An herbal chicken soup collection of 8 recipes using different chicken cuts and a variety of Chinese herbs that go very well with it. These are gentle nourishing chicken soups that can be consumed as part of a meal. Don’t wait till you are under the weather to prepare them.
One of the most distinctive features of Chinese soup-making is the pairing of Chinese herbs with chicken and pork. Common Chinese herbs that go well with chicken include Solomon’s seal, goji berries, Chinese yam, cordyceps and ginseng.
Recipe 1. Steamed chicken soup with astragalus, red dates and goji berries 黄芪红枣枸杞子蒸鸡汤
The 3 Chinese herbs used here is a common trio for soups. I drink this herbal chicken soup to regulate my menstrual cycle and whenever I feel giddy, have cold hands and feet.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken thigh
- 4 pieces of astragalus 黄芪 (huang qi)
- 8 red dates 红枣 (hong zao)
- 1 tbsp goji berries 枸杞子 (gou ji zi)
- 1 litre water
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- Salt
Directions
- Cut the chicken into several pieces and parboil for 2 minutes to get rid of blood and grit.
- Rinse the 3 Chinese herbs.
- Place all the ingredients in a ceramic pot and add the 1 litre of water
- Cover and steam for 1 hour
Recipe 2. Simmered soup with spring chicken, solomon’s seal, goji berries and Chinese yam 玉竹淮山枸杞子炖鸡汤
A quintessential Chinese soup using the trinity of Chinese gentle tonics. This soup is suitable for the whole family.
Ingredients
- 1 small free range spring chicken
- 30g Solomon’s seal 玉竹 (yu zhu)
- 30g dried Chinese yam 淮山 (huai shan)
- 1 tbsp Chinese wolfberries 枸杞子 (gou ji zi)
- 1 tbsp julienned ginger
Directions
- Wash and clean the chicken.
- Soak the solomon’s seal and wolfberries in room temperature water. Drain before using.
- Place all ingredients into a soup pot or slow cooker.
- Add enough water to cover all ingredients.
- Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer.
- Simmer for about 1 hour.
- Add salt to taste before serving.
Recipe 3. Steamed herbal chicken soup with cordyceps, red dates and wolfberries 冬虫夏草红枣枸杞子蒸鸡汤
The Chinese name for cordyceps 冬虫夏草 literally means winter worm, summer grass. The weird name arises because cordyceps is actually a type of parasitic fungus growing within a caterpillar. It eventually kills the caterpillar and take over its body.
Cordyceps is highly prized as a dietary supplement for maintaining youth. It is fairly expensive and a little goes a long way.
Cordyceps and chicken is a great anti-cancer combination. It helps the body to produce anti-oxidants thereby boosting immunity and anti-aging.
High summer heat can cause dehydration and dry mouths. It is important to replenish fluids and rehydrate the body. Some people might even have feelings of oppression, like something heavy are on their chests. This can affects the appetite.
Drinking cold drinks is a quick way to relieve some of the heat but the Chinese believes in consuming hot soups even in summer.
The soup, even though hot in terms of temperature, can be cooling for the body. There are a range of ingredients that are considered gently cooling and are effective in reducing body heat. These ingredients include green beans, Job’s tears, chrysanthemum flowers and Chinese wolfberries. Incidentally, these are also good for detoxification, another important process for the body in the summer.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken thigh
- 2 cordyceps 东虫夏草 (dong chong xia cao)
- 6 red dates 红枣 (hong zao)
- 7 Chinese wolfberries 枸杞子 (gou ji zi)
- 1 litre water
Directions
- Cut chicken thigh into pieces. Parboil for 2 minutes. Wash and trim excess fats
- Rinse the cordyceps, Chinese wolfberries and red dates
- Place the chicken pieces into a large soup bowl together with the cordyceps, Chinese wolfberries and red dates
- Add the water
- Cover soup bowl with clingwrap
- Steam for 1 hours
- Add salt to taste before serving
You can also cook the soup using a double-boiling jar or an electric stew pot. Place the parboiled chicken, cordyceps, goji berries and red dates into the ceramic double-boiling jar. Add the water. Cover and double boil for 1.5 hours.
Recipe 4. Simmered chicken soup with Chinese angelica root 当归陈皮黄芪红枣枸杞子
My grandma prepares a simple herbal chicken soup with a few slices of dang gui and red dates for me at the end of my menstrual cycle. She believes it helps clear the womb of residual blood and cleanses the blood.
Other herbs included in this recipes are quite mild and suitable in a general tonic. They are astragalus, goji berries, red dates and dried tangerine peel.
Make sure you choose a free range organic chicken that hasn’t been feed with growth hormones or steroids.
Ingredients
- 1/2 free range chicken
- 5g Chinese angelica root 当归 (dang gui)
- 3 pieces of astragalus 黄芪 (huang qi)
- 1 piece of dried tangerine peel 陈皮 (chen pi)
- 1 tbsp goji berries 枸杞子 (gou ji zi)
- 2 red dates 红枣 (hong zao)
- 1 bottle of rice wine
- Pinch of salt
Directions
- Wash and cut the chicken into smaller pieces
- Parboil the chicken pieces
- Place the chicken, Chinese angelica root, astragalus, dried tangerine peel, goji berries and red dates into a soup pot
- Add rice wine till it covers the ingredients
- Bring the pot to a boil
- Lower the heat and let the soup simmer for another 30 minutes till most of the alcohol has been cooked out
- Add salt before serving
Recipe 5. Simmered chicken soup with old cucumber, dang shen, and goji berries 老黄瓜党参红枣枸杞子
This herbal chicken soup recipe has all my favourite Chinese herbs: red dates, goji berries, and dang shen. This is a pleasant light herbal soup. Omit the ginger if you do not like it.
Old cucumber soup, herbal or not, makes regular appearance on dinner tables. It is also served by quite a few local Chinese restaurants as their soup of the day 例汤 (li tang).
The soup stock is made using bouillon cubes. It is a quick way to create flavour for soups. If you don’t want to use it, make your own chicken soup stock or buy ready-made ones.
Ingredients
- 1 fresh chicken breast
- 500g old cucumber 老黄瓜 (lao huang gua)
- 1 thick slice ginger
- 4 dried Chinese mushrooms
- 6g codonopsis root 党参 (dang shen)
- 5 red dates 红枣 (hong zao)
- 1 tbsp Chinese wolfberries / goji berries 枸杞子 (gou ji zi)
- 1.8 litre of water
- 3 bouillon cubes
Directions
- Slice the chicken breast into bite-sized pieces
- Cut the old cucumber into sections and remove the seeds
- Wash and soak the dried Chinese mushrooms in water
- Rinse the codonopsis root and halve it if it is too long
- Rinse the red dates and remove the seeds
- Add the bouillon cubes to 1.8 litre of water and bring to a boil
- Add all the ingredients
- Bring the soup back to a boil
- Low heat to a slow simmer and simmer for about 50 minutes
- Serve
Recipe 6. Steamed chicken soup with ginseng and red dates 人参红枣炖鸡汤
In Spring, we see hay fever, dry skin, sinus and coughs. Respiratory and skin conditions are common. So soups that replenish fluids to the body and food that are beneficial to the lungs are great for spring.
If you can’t get the real ginseng, replace it with 1 to 2 ginseng tea bags or 1 ginseng powder capsule.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken thigh
- 6 small pieces of panax ginseng 人参 (ren shen)
- 8 red dates 红枣 (hong zao)
- 1 litre of water
- 2 tbsp cooking wine
- Salt to taste
Directions
- Cut the chicken thigh into several pieces and parboil for 2 minutes to get rid of blood and grit.
- Rinse the ginseng pieces and red dates.
- Place the chicken pieces, ginseng and red dates into a ceramic jar
- add the water, cooking wine and cover
- Steam in a wok or large pot for 1 hour
- Season with salt to taste
- Serve
Recipe 7. Double-boiled chicken soup with du zhong and black beans 杜仲黑豆鸡汤
Black beans is detoxifying because it nourishes the kidneys. This is a great soup tonic for autumn.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken thigh
- Half a cup of black beans 黑豆
- 1 piece of duzhong 杜仲
- 1 litre of water
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- salt
Directions
- Cut the thigh into several pieces and parboil the pieces to get rid of blood and grit/
- Wash and rinse the black beans
- Drain the beans and fry them in a dry flat pan till they start to crack
- Place chicken, duzhong and black beans in a double boiling jar
- Add the water and seasoning
- Cover and double boil for 1 hour
All these herbal chicken soups can be made using the crock pot.
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