by LadyTong | Oct 27, 2022 | Confinement Soups, Fall Soups, Postpartum Soups, Videos, Winter Soups | 0 comments
Soup Name:
Traditional Chinese Herbal Soup
Traditional Chinese Name:
藥膳雞煲 (yàoshàn jī bāo)
This soup is warming in nature and sweet to taste.
This soup has a very distinctive smell and taste of a Chinese medicinal shop. It’s definitely a love or hate initially, but can be acquired. The key ingredient is the “dong quai” or “angelica root” that creates that fragrant (debatable?) scent. I’ve learned to love it after so many years of being in Hong Kong and once you taste the soup, wow!
This soup is the ultimate warming winter hot pot delight. You literally feel yourself getting hot and sweaty after one bowl. It’s literally a powerful tonic that replenishes blood and Qi, improves circulation, and detoxifies the body.
What’s involved?
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 2 hours 40 mins
Total time: 3 hours 10 mins
Serves: 6 bowls
Ingredients
Soup base:
- 3 fresh chicken thighs, cut into bite-size
- 7 pieces of dried dong quai (or angelica root)
- 7 pieces of yu zhu (or solomon’s seal)
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 15 dried red goji berries or wolfberries
- 7 dried red dates
- 1/2 cup of dried scallops
- 3 pieces of dried Chinese yam
- 3 L of water
Hot pot ingredients:
- fresh napa cabbage
- assorted mushrooms
- fresh hard tofu
This powerhouse healing ingredient is the key ingredient to your Chinese herbal soup! The dong quai is warm, slightly sweet and slightly bitter, and a common herb used to promote warmth, replenish blood, and replenish yang. This is why it’s such a common ingredient used in post partum and confinement recipes. It’s also commonly used in healing tonics.
I will only use this ingredient for this type of herbal soup as it’s got a very distinct pungent scent and taste. When combined with sweeter ingredients such as red dates and goji berries, it’s really quite delicious!
Cooking Instructions
- Add your dried herbal base directly into a pot and add in 3L of cold water
- Cover and boil on high heat for 30 minutes.
- Cut your chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces
- In a shallow pan, put them skin side down to render the fat out of the chicken and crisp up the skin (no oil needed!)
- Add salt and garlic to flavour as needed
- Once the soup is boiled for 30 minutes, you can move your crispy chicken to the soup. I will usually rinse in warm water first to get rid of the extra oil, bone bits, and debris
- Cover and boil on medium for 2 hours (checking that it doesn’t boil over)
- At this point your soup is done! You can drink as is or prepare to add your hot pot ingredients
- Prepare your hot pot ingredients an add to your soup
- Boil on high for 10 minutes
- Serve and enjoy!
- Drink your soup first with some of the ingredients added. I won’t even begin the hot pot yet and just enjoy a soup as is!
Chef tips!
- For your protein, use chicken (or pork). This compliments the herbal base very well versus pork or red meats.
- For your hotpot ingredients, use less intense flavor ingredients and ones that will absorb more the flavours of the soup such as leafy light coloured vegetables like napa cabbage or regular cabbage versus choy sum or gailan. Tofu is a great additive as well and fresh mushrooms work well.
- You can add udon or vermicelli as part of your meal
- If you’re going to cook other meats or seafood, save that for the end as it will change the flavour of the herbal soup
Learn more about how these types of teas and soups can help improve your overall blood circulation and how you actually know that it’s working?
It’s not a perfect science (still working to perfect it), but I’d say the methodology and thinking is sound 🙂
Would love to hear your thoughts!
CHECK OUT OTHER SIMILAR HEALING HERBAL SOUPS
Recovery Healing Soup (for Coughs and Nourishing Lungs)
(Confinement) Deer Antler Healing Soup
Snow Pears and Chen Pi (Tangerine Peels) for Coughs and Congestion
Traditional Chinese Herbal Soup (as a Hot Pot Base)
Learn more about how these types of teas and soups can help improve your overall blood circulation and how you actually know that it's working?
It's not a perfect science (still working to perfect it), but I'd say the methodology and thinking is sound 🙂
Would love to hear your thoughts!
EQUIPMENT USED
To answer your questions on what equipment I'm using, I've built a section here where you can find and explore what I'm using to make soups. Ingredients are a little harder, but I will do my best as I source them around. However, you can always message me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook, and I will reply and try to point you in some direction!
A great help for fish or small bones in soups, including small ingredients such as barley, fox nuts, spices just to keep everything together.
A MUST HAVE in the kitchen! Energy saving, cost effective, and perfect for busy chefs! Check out my article here that explains it.
Another MUST HAVE in the kitchen for soups! It's so fine that it will scoop off the top oil and foam layer when using meats in your soup!
I use these types of stove top safe tea pots to make most of my herbal teas!
EXPLORE MORE
How to make a Spring bitter melon Chinese herbal soup to eliminate damp-heat
Soup Name: Spring bitter melon Chinese herbal soup to eliminate damp-heat Traditional Chinese Name: 苦瓜祛濕豬骨湯 (Kǔ guā qū shī zhū gǔ tāng). This is directly translated as "bitter melon dispel damp pork bones soup". As most soup names in Chinese are quite generic, this...
Read More
5 Different Pots and Equipment Used For Making Chinese Soups
5 different POTS & equipment I USE FOR making Chinese soups, MEDICINE, and HERBAL TEAS.One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory. In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet,...
Read More
How to make a Spring Lotus Root and Sweet Corn with Carrots Chinese Herbal Soup (for Dispelling Dampness and Heat)
Soup Name: Spring Lotus Root and Sweet Corn with Carrots Chinese Herbal Soup Traditional Chinese Name: 蓮藕豬骨湯 (lián’ǒu zhū gǔ tāng). The direct translation is "Lotus Root Pork Bones Soup". This is also a very generic name for this type of soup and you can add carrots...
Read More
How to Make a Warming Healing Mandarin Chinese Herbal Tea
Tea Name: Warming Healing Mandarin Chinese Herbal Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 保暖茶 (bǎo nuǎn chá) – direct translation here is “keep warm tea”. This is a very generic name for teas that keep you warm. Nature: Warming Taste: Sweet and slightly bitter (You can read...
Read More
How to make an Apple Cinnamon Chinese Herbal tea for Eliminating Damp-Wind and Damp-Heat
Tea Name: Apple Cinnamon Chinese Herbal Tea for Eliminating Damp-Wind and Damp-Heat Traditional Chinese Name: 蘋果祛濕茶 (píng guǒ qū shī chá) – direct translation here is “apple remove damp” tea. There are many damp removal Chinese herbal teas and this one blends flavours...
Read More
How to make a Spring bitter melon Chinese herbal soup to eliminate damp-heat
Soup Name: Spring bitter melon Chinese herbal soup to eliminate damp-heat Traditional Chinese Name: 苦瓜祛濕豬骨湯 (Kǔ guā qū shī zhū gǔ tāng). This is directly translated as "bitter melon dispel damp pork bones soup". As most soup names in Chinese are quite generic, this...
Read More
5 Different Pots and Equipment Used For Making Chinese Soups
5 different POTS & equipment I USE FOR making Chinese soups, MEDICINE, and HERBAL TEAS.One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory. In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet,...
Read More
How to Make a Warming Healing Mandarin Chinese Herbal Tea
Tea Name: Warming Healing Mandarin Chinese Herbal Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 保暖茶 (bǎo nuǎn chá) – direct translation here is “keep warm tea”. This is a very generic name for teas that keep you warm. Nature: Warming Taste: Sweet and slightly bitter (You can read...
Read More
How to make an Apple Cinnamon Chinese Herbal tea for Eliminating Damp-Wind and Damp-Heat
Tea Name: Apple Cinnamon Chinese Herbal Tea for Eliminating Damp-Wind and Damp-Heat Traditional Chinese Name: 蘋果祛濕茶 (píng guǒ qū shī chá) – direct translation here is “apple remove damp” tea. There are many damp removal Chinese herbal teas and this one blends flavours...
Read More
How to make a delicious Cantonese-styled Tomato Fish Soup (with vegetables)
Soup Name: Cantonese-styled Tomato Fish Soup (with vegetables) Traditional Chinese Name: 番茄魚湯 (fān qié yú tāng). The literal translation of this is Tomato Fish Soup. However, this is such a generic name for the soup base (consisting usually of fish and tomatoes), but...
Read More