Fresh chinese yam with fresh foxnuts/ euryale seeds soup (山藥芡實湯)

This soup went along well with last night's roast duck fried rice. :D A bowl of piping hot soup, not to mention a highly nutritious one, on a rainy evening is trully comforting!

If you read Chinese, you can check out this site to read more about the benefits of consuming fresh chinese yam. In a nutshell, chinese yam is believed to have the ability to enhance vigour, promote muscle growth, repair worn-out tissue, improve immunity and alleviate bodily weakness after a long-term illness.



Fresh chinese yam with fresh foxnuts soup (山藥芡實湯)

*skip the dried scallop for tots below 18mths*

Ingredients:

• Fresh chinese yam (wai san) - I didn't weigh it but I think it's about 300g
• 1 carrot (optional)
• a handful of red dates
• a handful of fresh foxnuts
• some fresh lotus seeds (remove pith)
• 1 chicken carcass (or 3 chicken breast bones)
• 1 soup pot of water
• 1 dried scallop (place in a small soup bag)
• 3 cloves garlic (leave them in their skin)
• salt/ fish sauce to taste

Method:

1. Clean the chicken bones then blanch them in boiling water.
2. Peel and chop the chinese yam and carrot into chunks.
3. Rinse the dried scallop and red dates.
4. Bring the chicken bones, dried scallop, red dates and garlic to a boil in a soup pot of water.
5. Leave to simmer for a few hours on the stove.
6. Sieve the soup: remove the bones and garlic return the red dates and dried scallop (take out from the small soup bag) to the soup.
7. Add the rest of the ingredients about 10minutes before serving. Chinese yam softens very quickly so unless you like the mashy texture, don't add it into the soup too early.
8. Add salt to taste.

Alternatively, you can cook this stock in a slowcooker overnight, sieve the soup then transfer the stock base to a pot that's suitable for cooking on the stove and just add the rest of the ingredients about 10minutes before serving.


Note: When handling and preparing the chinese yam, hold on to it with a clear plastic bag as it may cause skin irritation should it come into contact with your hands.



Alicia wasn't a fan of the soup or the chinese yam but she took to the foxnuts... and she ate them like popcorn while watching Shrek 3 :)

Updated in May: Alicia loves this soup but still refuses to eat the chinese yam :)