Ginseng
Chicken Soup人參雞湯 (ren-2 shen-1- ji-1 tang-1)
Ginseng has been treasured by Chinese as a tonic for thousands of
years. This dish is a tasty example of Chinese medicinal cooking.
Serves 7–8
Ingredients
2 kg (4 1/2 lb) whole chicken
30 g (1 oz) dried ginseng
1 cup clear rice wine (mijui)
1 teaspoon salt
Method
Rinse chicken inside and out.
Put breast-side up in a large
pot. Add enough water to cover chicken.
Bring pot to boil.
Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
Turn off flame. Skim off any scum on water. Let chicken steep
for 90 minutes.
Add ginseng,
wine, salt and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for
30 minutes.
Serve directly in cooking pot so diners can help
themselves: meat can easily be prised away from carcass with
chopsticks, and soup ladled into individual bowls.
From Famine
to Feast
Over 70 million Chinese are classed by the health ministry as overweight,
while 20 percent of urban children are now considered overweight or obese.
For China's white collar families, lifestyle and diet changes over the
last two decades have been immense. more
