Double-boiled chicken soup with fish maw (花膠燉雞湯)
A treasured confinement soup: fish maw and chicken double-boiled for hours in a sealed pot, giving a clear, rich and silky broth.
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 3 hr
- Serves
- 2
Method
- 1
Soak the fish maw in cold water in the fridge overnight, until soft — thick pieces can take up to a day. Change the water once or twice.
- 2
Blanch the fish maw with 2 slices of ginger for 5 minutes to remove the fishy smell. Rinse it and cut it into pieces.
- 3
Blanch the chicken and pork for 3 minutes, then drain and rinse.
- 4
Fill the pot. Put the chicken, pork, fish maw, red dates and the rest of the ginger in a lidded ceramic double-boiling pot (燉盅). Pour in boiling water to just cover, and put the lid on.
- 5
Double-boil. Stand the pot in a large saucepan and pour in boiling water to come halfway up its sides. Cover the saucepan and keep the water at a gentle simmer for 3 hours, topping it up as it evaporates.
- 6
Finish. Add the goji berries for the last 15 minutes — lift the lid carefully, the steam is very hot. Season with a little salt and serve.
About this dish
燉 — double-boiling — cooks a soup gently in a sealed pot that sits in simmering water, so the broth stays clear and concentrated and nothing boils away. Fish maw (花膠), the dried swim bladder of large fish, softens into a silky, gelatinous texture.
Tips
- Buying fish maw: UK Chinese dried-goods shops and online grocers sell it at a wide range of prices. Thinner, cheaper pieces soften faster and are fine for soup.
- No double-boiling pot? Use a heatproof bowl covered with a heatproof plate, standing on a rack or trivet in a covered saucepan of simmering water. Keep the water topped up, and lift the bowl out with oven gloves.
- Leftovers: get them into the fridge within 1 to 2 hours, eat within 48 hours, and reheat once, until steaming hot.
About these recipes
- These are traditional home recipes, shared for cultural interest. They are not medical or nutritional advice, and we don’t claim any dish treats, prevents or cures anything.
- If you have allergies, gestational diabetes or a special diet, or take any medicines or herbal remedies, check with your midwife, health visitor, GP or pharmacist before changing what you eat.
- Follow UK food-safety advice: cook meat, fish and eggs thoroughly; cool leftovers and get them into the fridge within 1 to 2 hours; eat them within 2 days; and reheat only once, until steaming hot.
- Some recipes contain alcohol, and cooking doesn’t remove all of it. If you’re breastfeeding, read our guide to ginger vinegar and chicken in rice wine first.
Experienced carers cook dishes like these every day of the confinement month, and adjust them to how you’re feeling.
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