Dried Fig, Apple and Almond Soup

I got this link from a reader of this blog. And what a great link it was... it was linked to a soup recipe and of course a book by someone called Grace Young.

Grace's book is called "The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing". I hope to find this book at my local Borders Bookstore one of these days. It reads like one of those books I simply want in my TCM book collection!

Here's a recipe called Dried Fig, Apple and Almond Soup taken from Grace's book. There's more information about this soup/tonic from the Global Gourmet website, a link given by a reader, TC!

Dried Fig, Apple and Almond Soup
by Grace Young

According to Grace, this soup helps cure a persistent cough. I always think that it's better to take a tonic than to take cough medicine. A tonic tastes so much better too!

1/4 cup Chinese almonds (nom hung)
4 to 5 Chinese almonds (buck hung)
3 medium red Delicious apples, unpeeled
8 ounces pork loin, well trimmed
10 Chinese dried figs, rinsed

Rinse almonds in several changes of cold water. Soak almonds in 1/2 cup cold water overnight to soften almonds.

Core apples and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges.

In a 4-quart saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil over high heat. Add pork and return to a boil, skimming any scum that forms.

Add the apple wedges, dried figs, almonds and their soaking water. Return to a boil over high heat.

Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 3 hours. Serve piping hot (no more than 1-1/2 cups per person).

For more information, visit Grace Young's website at http://www.graceyoung.com

Goji Berry, Chrysanthemum & Red Date Tea

I've been making this simple tea for a few times already. Not sure if I had shared this before but all it needs are 3 ingredients - dried goji berries, dried red dates and dried chrysanthemum bulbs. This sugar-less concoction is good for health especially if you want to maintain immunity. It's even more important these days what with the pandemic and Covid-19. But it is also a pleasant brew - no boiling needed. All you need is a handful of goji berries (washed and soaked for 5 minutes in water), 3-5 large dried red dates and a teaspoon of dried chrysanthemum flowers (these are the small heads of flowers, not the usual type for making chrysanthemum tea). Put all the ingredients in a teapot and pour in boiling water. Let it sit for 10 minutes and voila, you have made yourself a healthy tea without sugar. It has a natural sweetness from the red dates and goji berries. And once you have drunk all the tea, you can continue adding more boiling water for a second b...

The Remarkable Nut of Nuts

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24 Herb Tea - Bitter, Foul-Tasting But Oh So Good For You!

Was out running a couple of errands this entire afternoon and ended up buying groceries at the nearby supermarket. If I had a choice I wouldn't go into this decade-old supermarket because it's small, cramped and you tend to knock into other shoppers with your trolley (yes, the aisles are that narrow). Nic and I figured that we might as well buy our groceries since we were in this vicinity and he did need some coffee. Finally we ended up with a trolley full of cheese, butter, coffee and noodles. Anyway, I was getting thirsty after all the errands and shopping. We decided to stop and have a drink at this stall which sells Chinese herbal tea. This uncle who mans it is actually a Hong Kong native who has been living in Malaysia for a long time. He drives a little white van which he parks at the corner of a junction and opens up for business. You see, he sells hot and cold Chinese herbal teas of all types - the kind that is slowly boiled and brewed. It's common to see Mal...

The Soup Queen

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