Soup Name: Quick Boil Hairy Gourd, Bamboo and Chicken Soup
Traditional Chinese Name: 节瓜竹筍雞肉湯 ( jié guā zhú sǔn ji ròu tāng)
Introduction:
To follow other quick boil soups we’ve made recently, here’s another quick soup idea. Although this soup can be made the traditional way (with a whole chicken and fresh bamboo), if you’re in a hurry, we can suggest some short-cuts, too. Use chicken pieces to replace the whole chicken and canned bamboo to replace fresh bamboo and you can have a delicious and nutritious soup ready in about 30 minutes — perfect after a long day at work or if the kids are hungry. Bump up the nutrition levels and the color by adding carrots or corn to your soup.
What ingredients are required?
1 pound of chicken pieces
1 large hairy gourd (a.k.a fuzzy melon)
2 large fresh bamboo shoots, cut into slices (or canned)
2 large carrots (peeled and cut into pieces)
1 L of chicken broth/stock
2 L of water
How do I prepare it?
- Pour water and chicken broth together into a large pot and turn on high heat to boil
- Wash, peel and slice the hairy gourd into edible pieces
- Wash, peel and cut carrots into pieces
- Prepare bamboo and cut into slices
- When the water boils, add all the ingredients together
- Boil on high for 30 minutes
- Serve and enjoy!
Any benefits?
- Removes heat from the body and is mildly cooling
- Bamboo shoots are an excellent source of fiber, potassium and are high in antioxidants
- Easy soup to make that is tasty and the winter melon absorbs the flavor of the meat and broth making it very tasty to eat
- You can substitute the chicken stock with water, but add some salt for flavoring
- A child-friendly soup
Any precautions?
- Too much bamboo may be hard to digest (due to the high fiber content)
