Chinese Yam Chicken Soup (山药煲鸡汤) is a well known healthy soup in China. It tastes fragrant and fresh, and it’s good for the women who are in lactation period. It is the best choice when you are sick or in the winter.
The methods to braise the soup are quite different in southern and northern China. I like to parboil the meat first and then use high temperature to boil the soup. If you prefer clear soup, just put the head on the really low level.
You have many choices of the vegetables, such as lotus root, dates, etc. You can also replace the chicken with pork ribs, lamb ribs, ham hock or even the whole chicken.
Chinese Yam Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken thighs with bone in
- 300 g Chinese yam peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 fresh corn cut into 4 pieces
- 2 carrots cut into bite-size pieces
- 8 pieces dried mushroom
- 10 pieces dried fructus lycll
- 4 pieces ginger
- 6 pieces green onion white part only, about 1.5of each
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cooking wine
- 1 tablespoon cilantro chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Clean the chicken: put the chick thighs in a pot, add cold water to cover the thighs completely. Put the pan on a medium high heat until the water boils, and you will see the scum forming on the surface.
- About 10 minutes after the water boiled, remove the scum and discard the water, wash chicken thighs thoroughly.
- Put the chicken thighs in a Chinese clay pot or dutch oven with the cover, add 8 pieces dried mushrooms, 4 pieces fresh ginger, 6 pieces white parts of the green onion, 1 piece bay leaves, 1 tablespoon cooking wine, and 1 teaspoon white vinegar, pour the cold water into the pot, about 2 inches higher than the chicken, and bring to a boil. Please do not add the water after this, as it will dilute the soup. Stew for 40 minutes after it boiled.
- Prepare the vegetables: cut the corn into 3-4 pieces or smaller as you like; cut the carrots into bite-size pieces; peel the skin of Chinese yam and cut it into 2-inch pieces. Make sure you wear the glove to peel the Chinese yam skin, as the juice come out of it could make you feel itchy.
- After 40 minutes, put all the vegetables into the pot, add dried fructus lycll and 2 teaspoons salt, keep simmering for 1 hour until fragrant.
- Sprinkle some chopped cilantro and green onions before serve. Enjoy!