All soups › Nourishing tonics
Angelica, ginger and mutton soup
當歸生薑羊肉湯
“The pot she makes when someone needs looking after.”
Ingredientsone pot, serves 4
Method
- Cut the mutton belly into pieces with the skin on and blanch it (汆水, a quick boil to draw out blood and scum) to take away the gamey smell.
- Rinse the 當歸 angelica, red dates and dried longan. Soak the 陳皮 dried tangerine peel until soft and scrape away the white pith, and cut the ginger into thick slices.
- Put everything in the pot with 3 litres of water and bring to the boil over high heat.
- Turn down to low, simmer for 2 to 3 hours and season with salt.
Who it suits
- yang deficiency and feeling the cold
- cold hands and feet
- blood deficiency
Who should take care
- Not for people who run dry and heaty
- Not with a cold or a fever
- Not with a sore throat
- Pregnant women should take care
Soup stories
It comes from Zhang Zhongjing's 金匱要略, the Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Casket, which makes it one of the oldest soup formulas we have in writing that still turns up on Hong Kong tables at the winter solstice.
From the same family
Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.