Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Barley and Pear Chicken Soup

 
I got this recipe inspiration from  Nasi Lemak Lover.  This soup is new to me as I haven't cooked any soup with fruit before.  I know people used papaya, apple, watermelon skin and pear to boil soup but I never tried making it myself.  I used pear because I had one that had been sitting in my refrigerator for a long time and had turned soft.  What better way than to throw it in soup eh?  This soup turned out to be very sweet and really nice to drink.  Strangely Evy didn't like it but the rest of us drank it clean.


Two days later, I tried it with apple (added Goji berries) and it was equally sweet and delicious.  This soup became Edda favorite as she was the one requested for it.  But Evy won't touch hers at all, I wonder why as this soup was really sweet.
  






Ingredients:

  • 1 pear, peeled and cut
  • 1/4 cup Chinese barley, or barley
  • 2 honey dates
  • 10 red dates
  • 1 chicken breast bone or 2 drumsticks or 1 chopped chicken thigh
  • 1000ml water
  • salt to taste

Method:
1.  In a saucepan, add in water and chicken.  Bring it to boil.  When boiling, dish out any impurity that you can see.  

2.  Then, add barley, honey dates, red dates and pear.  Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for an hour or so.

3.  Lastly season to taste with a little salt.  This soup is very sweet.

16 comments:

Noob Cook said...

What a yummy and wholesome soup for the family. Maybe Evy isn't used to seeing fruits in soups :p

kirbie said...

I love these soups. Did you use regular pears like Bartlett ones? I don't think I've ever used regular pears, only the Asian pears which are supposed to have medicinal purposes too.

Ling's Passion said...

Interesting soup. I too have never tried making soup with fruits.

tigerfish said...

I have cooked with pear, apple, papaya in soups but not watermelon skins. Best to use those Shui Li variety :) ....naturally sweet and refreshing...I like!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

ya, some people don't like soup taste sweet. my daughter alos dont really like this sweet soup, hehehe..

Wills and Estates Lawyers said...

Wow this is very famous chinese soup...
Very good for health///
Love it

ICook4Fun said...

I never make savory soup with barley and fruits yet. I should give this a try soon.

Baking Fiend said...

I do not like my soup sweet too... for me, it feels too much like a dessert (cheng teng) if it's sweet. :P

Food For Tots said...

I had tried making pear tong sui before. It goes well with osmanthus and white fungus. Got to try out your special chicken soup one day.

Big Boys Oven said...

wow I defitely with cook up this soup for my mum! thanks!:)

Anh said...

is this nasi pear you are using? The flavours must be really nice. But I do know some people cannnot stand fruits in their savory dishes {my husband for e.g.}

Charmaine said...

My girls love any soup that has apples or pears in them because it is sweet. I have never tried with papayas though.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Noobcook, I think so, now whenever she heard fruit in soup, she would say NO!

Kirbie, oh I didn't know, I didn't use Asian pear but not Bartlett nor Boston also, is the red color pear, forgot what it is called.

Ling, yeah it's interesting and the combination of barley and fruit make the chicken soup sweet.

Tigerfish, summer is coming, we should save the watermelon skin to boil soup huh? ;)

Sonia, not sure why hor, Evy really stay away from it whereas we loved it.

Thanks Wills.

Gert, worth a try! :)

Hehe baking fiend.

F4T, I have yet to try fruit tong sui.

You're welcome BBOven. Hope your mom gets well soon.

Anh, not sure what is nasi pear. I just used the red color pear.

Charmine, papaya soup is for beauty, supposed to help with your skin. Pork ribs, papaya chunk (half ripe) and cut sweet corns, boil this and very yummy and sweet.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Tigerfish, need to clarify a bit, not really the watermelon skin, but the white uneaten part of the watermelon above the skin. :P

Babe_KL said...

I made something similar with apple and it's really good.

Blessed Homemaker said...

My youngest DD doesn't like sweet soup initially but after a few tries, she got used to the taste and is loving it now. You may want to try offering her again, I guess it's just acquired taste.