chinese Yam and Fresh Conch in Chicken Broth

Traditional Chinese Name: 椰子螺雞湯 (yē zi luó jī tāng)

Introduction:

This soup (because of the fresh conch) cost me a whopping $500 HKD.  For starters, it’s a really delicious soup and it’s naturally sweet, but you can pretty much achieve similar results with probably cheaper ingredients.  The vendor has suggested NOT to use the coconut water because that is pretty fattening, but other than that, it’s truly a perfect winter soup.

What ingredients are required?

1 fresh chicken, quartered
2 large fresh conch
1 fresh whole coconut, sliced into thin pieces
2 feet of fresh Chinese Yam, largely sliced
2 L of water

How do I prepare it?

1. Prepare chicken & conch (read each ingredient on instructions on preparation)
2. In a pot of boiling water, blanch chicken and conch
3. Prepare Chinese Yam by washing, peeling and cutting into large edible cubes (wear gloves while doing this)
4. Prepare fresh coconut by cutting it with the inner brown skin into long thin pieces
5. When your water boils, add all the ingredients in and boil on high for 30 minutes.  Reduce to a medium boil for another hour.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

Any precautions?

• The coconut isn’t the easiest thing to cut into thing strips, so if it’s too difficult, use larger chunks
• Be sure to thoroughly clean the conch (ie: with either salt, cornstarch or a toothbrush)
• The coconut meat is high in saturated fat and is high in cholesterol, so consume with caution
• Use an oil scooper to remove the fattiness of the chicken meat in the soup

Soup Name: Lotus Roots with Mung Beans and Dried Octopus Soup

Traditional Chinese Name: 蓮藕綠豆章魚湯 (liánǒu lǜdòu zhāng yú tāng)

Introduction:

When making any dried octopus soup, this is the most basic and common set of ingredients.  It’s simple (with only 3 ingredients), easy to prepare and delicious (and slightly cooling).  To me, most dried seafood tastes the same, something a little fishy and slightly sweet.  In fact, you can substitute dried “insert your seafood here” for these type of soups.  Other types of octopus soups also include peanuts or various other vegetables (like chayotes).  I’ll have to make other types to demonstrate the diverseness of dried octopus, but here’s my first.

What ingredients are required?

1 large dried octopus, sliced or quartered
2 section of lotus roots, sliced
100g of mung beans
2 L of water

How do I prepare it?

1. Rinse and soak the dried octopus and mung beans in warm water for an hour
2. Boil your soup water
3. Prepare lotus roots by washing and cutting into edible portions
4. Using scissors or a sharp knife, slice the dried octopus into thin slices (or quartered if you don’t plan to eat it)
5. When your water boils, add all the ingredients in and boil on high for 30 minutes.  Reduce to a medium boil for another hour.
6. Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

Any precautions?

• It is a slightly cooling soup, so if you’re concerned, add a few slices of ginger
• Be sure to purchase dried octopus from a reputable source

Ingredient Name: Mung Beans (also known as mungbean, bean, mung, green gram, mung gram)

Traditional Chinese Name: 綠豆 (lǜdòu)

• The direct translation of this from Chinese means “green bean”
• It is a small, round, oval-shaped bean that is green in color with a white eye (or center) and very hard
• The mung bean is commonly used in Chinese cuisine (soups, stews, desserts, made into paste, dishes, etc..)
• It is considered a cooling food and used to fight inflammation, heaty bodies, heat stroke, and fevers

How do I prepare it?

• Soak in warm water and rinse before using in soups

Where can I buy this?

• Readily available at most Asian supermarkets (packaged)
• Definitely available in Hong Kong wet marts (sold in the dried food vendor stalls) and can be purchased in the bulk volume of your choice

What is the cost?

• Very affordable
• One bag of 100g of mung bean cost me around $5-6 HKD at the wet mart
• This price will vary on vendor to vendor (and even from wet mart to supermarket)

Any benefits?

• The mung bean is an excellent source of protein
• It contains a healthy amount of Vitamin C and E
• They also contain Calcium, Iron, and Potassium
• The beans are a great weight-loss food and still give them punch of require proteins in daily diet

Any precautions?

• Take caution when consuming in the first trimester of a pregnancy (for soups, you can throw in 3-4 pieces of ginger into a soup that has mung beans)
• Be sure to purchase mung beans from a reputable source

Additional Information

• Store in a dry and cool place (up to 6 months)

Ingredient Name: Dried Octopus

Traditional Chinese Name: 章魚幹 (Zhāng yú gàn)

• This is basically the dried preserved carcass of a small octopus (an eight-legged mollusc that lives in the ocean)
• It is prepared by sun drying them with salt
• It is salty and slightly “fishy” in taste with a rubbery and hard texture
• Commonly used in soups, stews and other Chinese dishes (usually sliced very thinly)

How do I prepare it?

• Rinse in warm water before usage and soak in warm water for about an hour to soften it
• For soups, you can cut them into thin slices (for consumption) or simply half it

Where can I buy this?

• Readily available at most Asian supermarkets (packaged)
• Definitely available in Hong Kong wet marts (sold in the dried food vendor stalls)

What is the cost?

• Very affordable
• One average-sized octopus (as picture above) cost me around $30 HKD
• The prices do vary depending on size, breed and availability

Any benefits?

• This is a perfect ingredient for soups as it is makes the soup extremely tasty (without adding salt)
• Octopus is rich in calcium, phosphorous, and iron
• It aids in the prevention of anemia, relieves fatigue and restores eyesight and improves liver functions

Any precautions?

• Be sure to purchase from a reputable source
• Sometimes the octopus is really salty, so if you want to reduce the saltiness, soak in warm water for a few hours
• Dried octopus is high in cholestorel
• People who are allergic to shellfish may be allergic to octopus

Additional Information

• Store in a dry and cool place (up to 3 months)
• You can freeze them as well for longer storage (up to 6 months)
• This is a similar ingredient to the dried cuttlefish, both are prepared and used in a similar fashion

Soup Name: Quick Boil Hairy Gourd, Bamboo and Chicken Soup

Traditional Chinese Name: 节瓜竹筍雞肉湯 ( jié guā zhú sǔn ji ròu tāng)

Introduction:

To follow other quick boil soups we’ve made recently, here’s another quick soup idea.   Although this soup can be made the traditional way (with a whole chicken and fresh bamboo), if you’re in a hurry, we can suggest some short-cuts, too.  Use chicken pieces to replace the whole chicken and canned bamboo to replace fresh bamboo and you can have a delicious and nutritious soup ready in about 30 minutes — perfect after a long day at work or if the kids are hungry.   Bump up the nutrition levels and the color by adding carrots or corn to your soup.

What ingredients are required?

1  pound of chicken pieces
1 large hairy gourd (a.k.a fuzzy melon)
2 large fresh bamboo shoots, cut into slices (or canned)
2 large carrots (peeled and cut into pieces)
1 L of chicken broth/stock
2 L of water

How do I prepare it?

1. Pour water and chicken broth together into a large pot and turn on high heat to boil
2. Wash, peel and slice the hairy gourd into edible pieces
3. Wash, peel and cut carrots into pieces
4. Prepare bamboo and cut into slices
5. When the water boils, add all the ingredients together
6. Boil on high for 30 minutes
7. Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

Any precautions?

• Too much bamboo may be hard to digest (due to the high fiber content)

Soup Name: Papaya, Snow Fungus and Red Dates in Pork Broth

Traditional Chinese Name: 木瓜雪耳豬展湯 (mù gua xuě ěr zhū zhǎn tāng)

Introduction:

This is an easy to make, nutritious soup that is packed full of Vitamin C and beta-carotene.  It is deliciously sweet and refreshing and ideal for autumn or winter days.  You can use chicken to make it more warm and also add a variety of other ingredients to make it a meal.

What ingredients are required?

1 pound fresh pork shank
2 large fresh papaya, cubed
2 whole dried snow fungus, cored and quartered
10 pitted red dates
2 L of water

How do I prepare it?

1. Rinse and soak dried snow fungus in a bowl of enough water to immerse it in for about an hour (or until soft)
2. In a separate pot of boiling water, blanch pork shank for 5 minutes, set aside and cool
3. Boil your soup water
4. Wash and cut papaya into large edible cubes
5. Using scissors, cut out the middle of the snow fungus (the hardest part) and cut the other portions into edibles pieces
6. When your soup water boils, add pork shank, snow fungus, papaya and dates
7. Boil on high for 30 minutes and reduce to medium heat for another hour
8. Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

Any precautions?

• Be sure to buy snow fungus from a reputable source
• The longer you boil the now fungus, the thicker the soup gets (because the collagen like substance slowly dissolves into the soup), this is really according to preference

Soup Name: Japanese Pumpkin with Century Egg in Pork Broth

Traditional Chinese Name: 皮蛋南瓜豬骨湯 (pídàn nán guā zhū gǔ tāng)

Introduction:

This soup was an accidental creation.  I had originally wanted pumpkin in pork broth and somehow my helper saw that I had purchased century eggs, she thought it was a good idea to throw it in.  At first, when I saw the soup, I didn’t think anything of the rich, milky color.  Most pork bones soup are milky in color because of the marrow (at least for me, I am usually inclined to use pork bone marrow instead and end up eating the marrow).  The thing that threw me off was when I tasted it.  There was a very distinct, golden taste.   Just like wine, I like to savor the taste of the soup and try to separate the ingredients through taste.  There was something definitely different about this soup.  After asking my helper what else she added, she sheepishly told me the century eggs and I burst out laughing.  It was different and unique and I loved it.  See, so it goes to show that there is no fixed recipe for making good soup.  Just some general knowledge of what pairings to make and desire.

What ingredients are required?

1 pound of fresh pork bones
1/2 fresh Japanese pumpkin, cubed with skin intact
4 century eggs, washed and halved
1 tablespoon of apricot kernals
2 L of water

How do I prepare it?

1. Rinse and soak the apricot kernals for 10 minutes in warm water
2. Boil your soup water
3. Wash pork bones and in a separate pot of boiling water, blanch your bones for 5 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
4. Wash and cut up pumpkin, while keeping the outer skin on (this helps keep the pumpkin from disintegrating)
5. When soup water boils, add the pork bones, the pumpkin and the apricot kernals
6. Boil on high heat for 30 minutes and add the century eggs
7. Reduce heat and boil on medium for another hour
8. Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

Any precautions?

• Consume century eggs in moderation.  There have been recent warnings of excess iron in Century eggs.
• Be sure to purchase eggs from a reputable source

1/2 fresh Japanese pumpkin, cubed

Soup Name: American Ginseng Heat Reducing Soup

Traditional Chinese Name: 旗參海底椰理氣降火湯 (Qí cān hǎi dǐ yē lǐ qì jiàng huǒ tāng)

Introduction:

This soup is great for reducing internal heat where you may have sore throat, canker/cold sores, sore muscles (from the fire in your bones) and overall heatiness in your body.  It’s not actually particular to any season, but more to a condition of the body caused by illness or circumstances.  It is healing for the throat, lungs and respiratory system and eliminates unwanted heat.

What ingredients are required?

1  chicken (whole), skinned and quartered
2 g of dried American ginseng, sliced
10 g of dried lady bell root
15 g of lucid asparagus root
2 g of mulberry root
15 g of malt
80 g of pearl barley
5 honey dates
30 g dried mussels
1 large piece of dried tangerine peel
20 g of soloman’s seal
2 L of water

How do I prepare it?

1. Rinse and soak for 10 minutes all the herbs (everything except the Chicken)
2. Boil your soup water
3. Prepare chicken and in a separate pot of boiling water, blanch your chicken for 5 minutes
4. Rinse again the herbs in cool water
5. When soup water boils, add all the ingredients together
6. Boil on high heat for 30 minutes and reduce to a medium boil for another 1.5 hours
7. Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

Any precautions?

• It is a slightly cooling soup, so take with precaution when in your first trimester of pregnancy
• Be sure to purchase herbs from a reputable source

Ingredient Name: Ginseng, American ginseng, panax ginseng

Traditional Chinese Name: 花旗參 (Huā qí cān)

• The brownish-beige ginseng is commonly grown in the United States (hence the name)
• It produces a strong bitter, “golden” flavor
• This ginseng is available in various forms such as whole, shredded, powdered, and in teabags
• American ginseng is said to be a cooling agent
• Ginseng is used in Chinese herbal medicine, soups, stews, stuffed in foods, as tablets, in skin care products, teas, desserts and many other uses

How do I prepare it?

• Rinse in warm water before usage

Where can I buy this?

• High quality American ginseng can be purchased from your local herbalist
• It is sometimes also available in Asian supermarkets in both shreds or whole

What is the cost?

• The cost of American ginseng varies depending on the size, age and rarity of the Ginseng species

Any benefits?

• Ginseng is said to promote blood circulation, prevent fatigue and strengthen the body’s immune system
• American ginseng is said to aid in menopausal women with “hot flashes” and help regulate menstruation and reduce PMS (although not to be taken during menstruation as it is cooling and will cause contractions)
• It is also a good fever reducing agent
• This type of ginseng also helps in loosening a dry, hacking cough
• Mixed with honey and hot water, it makes for a great sore throat “tea” as it is soothing and helps cool the body and throat

Any precautions?

• Not recommended for people with weak stomachs
• Use in moderation
• American ginseng is a cooling ingredient and should be taken with precaution during pregnancy and during menstruation
• As it is cooling, reported side effects are headache and insomnia
• Be sure to purchase ginseng from a reputable source as there are often replicas and lower grade ginseng sold at a higher price

Additional Information

• Store in a dry and cool place
• Ginseng can be stored for many years
• Some very expensive ginseng are kept as a whole root (the bigger, the better) and stored in a liquid to preserve it

Other references

• Other types of ginseng also include the Korean ginseng

Ingredient Name: Baby Mussels (dried)

Traditional Chinese Name: 青口幹 (qīng kǒu gàn)

What is this?

• A dried and processed type of salt of fresh water shellfish of the clam family with elongated shells
• The shells are often black, brown, beige in color and are found without the shells when they are used in soups
• The mussels used in these soups are smaller in size
• Dried and prepared mussels are more commonly used in Chinese soups than fresh mussels (which are not common at all)
• Dried mussels are also used in various Chinese dishes along with black moss
• They are often tougher in texture than their relative clams and to some are an acquired taste

How do I prepare it?

• Soak in water for 10-15 minutes and rinse before usage

Where can I buy this?

What is the cost

• The prices vary depending on size, breed, availability and whether they are imported or organic

Any benefits?

• Mussels are an excellent source of B12, Selenium, Zinc, Iron and folate
• They are also an excellent source of protein
• Compared to meats, they have less fat
• They are also an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids (which help reduce heart disease)

Any precautions?

• Be sure to buy from a reputable source
• Dried and processed mussels should have a salty, fragrant smell to them so be sure to take a good whiff before purchasing (this is more common to the bulk buys available in Asian markets)

Additional Information

• Dried mussels can be kept frozen for up to 6 months (and taken out when needed for soups)
• Dried mussels can also be kept in the fridge for up to 2 months in a sealed container
• Keep mussels in a dry environment