A Chinese friend introduced me to this several years ago. In China, one of the most popular ways to use tonic herbs is to cook them in a soup with some chicken and sometimes a piece of fresh ginger. The herbs are believed to have tonifying and medicinal properties. Whether you believe these claims or not isn't the point; this soup is delicious and nutritious.
I buy these packages of herbs at Asian supermarkets. There are different herb combinations, but most of them include one or more of the following: jujube, angelica, dried orange peel, astralagus, dried longan, cardamom, dried lotus seeds, and goji berry. The packages often have accompanying English translation labels listing the ingredients, and are sometimes labeled as "CHINESE HERB SOUP" or "NUTRITIOUS SOUP." Sometimes I buy specific herbs separately at my local Chinese herb store.
To make the soup, I basically poach a chicken. Using a whole chicken or chicken parts (my friend says silkie chickens are best, but I use regular organic chicken) I add it to a large pot and cover with water, add the herbs and some vegetables, and simmer for a few hours, and voila!
Chinese Chicken Soup
Ingredients
1 package Chinese Herbal Soup or Nutritious Soup herbs, found at Asian markets (Sorry, I haven't found an online source, yet)
1 whole chicken or chicken parts
About 3 inches of ginger root, peeled
4 garlic cloves, peeled
Rice or Asian noodles
Baby bok choy or any other Asian green
Preparation
Place chicken in a large pot and cover with water. Add the herbs, the ginger, and the garlic. Simmer for about 3 hours or until chicken is cooked thoroughly and soup broth tastes flavorful. Remove the chicken and remove the skin and bones; shred the chicken and add it back to the pot.
Five to seven minutes before serving, add some baby bok choy or other Asian greens and cook them in the broth until bite-tender.
Serve soup in bowls with cooked rice or noodles and Asian greens. If you have leftover broth, strain it and freeze.
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Aiiieeya, I hated these soups with a passion when I was growing up! The barley, the goji berries, the flavorless chicken, the way-too-intense broth, gah! And there were never any delicious noodles or greens, and never ginger nor garlic (way too warming/yang) as they upset the balance of the tonic ingredients too much.
I was really jealous of all my friends who got yummy matzoh ball soup or chicken noodle soup instead. It's really interesting to see what other people who weren't force fed this stuff think of it.
haha totally agree with you Slow Lorus - my Taiwanese mom always made this style of chicken soup with jujubes and it always made me gag. now whenever i smell jujubes it brings back smelly herbal/medicinal memories. i'm surprised that Westerners would find this soup appealing - to me it's like drinking robotussin.
Aiiieeya indeed. I think it seems exotic to Westerners - something unique to show off to their friends maybe?
I suggest never making this.
Hmm...as a Westerner I'll take the above advice to heart and stay with regular chicken, noodle soup.
lol. I grew up with this stuff too. But even my parents don't really make these brews anymore. Maybe I'll give one a go sometimes this winter (southern hemisphere here) and see what my western husband thinks of it.
I was also made to take this kind of soup when I was growing up but unlike the others here, they didn't make me gag. The key thing is to get the right kind of herbs. They are many combinations available - each for a specific medicinal benefit and some for general well-being. Typically, the ones which are for general nutrition taste better and even desirable!
I've only had it at the advice of my acupuncturist, and can't say I love it. Might be OK with a hefty dose of fish sauce & chilis though. But then again, you could say that about pretty much anything.