Chinese Ginseng Chicken Soup (4-ingredients)
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
15 mins
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Cook Time
2 hrs 30 mins
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Servings
4 people
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Calories
1771 kcal
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Course
Main Course, Soup
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Cuisine
Chinese
Chinese Ginseng Chicken Soup (4-ingredients)
Description
This soup features a whole chicken simmered for several hours with traditional ingredients including American ginseng, jujube (red dates), and goji berries, which are added near the end to preserve their texture. The process may start with optional blanching of the chicken to remove impurities. Simmering gently for at least 2.5 to 3 hours develops a flavorful broth rich in natural gelatin and nutrients from the chicken and added components.
The soup yields tender, fall-apart chicken pieces and a clear, slightly sweet broth enhanced by the herbal and fruit notes. Salt seasoning is added at the end to prevent over-concentration of saltiness as the liquid reduces.
Serve this soup as a restorative dish, often enjoyed alone or as part of a meal, appreciated for its delicate balance of flavor and traditional ingredients believed to support wellness.
Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and should be reheated thoroughly before serving. Using black-skinned Silkie chicken or Cornish hens can offer variations in flavor and texture.
Ingredients
- 8 Cups water
- 1 chicken 900g or 31.7 oz) ideally fresh not frozen, cleaned. If the neck and feet are attached, leave them on as they have a lot of collagen to give the soup body. Don't fret if your chicken is bigger- your soup will have more flavor! You can also substitute with chicken parts that make up the same weight if you can't get an entire chicken- just make sure there are lots of wings to provide gelatin for the soup, whole
- 8 jujube soaked for 5 minutes to soften and remove dust. also known as Chinese red dates, seeds removed
- 2 Tablespoons American ginseng about 7g/ 0.25 oz, sliced
- 3 Tablespoons Goji berries briefly soaked for 5 minutes to soften and remove dust.
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
Optional: blanching the chicken
- For pork, this step is essential but it's optional for chicken as there isn't as much dirt and scum. You could technically just skim off the scum produced instead of blanching first.
- If you choose to blanch first, place the chicken in a pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil then throw away the water. Rinse the chicken in cold water to remove the dirt then it's ready to be made into soup!
Cooking the soup
- Place the chicken in the pot with the water, ginseng and jujubes then bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer over low heat for a minimum of 2.5- 3 hours. (Do check in from time to time to see if more water is needed. I didn't need to add any, but your "low heat" may be different from mine!)
- 10 minutes before you want to turn off the fire, add the goji berries.
- Season right before turning off the heat (if you salt too early, the soup may become too salty after the water evaporates off.)Note: if you simmer for more than 2.5 hours, please check the water levels to see if you need to add extra water!
Notes
- Store leftover soup in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days; reheat thoroughly before serving.
- Cooking the chicken whole before cutting allows the meat to soften and yields more gelatin in the broth.
- Using black-skinned Silkie chicken or Cornish hens provides a different flavor and richer broth.
- Season the soup with salt only at the end to avoid overly salty broth due to evaporation.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 4people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1771 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 1771kcal | 89% |
| Carbohydrates | 30g | 10% |
| Protein | 142g | 284% |
| Fat | 117g | 180% |
| Saturated Fat | 35g | 175% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 25g | 147% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 48g | 240% |
| Trans Fat | 1g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 571mg | 190% |
| Sodium | 3000mg | 125% |
| Potassium | 1483mg | 32% |
| Fiber | 6g | 24% |
| Sugar | 6g | 12% |
| Vitamin A | 1066IU | 21% |
| Vitamin C | 13mg | 14% |
| Calcium | 148mg | 15% |
| Iron | 7mg | 39% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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