Sweet Potato Soup With Sterculia Seeds - 澎大海番薯汤

This afternoon, I decided to make some sweet soup for dessert so I cook this Sweet Potato Soup with fresh lily bulbs, gingko nuts and sterculia seeds.  Fresh Lily Bulbs, Ginkgo Nut and Sterculia Seeds. For your information, sterculia seed (澎大海) is actually one of the commonly ingredients found in Cheng Teng (清汤).


Sterculia Seed (澎大海): Brown and wrinkled in appearance is sweet and cold in nature, it was traditionally used to soothe sore throat and cough, but in addition it also helps to clear intestine and assist proper bowel function. Besides that sterculia seed has also been shown to lower blood pressure too.

Ingredients:
1 Sweet Potato, cubes
10 Fresh Gingko Nut(白果)
10 Dried Longans (桂圆肉)
2 Fresh Lily Bulbs (鲜百合)
6 Sterculia Seeds (澎大海)
2 Slices Ginger
Some Pandan Leaves

Methods:
1. Soak Sterculia Seeds in large bowl with some warm water until the seeds burst out with brown jelly like substances.
2. Wash fresh gingko nuts and marinate it with 1 teaspoon of sugar.
3. Wash and peel Lily bulbs then soak then petal in some water to remove the dirt.
4. Wash, peel and cut sweet potato into 1" thick chunks.
5. Bring a pot of water (about 1 litre) to boil, add in all the ingredients. When it comes to boil again, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the sweet potato has soften.
6. Sweeten with some rock sugar to taste and serve warm.

Notes:
- Sterculia Seeds are available from most Chinese Medical Hall.