Lotus Seed, Lily Bulb, Longan Fruit & White Fungus Sweet Soup (莲子百合桂圆银耳汤)
A Chinese Herbal Sweet Soup for better sleep and better skin. It is one of those 'sweets' that I don't feel guilty about eating. It is nourishing and calming at the same time. The combination of the herbs makes this sweet soup very fragrant. I love it and hope you too!
Equipment
- Earth material, glass or high quality stainless steel cooking pot (NO cast iron or aluminium pot)
Ingredients
- 40 g Lotus Seeds 莲子
- 50 g Lily Bulbs 百合
- 15 g Longan Fruits 桂圆（龙眼肉）
- A quarter to half White (Snow) Fungus 银耳 （雪耳）
- 20 g Rock Sugar 冰糖 (or to your own liking)
- 9 g Goji Berries 枸杞子
- 3 pieces Red Dates (Jujube) 红枣 (remove the pits and cut into smaller pieces)
Instructions
Preparation of Snow Fungus
- Soak snow fungus with cold water (ideally) for a few hours or unitl it is softened. During this process, change the water a couple of times to wash off the dirt.
- Once snow fungus is softened, remove its root section
- Cut snow fungus into smaller pieces
Preparation of Lotus Seeds and Lily Bulbs
- Crack open the Lotus Seeds to see if there are green seedlings in the middle.
- Remove the green seedlings if any (Note: It is important to remove the green seedlings in lotus seeds as they are bitter. Otherwise, your sweet soup will turn out bitter in taste.)
- Soak lotus seeds and lily bulbs with water, separately, for about one hour or unitl they are softened.
Instructions
- Bring one litre of water to a boil
- Add Lotus Seeds and Snow Fungus. Let them boil for 10 minutes
- Turn the heat down to medium-low, let them cook for another 20 minutes. If you like your Snow Fungus softer, you can cook it for longer.
- During this cooking process, check the soup from time to time to make sure the water is not dry. This is because the Snow Fungus tends to absorb a lot of fluid. Add more water as needed.
- Add Lily Bulbs and Red Dates. Cook for another 15-20 minutes.(Note: The Lily Bulbs are added a bit later as they tend to break down more easily in hot water. If you add it too early, the final dish can get very mushy. If you are like me, who is time-poor and lazy; or you like baby food and prefer it to be mushy, then you can add the Lily Bulbs at the beginning.)
- Add the last three ingredients: the Longan Fruits, Goji Berries and rock sugar. Cook for another 5 to 10 minutes(Note #1These three ingredients are sweet. So with the rock sugar (or any sugar), please adjust the amount to your own liking. Note #2: The colour of the sweet soup will turn slightly brown-ish because of the Longan Fruits.)
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Please use earth material, glass or high-quality stainless steel cookware only. This is because they are more inert, meaning that they won't interact with the herbs. Please avoid iron and aluminium as they will interact with the herbs and change the properties.