Sweet Chinese Soup with Lily Bulb Flakes

Ingredients for Chinese sweet soups can be found on one big shelf in Beijing supermarkets (big or small) and most Chinese kitchens stock them because they keep well and most people (like me) can't use 'em all in a single recipe.

It occurs to me that to non-Chinese (or Asians), these items might as well be ingredients to some magic potion in a Harry Potter book (Eye of Newt, Tail of Dog... Goji Berries =_=''')

In a sense, Chinese soups are kind of like magic potions, used for warding off or counter attacking health problems: preventing fatigue, stopping colds, soothing nerves, promoting beauty and weight loss etc.

The whole knowledge of the characteristics of food, knowing what's hot or cold, warm or cool seems to be one of those things you grow up knowing as a Chinese person -I suppose it starts with grandmothers, mothers, aunts plopping some food in front of kids and explaining its goodness all the time, then kids going on to mention the properties of certain foods to whomever listens when they see that same food because that's just the thing to do.And eventually it becomes a cultural thing for you to discuss food properties at the dinner table. Go figure.

Anyway, this particular soup reduces heatiness (the suspected culprit of my cough) and reduces phlegm (which would be fantastic). It is supposedly good for your skin as well because it improves blood circulation and moisturizes your complexion (this is a nice bonus though normally I probably wouldn't sit around boiling a soup just for skin care).

Sweet Snow Fungus Soup
6 pieces snow fungus
1 fresh lily bulb, washed and flaked
10 dried lotus seeds
15 dried Chinese dates
20 goji berries
8 gingko nuts
2 tablespoons rock sugar (depending on your taste)
5 cups water (roughly)

1. Soak snow fungus and dried lotus seeds in warm water for 30 minutes to an hour.
2.Cut off and discard the hard stem parts of the snow fungus. Slice into small pieces.
3. Remove green stems from lotus seeds. (those are really bitter to bite on)
4. Place snow fungus, lily flakes*, dates, lotus seeds, goji berries and gingko nuts in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 2 hours (until all the ingredients have become really soft). Stir in more water as needed.
5. Add in the rock sugar before you're about to turn off the heat. You can increase or decrease the sugar according to your taste.
6. Serve either warm or chilled.

*My lily flakes totally dissolved when I was done with the soup-come to think about it, I don't really remember really tasting them. I would probably choose to add the lily in with the rock sugar (towards the end) if I made this again





Not the prettiest dish, I have to admit, but undoubtedly good for you-as you will hear from most Chinese mothers