American Ginseng Chicken Herbal Soup (洋参须鸡汤)

Hmm...I don't know how to call this 洋参须 in English and the one I found on the net was translated by Noobcook as American Ginseng Beard/ Fiber 洋参须. You can visit her site here for picture and explanation. This is the cheapest type of American Ginseng and available in most Asian stores. Instead of the Ginseng root, this is like the hair under the root. American Ginseng is traditionally used to increase energy, relieve stress, enhance the immune system and provide overall health. Normally I boil it with water for 10-15 minutes on the stove and pour as drink to sooth sore throat or make it into chicken herbal soup to drink once a month. The taste of this herbal soup is not as delicious (a bit bitter) as Dong Quai so often time I prefer to cook Dong Quai herbal soup so that my girls can enjoy some herbal soup.


Ingredients:

• 2 Chicken drumsticks
• About 1-1.5 Tbsp. American Ginseng Beard, 洋参须 (too much of this will cause the soup to be bitter)
• 10 pieces of dried Polygonatum (Yok Chook)
• 10 Chinese dried red dates
• 1 Tbsp. wolfberrie/Goji berries (kee chi)
• 6 dried longans
• 1000ml water
• 1 tsp. salt

(For pictures of the above herbs, visit my link here)

Method:

1. In a stock pot, add in the water and let it boiled. Rinse all the herbs with water, drained.

2. When boiled, add in the chicken drumsticks and the rest of the ingredients except salt.

3. When boiled again, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 3-4 hours. Season to taste with salt and serve hot.