Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Chicken Soup with Lotus Root and Red Dates
You may be familiar with the lotus flower. For the Chinese people, this pink, aquatic flower symbolizes beauty, purity and elegance. But do you know that most parts of the lotus plant are edible? The seeds can be eaten raw. The flowers (or at least the stamens) can be infused into herbal tea. The young leaves and petals can be eaten. While the mature leaves can be used to wrap food before cooking. The edible rhizomes -- the grey-brown roots can be cooked in a variety of ways.
This is how a portion of the rhizome looks like. Maybe you have already seen this in various Asian groceries. One lotus plant can have several of these "roots." It looks like a swollen elongated sweet potato. It has a crunchy texture and subtle flavor. So, we can cook it in many different ways. The young ones, naturally more tender, can be made into salads. Otherwise, they can be stir-fried, stuffed, deep fried or simmered in soup.
Chinese people have long known that Lotus roots are a very healthy food and have been using them in this way for many centuries. Recent studies confirm this - Lotus roots were found to be rich in dietary fiber, vitamin C, potassium, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, phosphorus, copper, and manganese, while very low in saturated fat. Lotus roots are believed to have "cooling" effect. This should be served often during hot summer months.
Wash the root thoroughly. Remove the thin skin by scraping or simply use a vegetable peeler. See the picture above? That is how it would look like when you cut it, cross-section, after peeling. Slice the root thinly, around 1/8 inch thick per slice. See the picture below? Don't you just love the beautiful lacy pattern? Since the root discolors easily when cut, drop it into water immediately after slicing. You may add a little lemon juice or vinegar to the water, as well.
In a pot of boiling water, add in the ff:
1 kilo chicken, chopped to serving pieces
1 lotus root, prepared and sliced
5 pcs dried red dates
a handful of Chinese Wolfberry or Gou Qi Zi
Let boil and simmer for an hour. Alternately, drop everything in the slow cooker before leaving for work, and when you come home, a nutritious soup is ready waiting for you. :)
Season with salt and pepper before serving.
Sharing this soup and the featured Lotus Root with the Weekend Herb Blogging community, headed by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. This weekly event features herb and unique plant ingredients and the dishes we make using these ingredients. This week's host is Valentina from Trembom. To see last week's wonderfully delicious round-up, please check out Haalo of Cook Almost Anything At Least Once.