Double-boiled silkie chicken in whole king coconut

Ingredients

Method

Double-boiled in the coconut itself (原盅椰皇隔水燉). Once the king coconut is opened it becomes the stewing pot. Put the ingredients inside, pour in boiling water to about eighty per cent full, put the coconut lid back on, sealing it with cling film to hold it in place if you like, and sit it in a pan of water to cook for 4 hours, which is the signature method at the coconut stew shops. Top up the outer pan with boiling water as you go, and add the salt only at the end.

1. Open the king coconut, keep the lid and the coconut water, and rinse the cavity clean so it can serve as the stewing pot.
2. Blanch the 竹絲雞 silkie chicken and the lean pork (汆水, a quick boil to draw out blood and scum).
3. Put everything inside the coconut and pour in boiling water to about eighty per cent full.
4. Put the coconut lid back on and double-boil for 4 hours.
5. Add a pinch of salt before drinking and bring it to the table in the coconut.

Who it suits

• yin deficiency with a dry mouth
• dry skin
• women after childbirth

Who should take care

• No double-boiled tonics while a cold has not cleared (general warning across this whole collection)
• People with diabetes should watch the sugar in the coconut water
• People with gout should take care, since long double-boiled meat soups are high in purines

Soup stories

This is the signature of the double-boil shops. 椰小盅 in Tai Koo and Prince Edward built its whole menu on soups stewed inside the coconut, with the shell doubling as the pot so the soup carries its own coconut scent, and it picked up a Michelin nod in 2020.

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.