chinese herbal soups

[aznsailorboi]

ever since I was a kid, I remember my Ah-Ma ( grandma ) coming back from chinatown every so often carrying with her a live silky chicken, and a bag containing herbs wrapped in brown paper. It was always exciting watching her in the kitchen preparing everything by herself with ease, from slaughtering and dressing the chicken, soaking the herbs and tending to the slow burning coals outside where she would let it simmer in the clay herb pot for hours. The experience was almost similar to spying on a witch make her secret brew, it fascinated me. Unfortunately my grandmother passed away even before I got interested in knowing the names of the herbs. My mother always bought the pre-packaged herbs in the asian market, so she never found out the names of the herbs my grandmother used.

I started this thread to find out other herbal combinations soups, and what they are for. I just recently found out what herbs my grandmother was using, the combination is called "Si But" literally translates to "four things". The combination consists of dried Angelica roots, dried Foxglove rhizome, dried White peony stem/bark, dried Ligusticum bark.

recipe:

1 silky chicken ( black skinned chicken ), preferrably alive, if alive save blood after slaughter.

3-4 dried Angelica root slices

2-3 dried Foxglove rhizome

4 pieces white Peony stem slices

3-4 dried Ligusticum bark pieces

half a handfull of Wolfberries

a small knob of Ginger

sea salt

clean chicken, pat dry and keep whole. If bought alive, make sure to save the blood, discard the innards of the chicken and rinse well.

soak the herbs including the Wolfberries separately in cold water for about 10 to 20 min. to soften the herbs a little. Slice the ginger in big pieces or just leave the ginger whole and bruise a few times with the side of a cleaver.

In a clay herb pot, or any pot made with a non-reactive metal. fit the whole chicken at the bottom of the pot. Tie the herbs in a cheesecloth, making sure the knot is secure to prevent the herbs from floating about the soup. Add in the herb bag into the pot, and then pour cold water in the pot, just enough to cover the chicken, and then add two more ricebowls of water on top of it. Cover the pot with the lid and set the pot inside a cold oven and have a pan sitting under the pot to catch any liquid if it overflows, it rarely happens but better have it there than worry about cleaning the bottom of the oven afterwards. Turn the oven on and set it to 300 degrees. bake the pot for at least 6 hrs. You can also cook it stove top, but you have to tend to it often versus letting it sit in the oven or surrounded by live coals for a few hours. after 6 hours the chicken should be very tender and the broth would be aromatic and rich brown in color from the herbs. Lift the chicken out of the broth onto a separate plate. Into the pot of broth add the chicken blood till it has coagulated,ladle soup in individual bowls, season with sea salt as per taste. You can also blanch chinese egg noodles(Mi Sua) then add to the soup, one noodle nest per person should be enough, serve piping hot. Eat with the chicken.

Edited March 27, 2006 by aznsailorboi (log)

[dockhl]

ever since I was a kid, I remember my Ah-Ma ( grandma ) coming back from chinatown every so often carrying with her a live silky chicken, and a bag containing herbs wrapped in brown paper. It was always exciting watching her in the kitchen preparing everything by herself with ease, from slaughtering and dressing the chicken, soaking the herbs and tending to the slow burning coals outside where she would let it simmer in the clay herb pot for hours. The experience was almost similar to spying on a witch make her secret brew, it fascinated me. Unfortunately my grandmother passed away even before I got interested in knowing the names of the herbs. My mother always bought the pre-packaged herbs in the asian market, so she never found out the names of the herbs my grandmother used.

I started this thread to find out other herbal combinations soups, and what they are for. I just recently found out what herbs my grandmother was using, the combination is called "Si But" literally translates to "four things". The combination consists of dried Angelica roots, dried Foxglove rhizome, dried White peony stem/bark, dried Ligusticum bark.

recipe:

1 silky chicken ( black skinned chicken ), preferrably alive, if alive save blood after slaughter.

3-4 dried Angelica root slices

2-3 dried Foxglove rhizome

4 pieces white Peony stem slices

3-4 dried Ligusticum bark pieces

half a handfull of Wolfberries

a small knob of Ginger

sea salt

clean chicken, pat dry and keep whole. If bought alive,  make sure to save the blood, discard the innards of the chicken and rinse well.

soak the herbs including the Wolfberries separately in cold water for about 10 to 20 min. to soften the herbs a little. Slice the ginger in big pieces or just leave the ginger whole and bruise a few times with the side of a cleaver.

In a clay herb pot, or any pot made with a non-reactive metal. fit the whole chicken at the bottom of the pot. Tie the herbs in a cheesecloth, making sure the knot is secure to prevent the herbs from floating about the soup. Add in the herb bag into the pot, and then pour cold water in the pot, just enough to cover the chicken, and then add two more ricebowls of water on top of it. Cover the pot with the lid and set the pot inside a cold oven and have a pan sitting under the pot to catch any liquid if it overflows, it rarely happens but better have it there than worry about cleaning the bottom of the oven afterwards. Turn the oven on and set it to 300 degrees. bake the pot for at least 6 hrs. You can also cook it stove top, but you have to tend to it often versus letting it sit in the oven or surrounded by live coals for a few hours. after 6 hours the chicken should be very tender and the broth would be aromatic and rich brown in color from the herbs. Lift the chicken out of the broth onto a separate plate. Into the pot of broth add the chicken blood till it has coagulated,ladle soup in individual bowls, season with sea salt as per taste. You can also blanch chinese egg noodles(Mi Sua) then add to the soup, one noodle nest per person should be enough, serve piping hot. Eat with the chicken.

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aznsailorboi,

this sounds delicious altho I can't imagine where I can find the herbs in Paso Robles !

Was the herbal combination for a specific health purpose or just 'cause it tasted good?

I'd love to hear other combinations, too..........

[eje]

2-3 dried Foxglove rhizome

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Really?

Is Chinese foxglove different from American Foxglove?

It's my understanding that it is fairly poisonous.

Foxglove at Botanical.com

[Dejah]

I started this thread to find out other herbal combinations soups, and what they are for. I just recently found out what herbs my grandmother was using, the combination is called "Si But" literally translates to "four things". The combination consists of dried Angelica roots, dried Foxglove rhizome, dried White peony stem/bark, dried Ligusticum bark.

recipe:

1 silky chicken ( black skinned chicken ), preferrably alive, if alive save blood after slaughter.

3-4 dried Angelica root slices

2-3 dried Foxglove rhizome

4 pieces white Peony stem slices

3-4 dried Ligusticum bark pieces

half a handfull of Wolfberries

a small knob of Ginger

sea salt

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Can you post pictures of the ingredients? I do make herbal soups, but I don't know the botanical names, and my pronunciation may be a mix of Cantonese and Toisanese!

I make a "say may" tong with more than 4 things!

Leen jee, hung yun, bak hap, luk juk, see goo, sang day, sah tam and pork. This is to ease "yeet hai".

I sometimes add dried fig, mut jo (honey dates) or American ginseng (fa ka tam)

My favourite part is sang day (literal translatin is raw earth).

[aznsailorboi]

eje- I'm not sure if there is a chinese or american foxglove, the latin name for this type of Foxglove is Rhemannia Glutinosa. it could be of the chinese variety.

dejah- I will take pictures of it tonight and post it as soon as I can, I have all the herbs at home. what's yeet hai? I only speak mandarin Hokkien and Mandarin, I've been meaning to learn Cantonese but its totally different from the two dialects that I know.....so hard

dockhl- you can get these items on line if you don't live close to an asian market or a chinatown. The purpose of this soup is to detox the internal organs and the blood, making the stagnant pooling yin move about the body...or at least thats what I've been told all along.

[Ben Hong]

All herbal soups are good, but my favourite is just plain jane ching bo leng that I buy in packages. 2 pounds of pork neck bones and a package of said herbals and I'm in heaven.

"yeet hay" = hot air, or hot humours (a yang trait)

[aznsailorboi]

All herbal soups are good, but my favourite is just plain jane ching bo leng that I buy in packages. 2 pounds of pork neck bones and a package of said herbals and I'm in heaven.

"yeet hay" = hot air, or hot humours (a yang trait)

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Uncle Ben, can you take a picture of the packaging? I'm pretty sure they have it in most asian markets, I just dont know how to translate ching bo leng in mandarin or hokkien.

[eje]

eje- I'm not sure if there is a chinese or american foxglove, the latin name for this type of Foxglove is Rhemannia Glutinosa. it could be of the chinese variety.

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Ah, ok.

Chinese Foxglove (Rhemannia glutinosa) is a completely different plant than the common garden Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).

Pretty, though. I think I have seeds for it somewhere. Didn't know it had an herbal use.

[Ben Hong]

[Tepee]

Ching/Qing = Clear, Cleanse, Pure

Bo/Bao = Nourish

Leung/Liang = Cool

Cantonese in italics, Mandarin in red.

This pack can be made into a savoury (add meat) or sweet (add rock sugar) soup.

Consists of 7 herbs:

Yee Mai = Job's Tear barley,

Leen Jee = Lotus Seeds

Bak Hup = Lily Bulbs

See Sut = Foxnut

Yook Jook = Solomon's Seal

Wai San = chinese dry yam

Dried Longan

I'll see if there's a packet in the fridge. If not, I'll go get one from the chinese medicinal hall this weekend.

p/s...if Ben-sook is a dinosaur with pix-posting, I'm one with using chinese software.

Edited March 28, 2006 by Tepee (log)

[jobean]

My mom used to make something similar, an herbal soup that translates to "four flavors". I just used up my last batches, don't know all the names but know what they look like when I go to the herbal shop. I think she included lotus seeds and white fungus, no ginger because it was a cooling soup. This is one of my favorite comfort foods when I'm feeling "hot air".

The really potent herbal brews she made were steamed (no direct heat) for a whole day.

Lately, I've been making a lingzhi brew that she recommends (lingzhi, red dates) simmered for 4 hours or crock pot it overnight.

[Tepee]

Cooling herbal soups/tea

Savoury Herbal Soups

Enjoy!

[hzrt8w]

[...] Tie the herbs in a cheesecloth, making sure the knot is secure to prevent the herbs from floating about the soup. Add in the herb bag into the pot, and then pour cold water in the pot, just enough to cover the chicken, and then add two more ricebowls of water on top of it. Cover the pot with the lid and set the pot inside a cold oven and have a pan sitting under the pot to catch any liquid if it overflows, it rarely happens but better have it there than worry about cleaning the bottom of the oven afterwards. Turn the oven on and set it to 300 degrees. bake the pot for at least 6 hrs.

[...]

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Cheesecloth? Oven? This is a modern interpretation of an age-old Chinese recipe?

The thing with herb soups... there are so many different formulas. The "four thing" soup... Perhaps borrowed from jo-mel: like meat loaf... your meat loaf is different from my meat loaf. Four things can be different "four things" for different people.

Further issues with herb soups: (I read Chinese descriptions) different people seem to disagree on the benefits of the same herb. Or people seem to describe the benefits whatever they feel like. I ended up not knowing what/who to believe.

And this is the first time I heard noodles eaten with herbal soup. Typically herbal soups are consumed, because of their rarity, on their own spirit and not as a broth for noodles.

[hzrt8w]

this sounds delicious altho I can't imagine where I can find the herbs in Paso Robles ! 

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San Jose or Los Angeles. Your pick!

[Tepee]

And this is the first time I heard noodles eaten with herbal soup.  Typically herbal soups are consumed, because of their rarity, on their own spirit and not as a broth for noodles.

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Ah Leung Gaw...you don't remember (or perhaps you didn't read) this?

[dockhl]

this sounds delicious altho I can't imagine where I can find the herbs in Paso Robles ! 

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San Jose or Los Angeles. Your pick!

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pretty much my choices, huh? Next time I am in San Diego............

[aznsailorboi]

Ah leung, the oven part is a modern rendition, since I can't dig a firepit outside my condo and fill it with slow burning coals. and the cheesecloth can be any other type of cloth thin and sturdy enough to hold the herbs while simmering for hours.

Deja- sorry about the pix, i havnt gotten the chance to take em. I will post it as soon as I can.

[aznsailorboi]

Bah Kut Teh is another herbal soup. I buy the packaged herbs and spices, since its already measured and I dont know the amount per herb.

[miladyinsanity]

And this is the first time I heard noodles eaten with herbal soup.  Typically herbal soups are consumed, because of their rarity, on their own spirit and not as a broth for noodles.

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I do this too, actually. It's a rather healthy all in one meal, plus I don't especially like do drink soup on it's own.

[Hest88]

This is bringing back unpleasant childhood memories of the kinds of things my mom would make me drink when she thought I needed some fortification.

BTW, my mom's preferred method right now is a crockpot. If I really have to make something I tend to just stick it on the stove with the lid placed askew so it doesn't bubble over.

[aprilmei]

I use a Chinese soup delivery service called chinesesoup.com. If you look on the website, you can see the combinations - in traditional Chinese and English - they make. It doesn't give recipes, just the ingredients and the properties each particular soup is supposed to have.

[hzrt8w]

Re: Chinesesoup.com

Frozen Chinese herbal soup! What a concept! I wonder if they can eliminate or greatly reduce the freezer burn.

[aprilmei]

Re:  Chinesesoup.com

Frozen Chinese herbal soup!  What a concept!    I wonder if they can eliminate or greatly reduce the freezer burn.

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I haven't tried the frozen soups; no point because I can get the fresh ones delivered to my office.

[hzrt8w]

[...] can you take a picture of the packaging? I'm pretty sure they have it in most asian markets, I just dont know how to translate ching bo leng in mandarin or hokkien.

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Re: Ching Bo Leung

Here is a picture of the package:

I usually double them or triple them (these packages are small) when I cook the soup.

Edited March 31, 2006 by hzrt8w (log)