Steamed chicken with cordyceps flowers
Chicken marinated in ginger juice and soy, topped with soaked cordyceps flowers and red dates and steamed for eighteen minutes — tender, sweet and easy to eat when tired.
- 48 min
- Serves 3
- Steam
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi-deficient people tire easily, and Major Heat's heavy sweating drains qi further — TCM calls sweat 'the fluid of the heart' — leaving you limp. Cordyceps flowers support the lungs and kidneys, chicken warms the middle and boosts qi, and red dates and goji nourish blood. Steaming rather than slow-simmering spares you a hot kitchen, and the result is sweet and gentle, not heating.
Method
Prep 30 min · Cook 18 min- 1Rinse the cordyceps flowers, soak for 10 minutes until soft and squeeze dry. Stone and slice the red dates.
- 2Pat the chicken dry, toss with the ginger juice, soy sauce, cornflour and oil, and marinate for 20 minutes.
- 3Spread the chicken in a shallow dish and top with the cordyceps flowers, red dates, goji berries and shredded ginger.
- 4Steam over a high heat for 18 minutes once the water boils. It's done when a chopstick pushed into the thickest part of the thigh brings out clear juices. Scatter over the spring onion.
Cautions
- Pause it during colds, fevers or when damp-heat is heavy with a thick yellow tongue coating; remove the skin to cut the fat.
Chef's tips
- Small free-range chicken or thigh pieces steam up silkiest; pour the cordyceps soaking water over the chicken before steaming for extra sweetness.
The TCM view
Cordyceps flowers (Cordyceps militaris) are sweet and neutral, tonifying the lungs and kidneys and boosting essence — gentle, and far cheaper than wild cordyceps. Chicken is sweet and warm, warming the middle and boosting qi; red dates are sweet and warm, supporting the middle and calming the mind; goji is sweet and neutral, nourishing the liver and kidneys. Steamed with little oil, it tonifies qi without drying — ideal in summer.
