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Double-boiled conch with dendrobium
“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 jar and pour in about 1 litre of boiling water, just covering them. Put the lid on and seal the jar with cling film (traditionally 紗紙, mulberry paper). Stand it in a pot of boiling water, with the water coming a third to halfway up the jar, and double-boil for 3 to 4 hours, topping up with boiling water as you go. 石斛 stands up to long cooking and gives more flavour the longer it goes. Salt goes in last.
- Snip the dried 石斛 (dendrobium) into pieces and soak it first. Soak the 螺頭 (sea whelk) until rehydrated, then blanch it (汆水, a quick boil to clean it) with ginger and wine to take off the sea smell.
- Cut the lean pork into pieces and blanch. Rinse the 淮山 (dried Chinese yam), 杞子 (goji berries), 圓肉 (dried longan) and 蜜棗 (honey dates).
- Put everything in the double-boil jar and pour in boiling water to just cover.
- Seal the jar and double-boil for 3 to 4 hours.
- Season with salt and it is ready.
Who it suits
- long stretches of eye strain, dry or gritty eyes
- late nights
- dry mouth and dry throat
- dry eye
- dry skin
Who should take care
- not suitable for people with cold, weak digestion (脾胃虛寒) or heavy damp with a thick tongue coating
- avoid while a cold has not fully cleared
- pregnant women should check with a practitioner first
- gout sufferers take care (purines from 螺頭 and other seafood)
Soup stories
A screen-age double-boil for tired eyes. 石斛 is the most fashionable of the yin-nourishing, eye-brightening herbs in traditional use right now, and it is paired with 螺頭 to double that effect. It is a standing item at double-boil shops and with soup-pack brands, such as SoupPapa’s 020 fresh 石斛 and 螺頭 yin-nourishing soup.
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.