How to make a fall / autumn warming chicken herbal Chinese soup (frozen packs)
Soup Name: How to make a fall / autumn warming chicken herbal Chinese soup (frozen packs)
Traditional Chinese Name: 清雞湯 (qīng jī tāng). The direct translation is clear chicken soup, although this soup name refers to a variety of chicken soups. In general this name is for the clearest of chicken soups, although in this soup, it’s drank without eating the herbs.
Nature: Warming
Taste: Sweet
(You can read this article on the impact on your body of different food tastes!)
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You can watch the full soup pack production here.
The design of this soup is for the fall or autumn time, targeting the lungs and stomach and large intestines. This is to prepare and protect the lungs from the change in the weather to colder (yin) pathogens and to allow to “let go” (changing of the leaves and season) through the large intestines. Key ingredients include: dong quai and dried licorice root (I explain this in the video).
For this production, I am making 8 frozen soup packs. Each soup pack serves 3-4 portions. Each fit into a 5 cup rice cooker.
The business case for making frozen soup packs in bulk!
This use case continues to amaze me! Literally, this morning, I was like “I feel like soup” and I took out another one of these soup packs (this one to be precise because I made extra for me and my pescatarian friend) and tossed it into the rice cooker, topped up with water, added a few red dates and an hour later, had soup ready for lunch and dinner.
To start, I did a survey when I first initially created these for friends and the time saving is phenomenal.
On average, it takes someone 2-3 hours of time to make a Chinese soup (beginning to end with checking). Compared to using frozen premade soup packs using a rice cooker, it takes 5 minutes of work (and then 60 mins of no supervision) with an upfront investment of 2-3 hours to make 6 soup packs. So on average, you are saving 14 hours of time over 6 soups. The math isn’t perfect, but this was my best estimate based on answers from friends. That’s HUGE!
What’s involved?
Prep time: 45 mins
Cook time: 0 mins
Total time: 45 mins
Serves: 3-4 bowls x 8 soup packs
Ingredients
This is for 8 x soup packs:
- 3 medium sized fresh corn
- 4 pieces of fresh chicken whole thighs
- 1 x 8 dried dong quai
- 3 x 8 dried licorice root
- 4 x 8 dried red dates (no pits)
- 4 x 8 dried longans
- 2 x 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1 x 8 pieces of dried Chinese yam (3-inch pieces each)
- 1 x 8 dried small tangerine peels (1 inch in length)
- 2 x 8 slices of fresh ginger
You’ll also need:
Prep Instructions
- You can follow along in the YouTube video as well.
- Prepare your chicken first (so you can set it on the stove to start browning). I’m using fresh chicken thighs and will use scissors to cut away as much fat as possible. I’ll cut the chicken thighs into 4 pieces.
- In a shallow pan on medium heat, put the chicken thighs skin down to allow as much oil to render out as possible (so that the oil doesn’t go into the soup). Flip over once browned and allow the other side to brown as well.
- Wash and cut your corn into 4 pieces (to allow them to be stackable in the pack).
- Count out your Chinese herbs.
- I’ll then pack each soup pack starting with the chicken first and then the corn. I would drop all the other ingredients around like lego.
- Be sure to leave at least 2-inches from the top of where you’d like to seal. You can cut the bag as well to ensure it’s fit to size.
- Don’t forget to label the soup with the date of production. I’ll normally do this with a permanent market.
- Insert into your soup bag into the vacuum sealer and seal! TA-DA!
- Immediately put them into the freezer.
- When making this, simply take out of the freezer, cut open the soup pack, drop into a rice cooker, instapot, or small pot. Fill waterline to max. Press cook rice (usually 60 minutes) and wait until it’s finished. Serve and enjoy.
Tricks and tips on prepping frozen Chinese soup packs
- You can follow this YouTube video on “How to make frozen Chinese soup packs”
- Cut your ingredients smaller so that it will fit into a rice cooker (or small pot or instapot)
- Fully wash, cut, and blanch all meats so that they can drop directly into the soup
- Pack the largest ingredients on the bottom of the pack, working your way up to the smallest (I’ll typically put meats on the bottom)
- Consider what ingredients are best for frozen conditions. This is usually roots, melons, starchier vegetables (like broccoli, cauliflower). I don’t use leafy vegetables that often in these types of soups, although now that I think about it, would love to try a watercress and see how that freezes!
- Prepare these packs for 3-4 bowls worth (also depends on the size of the rice cooker)
- Write the date of production with a permanent market so that you know when it was produced, especially if you have a selection in the freezer.
- Always reserve at least 2-inches at the top of soup pack before you seal to allow for more room to make the seal
- Use a wet + dry vacuum sealer if you intend to use some of the juice or water reserves (such as coconut water, which is delicious and sweet!)
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EQUIPMENT USED FOR MAKING FROZEN SOUP PACKS
I get this question a lot, especially as I am now making more clips of these soup packs as showcased above. The real additional equipment you’ll need is the vacuum sealer and bags. You can most certainly boil these in pots as well. I would love to hear your comments on how this is going and how you’re finding the different equipment. My house has now turned into a soup factory – literally! LOL.
Start with a low cost option that also comes with a few pre-sealed bags. You really don’t need anything fancy to do this job!
These come in handy especially as you finish the ones that come with the starter kit. And I tend to give a lot of my soup packs to friends! HOORAY!
I get this question a lot about which rice cooker I am using. It is a 1 L (5 cups) one that I use in both HK and Toronto. Amazing product!
Amazing product in both usability and durability. Comes in many colours! I’ve used this to ladle congee into freezer bags – highly recommend it! To freeze congee in bulk.
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