Duck soup with glehnia, Solomon's seal and water chestnuts
Duck simmered for two and a half hours with glehnia, Solomon's seal and water chestnuts — a clear, sweet, moistening soup, with the duck dipped in soy sauce alongside rice.
- 2 hr 50 min
- Serves 4
- Slow-simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yin Deficiency brings a dry mouth, hot palms and soles and restless nights. Start of Winter is cooler, but Hong Kong's air stays dry, so heating tonics like lamb hotpot don't suit. Duck nourishes yin and the stomach, while glehnia and Solomon's seal moisten the lungs — a gentle, cooling tonic soup.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 150 min- 1Chop the duck and pull off most of the skin and fat. Put it in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil, blanch for 5 minutes and rinse.
- 2Rinse the glehnia and Solomon's seal and soak for 10 minutes. Soak the tangerine peel and scrape off the pith. Peel the water chestnuts and crush them lightly with the back of a knife.
- 3Bring the water to the boil, add everything and boil for 15 minutes, then simmer for 2 hours. Skim off the fat and season with salt.
- 4Serve the soup first, then lift out the duck and eat it dipped in soy sauce with steamed rice.
Cautions
- This soup is cooling — skip it if you have a weak, cold stomach or loose stools, or a cold with white phlegm.
Chef's tips
- Removing most of the duck skin and fat keeps the soup from being greasy. Northern glehnia is sold at Chinese herbal shops.
The TCM view
Duck is sweet, salty and slightly cold, nourishing yin and the stomach and easing fluid retention. Glehnia is sweet, slightly bitter and slightly cold, nourishing yin and clearing the lungs. Solomon's seal is sweet and slightly cold, moistening dryness and generating fluids. Water chestnut is sweet and cold and clears heat. Tangerine peel and ginger are pungent and warm, removing gaminess and tempering the coolness. Cool, sweet and moistening, it nourishes without heaviness.
