Double-boiled silkie chicken with lingzhi (reishi)

Ingredientsone pot, serves 4

Method

隔水燉 (double boiling, where the jar sits in water rather than over direct heat): put the ingredients in the 燉盅 and pour in about 1 litre of boiling water to just cover, put the lid on and seal the jar with cling film (traditionally 紗紙, mulberry paper), stand it in a pot of boiling water filled to a third or half way up the jar, and cook for 2 to 3 hours, topping up with boiling water along the way. Salt goes in last. 靈芝 tastes sweet and bitter, so the 圓肉 and red dates are there to round it out.

1. Slice and rinse the 赤靈芝. Rinse the 圓肉 and the red dates, pitting the dates.
2. Chop the silkie chicken into pieces and blanch it (汆水, a quick boil to clear the scum).
3. Put everything into the 燉盅 (double-boiling jar) and pour in boiling water to just cover.
4. Seal the jar and double boil (隔水燉, the jar sits in water rather than over direct heat) for 2 to 3 hours.
5. Season with salt and it is ready.

Who it suits

• poor sleep with vivid dreams
• palpitations
• nervous exhaustion
• a weak constitution that picks things up easily

Who should take care

• not while you have a cold with fever
• stop taking 靈芝 for a week before and after surgery
• people on blood-thinning or anticoagulant medication should check first
• no double-boiled tonics while a cold is still unresolved (general across this collection)
• people with gout should be careful, long double-boiled meat soups are high in purines (general warning across this collection)

Soup stories

The standard-bearer of the calming double-boils. 靈芝燉烏骨雞 is a Chinese medicine classic for sleeplessness, traditionally described as settling the heart and mind and nourishing qi and blood. The 圓肉 and red dates soften the bitterness.

From the same family

Double-boiled snow fungus with longan and lotus seedsLotus seed, lily bulb and poria soup with lean porkLongan, lotus seed and egg soup

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.