Chicken, Longan and Burdock Soup

Remember my "Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken" post which I have posted in late October. This is part II of the post on how I used the other half of the chicken which I have mentioned in that post about cooking this "Longan Burdock Soup".

This is another version of my "burdock" soup which use chicken parts for those who prefer chicken flavour soup. But if you are interested about the recipe using pork muscle on the Double-Boiled Pork Muscle with Burdock Soup you can always refer to the link HERE.

These are the ingredients and steps for making the chicken soup:-

Ingredients:-
1/2 Portion of Chicken, about 500g
200g of Burdock(牛蒡), cut into sections
10g of Yuzhu(玉竹)
10g of Dried Longan(桂圆肉)
6 - 8 Red Dates(红枣)
1/2 Tablespoon of Wolfberries(枸杞子)2
1.2 Litre of Water

Method:
1. Rinse the herbs and set a side while preparing the chicken.
2. Clean, trim and rinse the chicken, cut it into halves or quarters then blanched it in boiling water for about 3 - 5 minutes. Remove and rinse well.
3. Bring 1.2 Litre of water to boil in a big pot, add in all the herbs and let it simmer on medium low heat for about 5 minutes before adding the chicken.
4. When the mixture comes to boil again after adding the chicken, transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and cook it on AUTO mode for about 2 - 2.5 hours.
5. Serve it warm before meal or together with steam rice.

Burdock is a root vegetables that is high in fibre, low in calories and contain moderate source of iron and calcium which is good for the body. With adding of dried Longan to this soup it nourishes the heart and the spleen and at the same time works well for treating tensions, palpitation, insomnia and forgetfulness which makes this a great soup for the whole family.

Green Bean Soup With Sweet Potato

Green Bean Soup is one of the common local dessert that can be easily found in most households or dessert stalls at the food centres. For us, we love to add in some chunks of sweet potato and serve it with drizzle of both or either coconut milk or gula malaka syrup. The aroma and taste of the gula melaka blends perfectly into this dessert which makes you definitely go for a second helping.

I have heard from some Chinese physician that Green Beans (绿豆; Mung Beans) can clear Heat; ease mental stress; reduce blood glucose level and stimulate the secretion of body fluid. This is the reason why most of our parents or grandparents always love to prepare some green bean soup for the family during hot weather to cool down our body heat.

These are the ingredients and steps on how to prepare my version of green bean soup :-

Ingredients: (serves 4)
150g Green Bean(绿豆)
1 Medium Size Orange Sweet Potato
50g Sago
10 - 15 Pre-packed Ginkgo Nut, optional
1.5 Litre Water
1 Bundle of Pandan Leave
Rock Sugar/brown sugar to Taste

Optional Toppings:
Some Coconut Milk
Some Gula Malaka Syrup

Method:
1. Rinse a few times and remove any dirt or spoilt green beans from the pool then set them aside and bring a pot of 1.5 litre of water to boil.
2. Next remove the outer skin of the sweet potato, cut it into chunks and add them together with the green beans into the boiling water.
3. Rinse the pre-packed ginkgo nut and remove any greenish pith in the middle of the nut then marinate it with about 1 tablespoon of castor sugar and set aside.
4. When the green bean mixture comes to boil again, lower the heat and let it simmer over medium low heat till the bean begins to soften or cracks open. (takes about 15 minutes or so)
5. Add in the rinse sago, marinated ginkgo nut and pandan leave then continue to simmer till the sago becomes transparent.
6. Removed the pandan leave, add in rock sugar to taste.

Note:

~ You can add in more water if you prefer more soupy dessert.

~ You can make some Gula Melaka sugar by boiling 2 part sugar to 1 part water till the sugar completely dissolved, sieved away any residues, cool and you can kept it in the fridge in a glass bottle till further usage.

I guess it all depend on individual taste and preference while preparing the green bean soup. Some might just like the traditional way of adding sago while others might prefer adding some glutinous rice or even extra chunks of sweet potato to make it a quick meal. No matter which methods, I am sure there is always one prefect recipe from each household. If you do prepared green bean soup at home, perhaps you can share with us some of your ingredients and tips too :p

Vietnam Delight ~ Bún Thit

Bun Thit is a simple and delicious meal in Vietnam consisting of cold rice vermicelli mixed with fresh vegetables and usually topped with barbecued pork. Served with nuoc cham sauce(pouring sauce) which is a good summer dish that is light, low fat, healthy and cooling.

Mum who has being to Vietnam shared with us this version of “Bun Thit” in Singapore taste much better compared to those she had in Vietnam because their sauce there are far too sweet towards her liking.

The dish is served with mixture of fresh vegetables such as beansprout, lettuce, Vietnamese basil, various kind of mint leaves and fish sauce. Other than all the fresh vegetables, this dish also comes with a layer of rice vermicelli that top with grilled lemongrass chicken, some toasted peanut and green onion. Overall it has a very special refreshing taste due to the "mint leaves" and fresh ingredients used.
Price: S$5.00 per bowl

Would like to try out their beef noodles and Vietnamese spring roll too. You can find this Vietnam Delight just beside the Hakka Abacus seeds stall located at basement 4 of Food Opera, ION Orchard.

Food Opera
#B4-03/04

Opening Hours:
10.00am - 11.00pm daily