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Double-boiled chicken (or silkie) with fish maw
“The pot she makes when someone needs looking after.”
Ingredientsone pot, serves 4
Method
Double-boiled (隔水燉, the covered jar stands in a pot of water rather than sitting on the heat): put the ingredients in a family-size jar and pour in about 1 litre of boiling water, just covering them. Seal with cling film (traditionally 紗紙, mulberry paper) and put the lid on. Fill the outer pot a third to halfway up the jar and double-boil for 3 to 4 hours. Double-boiling beats boiling here, because the 花膠 gives up its gelatine without dissolving away. Salt goes in last.
- Soak the dried 花膠 (fish maw) ahead of time for 1 to 2 days, changing the water or steeping it soft in boiling water along the way.
- Chop the 竹絲雞 (silkie chicken) into pieces and blanch it with the lean pork (汆水, a quick boil to clean off blood and scum).
- Put everything in the double-boil jar and pour in boiling water to just cover.
- Seal it with cling film, put the lid on and double-boil for 3 to 4 hours.
- Season with salt before drinking.
Who it suits
- women looking after their complexion
- after childbirth
- after surgery
- an aching lower back and weak knees
Who should take care
- avoid tonic double-boils while a cold has not fully cleared (general warning across this collection)
- people with weak digestion may find it sits heavily
- people with heavy phlegm damp should eat only a little
- people with a protein allergy take care
- gout sufferers take care, long double-boiled meat soups are high in purines
Soup stories
The queen of Hong Kong double-boils, the jar you buy for your wife, your mother, or a relative recovering from illness. It is a signature at double-boil shops all over town. 球哥燉湯 in Sheung Wan double-boils it a full 6 hours, 燉 in Lai Chi Kok sells 花膠螺片燉雞, and 蒸廬 sells a chestnut and 蟲草花 version with 花膠 and chicken.
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.