Chicken Wintermelon Soup for Summer!
Soup Name:
Chicken Wintermelon Soup for Summer!
Traditional Chinese Name:
冬瓜雞湯 (dōng guā jī tāng)
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Here is a variation on the wintermelon soup using chicken as the protein instead of pork. It’s slightly cooling, helping to repair your yin energy and release heat from the body.
I used a new root that I normally don’t put into this soup, which is the Japanese gobo root. It’s has earthy, dark, and rich tones, so only use 3-4 pieces of it. Add in your Chinese herbal base of dried red dates, dried longans, dried scallops, and dried goji berries to lighten it up and you’ve got yourself a beautiful summer soup for the whole family!
What’s involved?
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 30 mins on stove + 4 hours in thermal pot
Total time: 5 hours
Serves: 8-10 bowls
Ingredients
1 whole fresh chicken
- 1 two-inch thick slice of wintermelon
- 3-4 pieces of one-inch long fresh gobo root (keep the skin on)
- 1 large fresh Japanese or Chinese Yam root
- 1 tablespoon of dried scallops
- 7-8 dried red dates (pitted)
- 7-8 dried longans
- 1 tablespoon of dried goji berries
- 3 L of water
Cooking Instructions
- Boil 1 separate pot of water to blanch your protein
- You can also begin to boil your pot of soup water in the thermal pot with the 3L of cold water
- Prepare your chicken any way you’d like. I tend to quarter it and reserve the breast for another meal, using only the legs and bones.
- In your blanching pot, drop in the chicken bones and meat into the boiling water and blanch for 5-6 minutes, or until the water re-boils.
- Slice the wintermelon into large pieces, keeping the skin on.
- Using gloves, peel the Chinese (or Japanese) Yam and cut into large 2-inch thick pieces
- Cut the gobo root into 2 inch long pieces, keeping the skin on
- When your soup water boils, transfer the meat, add in the dried herbal ingredients, and all the roots and wintermelon
- Boil on high for 30 minutes
- Transfer for a thermal pot for another 4 hours to let it finish cooking
- Serve and enjoy!
For more videos, visit us on YouTube.
Chef tips:
- Keep the skin on the wintermelon to prevent it from disintegrating into the soup
- Use gloves when handling the Chinese or Japanese Yam root as it is slippery and can make your hands itchy
- When using a whole chicken, you can save either the breasts or legs for another meal and use only the bones
- Use a thermal pot to conserve energy and make the technology work for you!