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Double-boiled snow fungus with longan and lotus seeds
“The pot she makes when someone needs looking after.”
Ingredientsone pot, serves 4
Method
Double-boiled (隔水燉, cooked in a covered pot sitting in a pan of boiling water). Put the snow fungus, longan, lotus seeds and red dates in the stewing pot, pour in about 750 ml of water, seal the top with cling film (traditionally gauze paper) and put the lid on. Sit it in a pan of boiling water reaching one third to halfway up the pot and cook for 3 hours, topping up the outer pan with boiling water as you go. Stir the rock sugar in after the cooking is finished so it dissolves.
- Soak the snow fungus until it swells, snip off the hard base and tear it into small florets. Take the cores out of the lotus seeds and pit the red dates.
- Put everything except the rock sugar into the stewing pot and pour in about 750 ml of water.
- Seal the pot and double-boil for 3 hours.
- When it is done, stir in the rock sugar until it dissolves.
- It is best drunk warm just before bed.
Who it suits
- trouble sleeping
- palpitations from blood deficiency
- dry cough
Who should take care
- Halve the longan if you run heaty easily
- People with diabetes should watch the sugar
- Not while a cold has not cleared
Soup stories
A bedtime double-boil. Longan is said to nourish the heart, lotus seeds to settle the mind and snow fungus to moisten the lungs, so a warm bowl goes down just before sleep.
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.