Traditional Chinese Herbal Soup (as a Hot Pot Base)
Soup Name:
Traditional Chinese Herbal Soup
Traditional Chinese Name:
藥膳雞煲 (yàoshàn jī bāo)
This soup is warming in nature and sweet to taste.
For videos, visit us on YouTube.
This soup has a very distinctive smell and taste of a Chinese medicinal shop. It’s definitely a love or hate initially, but can be acquired. The key ingredient is the “dong quai” or “angelica root” that creates that fragrant (debatable?) scent. I’ve learned to love it after so many years of being in Hong Kong and once you taste the soup, wow!
This soup is the ultimate warming winter hot pot delight. You literally feel yourself getting hot and sweaty after one bowl. It’s literally a powerful tonic that replenishes blood and Qi, improves circulation, and detoxifies the body.
What’s involved?
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 2 hours 40 mins
Total time: 3 hours 10 mins
Serves: 6 bowls
Ingredients
Soup base:
- 3 fresh chicken thighs, cut into bite-size
- 7 pieces of dried dong quai (or angelica root)
- 7 pieces of yu zhu (or solomon’s seal)
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 15 dried red goji berries or wolfberries
- 7 dried red dates
- 1/2 cup of dried scallops
- 3 pieces of dried Chinese yam
- 3 L of water
Hot pot ingredients:
- fresh napa cabbage
- assorted mushrooms
- fresh hard tofu
This powerhouse healing ingredient is the key ingredient to your Chinese herbal soup! The dong quai is warm, slightly sweet and slightly bitter, and a common herb used to promote warmth, replenish blood, and replenish yang. This is why it’s such a common ingredient used in post partum and confinement recipes. It’s also commonly used in healing tonics.
I will only use this ingredient for this type of herbal soup as it’s got a very distinct pungent scent and taste. When combined with sweeter ingredients such as red dates and goji berries, it’s really quite delicious!
Cooking Instructions
- Add your dried herbal base directly into a pot and add in 3L of cold water
- Cover and boil on high heat for 30 minutes.
- Cut your chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces
- In a shallow pan, put them skin side down to render the fat out of the chicken and crisp up the skin (no oil needed!)
- Add salt and garlic to flavour as needed
- Once the soup is boiled for 30 minutes, you can move your crispy chicken to the soup. I will usually rinse in warm water first to get rid of the extra oil, bone bits, and debris
- Cover and boil on medium for 2 hours (checking that it doesn’t boil over)
- At this point your soup is done! You can drink as is or prepare to add your hot pot ingredients
- Prepare your hot pot ingredients an add to your soup
- Boil on high for 10 minutes
- Serve and enjoy!
- Drink your soup first with some of the ingredients added. I won’t even begin the hot pot yet and just enjoy a soup as is!
Chef tips!
- For your protein, use chicken (or pork). This compliments the herbal base very well versus pork or red meats.
- For your hotpot ingredients, use less intense flavor ingredients and ones that will absorb more the flavours of the soup such as leafy light coloured vegetables like napa cabbage or regular cabbage versus choy sum or gailan. Tofu is a great additive as well and fresh mushrooms work well.
- You can add udon or vermicelli as part of your meal
- If you’re going to cook other meats or seafood, save that for the end as it will change the flavour of the herbal soup
For videos, visit us on YouTube.
Learn more about how these types of teas and soups can help improve your overall blood circulation and how you actually know that it’s working?
It’s not a perfect science (still working to perfect it), but I’d say the methodology and thinking is sound :)
Would love to hear your thoughts!
CHECK OUT OTHER SIMILAR HEALING HERBAL SOUPS
Learn more about how these types of teas and soups can help improve your overall blood circulation and how you actually know that it’s working?
It’s not a perfect science (still working to perfect it), but I’d say the methodology and thinking is sound :)
Would love to hear your thoughts!
EQUIPMENT USED
To answer your questions on what equipment I’m using, I’ve built a section here where you can find and explore what I’m using to make soups. Ingredients are a little harder, but I will do my best as I source them around. However, you can always message me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook, and I will reply and try to point you in some direction!
You’ll see me using this star wand salt shaker for salting my blanching water. This thing is so much fun to use and I really feel like I’m making magic every time!
A MUST HAVE in the kitchen! Energy saving, cost effective, and perfect for busy chefs! Check out my article here that explains it.
Another MUST HAVE in the kitchen for soups! It’s so fine that it will scoop off the top oil and foam layer when using meats in your soup!
This silicon soup scooper is amazing! It actually molds to the shape of pot, ensuring I scoop everything out (especially stews and congee). Dishwasher safe!!
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