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 thin 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