The Soup Queen

I got this soup recipe from The Star newspaper a couple of months ago. Haven't had time to make this soup but since it's so easy, I thought I'd share this with all of you. Maybe you can try it and see how it goes! I've always enjoyed vegetarian soups at Buddhist temples. There's one near my home and the soups are often clear and sweet! Vegetarian Lotus Soup 1 whole lotus root or 200gm, washed, peeled and sliced thick 1 cup peanuts , soaked and rinsed 5 red dates , seeded 2-3 honey dates 50gm vegetarian chicken 1.5 liters of water salt to taste Combine all ingredients in a pott and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours. Add salt after 2 hours of simmering and serve hot.

It's often difficult to find soups which cater specifically for vegetarians as most Chinese TCM soups do contain some meat or other. I got this recipe from Bao Ma, that famous Taiwanese mother of Ah Bao (Eric Tsang's bubbly daughter who is a TV host in Taiwan). A few years ago, Ah Bao and her mum (or Mrs Eric Tsang) did a cooking show over TV - all about soups! How I loved that show. I was inspired to be more kitchen-friendly after viewing those episodes. Bao Ma used to recommend super simple soup recipes which I often scribbled down, and that's how I brushed up on my Mandarin. I never went to a Chinese school (which is often a big regret) but I have always felt at home with Mandarin. I do speak the language though, and am able to read basic Mandarin. With Bao Ma's how to make soup TV series, it was two favourite passions rolled into one: I got to learn how to make soups and learnt how proper Mandarin is spoken. As well as what certain herbs were named in Chinese. Well,...