Lotus Root with Dried Octopus in Chicken Soup
Lotus Root with Dried Octopus in Chicken Soup
Soup Name:
Lotus Root with Dried Octopus in Chicken Soup
Traditional Chinese Name:
章魚幹蓮藕雞湯 (zhāng yú gàn liánǒu jī tāng)
Nature: This soup is neutral
Taste: This soup is sweet to taste
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This is a simple, easy-to-make soup that doesn’t require many ingredients. It’s a heavy sweet (not a light sweet) and appropriate for spring weather. This soup is quite neutral and ideal for children and adults. The dried octopus & dried mussels do give the soup a little bit of a “fishy” taste if you put too much, but use less if you’re concerned. It’s a similar taste to dried scallops almost. A naturally delicious soup for the whole family.
This combination of octopus and chicken works amazing with many types of roots, such as arrowroot, lotus root, or fresh Chinese yam. It goes nicely with earthy tastes as it really brings out the flavours of the roots. And the amazing thing is that it eats like a meal! I will serve the roots and the chicken meat, with a small plate of soy sauce, and it’s delicious!
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour and 30 mins
Serves: 4 bowls
1 fresh chicken, quartered
1 whole dried octopus, slice
10-12 dried baby mussels
2 section of lotus roots, sliced
1 peel of dried tangerine peel
- Prepare chicken (see chicken post) and blanch in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and set aside
- Soak dried octopus and baby mussels in water for about 30 minutes
- Boil your soup water
- Slice octopus in slices or quartered
- Peel and cut arrowroot into large cubes
- Add all the ingredients into your boiling soup water
- Boil on high for thirty minutes and reduce to medium boil for another hour
- Serve and enjoy!
An alternative which is often used with lotus roots is to stuff the lotus root with green or yellow (mung) beans. The beans are slightly cooling, but you can drop in a slice of ginger to balance it out. This is a very popular way of making lotus roots in southern China, particularly Guangzhou and is often served in large portions for large families.
Lotus roots can also be stuffed with sticky rice (yum!), pan fried, sliced, marinated raw in a beautiful vinaigrette, and a host of other preparation method! It’s definitely one of my favourite and most diverse roots in the Chinese menu!
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