Soup Name: Winter Chicken Soup
Traditional Chinese Name: 清雞湯 (qīng jī tāng)
Introduction:
Very similar to Chicken Herbal Soup, this soup contains some vegetables and fresh Chinese radish and is meant to be warming in the cold winter months. It is excellent for nourishing the lungs and adding moisture to the body when it is particularly dry. An excellent source of carbohydrates, you can add more vegetables as you see fit (mainly carrots, tomatos, celery, or neutral vegetables) to turn this into a hearty chicken broth.
What Ingredients are required?
1 fresh whole chicken
1 foot of fresh chinese yam
2 fresh corn
10 dried longans
5-6 dried scallops (conpoys)
1 handful of wolfberries
2 litres of water
How do I prepare it?
- Prepare chicken (in quarters) by rinsing and blanching in a pot of hot water
- Boil your soup water
- Wash and soak for 10 minutes all the dried herbs
- Wash & peel fresh Chinese Yam (be sure to wear gloves) and cube as large as necessary
- Wash and chop corn
- When your soup water is boiling, add all the ingredients together
- Boil on high heat for 30 minutes and reduce to low boil for another 2 hours.
- Serve and enjoy!
Any benefits?
- Excellent warming soup for cold days
- Good to increase blood circulation and blood flow
- It is considered to be of the “healing” categories of soup
- If used for confinement, you can make the soup more concentrated (less water or more ingredients)
Any precautions?
- Use less herbs for children
Can I make this with pork shank instead of chicken?
Thanks!
Dear Lilacs, absolutely! Most soups are interchangeable between chicken and pork shank. In fact, many Chinese chicken soups have pork in them (at restaurants, they will use dual meats). Hope this helps and thanks for your support, Lisa
Hi Lady Tong,
is it ok to have dried scallops (conpoys)during confinement after c-sect?
thanks.
Dear Ruthie,
Dried scallops is one of your favorite friends for confinement. It’s a neutral ingredient which yields lots of flavor. The base soups (ie: chicken base, pork base) soups that are made for confinement will definitely have some dried conpoys – so load them up! It’s perfectly safe and actually recommended! Congrats! Lisa
Hi,
Do you have technique that after boiling chicken soup, I still have the chicken’s meat taste nice? Normally, after boiling too long, the meat tends to become tasteless? Thank you in advance.
I’m a first time grandma and find your recipes most helpful. Thank you!!
Thanks, Shirley! Hoping to share what I’ve learned through my own cooking journey and exploration of my own culture! Congrats!!! Lisa
Hi LadyTong – big big big fan of your website as I’m clueless when it comes to Chinese soups. I’m keen to try out this recipe for my LO – she’s 13 months and this recipe was in your list of recommended soups for babies / children. May I know if this is good for reducing phlegm in children? She currently has a blocked nose and is fussier than usual at mealtimes. :( Also, in your notes – you recommended less herbs for children – would halving the herbal ingredients still retain the soup’s nutritional properties?
Hi! Can I replace white radish/daikon with Chinese yam?