Double-boiled (隔水燉, the covered jar stands in a pot of water rather than sitting on the heat), in a one-person jar of about 400 ml: put the ingredients in and pour in boiling water to just cover. 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 hours. The 杞子 go in for the last 30 minutes. Salt goes in last.
Soak the 花膠 (fish maw) ahead of time to rehydrate it. Soak the 瑤柱 (dried scallops), 螺片 (sliced dried conch) and 冬菇 (dried shiitake) until soft.
Blanch the pork ribs and the chicken thigh (汆水, a quick boil to clean off blood and scum).
Put everything except the 杞子 in the double-boil jar and pour in about 400 ml of boiling water.
Seal it with cling film, put the lid on and double-boil for 3 hours, adding the 杞子 for the last 30 minutes.
Season with salt before drinking.
Who it suits
feeling run down
not enough qi and blood
wanting a gentle tonic
Who should take care
gout sufferers take care, dried seafood is high in purines
avoid tonic double-boils while a cold has not fully cleared (general warning across this collection)
Soup stories
A whole dried seafood shop in one jar. 花膠, 瑤柱 and 螺片 give a triple layer of dried-goods savour, deeply flavoursome with no MSG. This is the everyday jar at a double-boil shop.
moistens the lungssupports the kidneyssoothes cough3.5h slow fireWinter
百子櫃Cordyceps· 3 to 5 pieces百子櫃Teal (small wild-type duck)· 1百子櫃Dried fig· 2百子櫃Aged dried tangerine peel· a quarter piece街市Fresh ginger· 2 slices
“The pot she makes when someone needs looking after.”
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.
問阿媽ASK AH MA
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.