Steamed chicken with day lily & fresh lily bulb
Tender steamed chicken with golden day lily, fresh lily bulb and red dates — fragrant, colourful and calming.
- 38 min
- Serves 3
- Steam
- Easy
Why it suits you: Qi Stagnation brings low moods and a tight chest, and the shortening days of Autumn Equinox can stir autumn melancholy. Day lily, known as the 'forget-your-worries herb', eases constraint, while fresh lily bulb and red dates calm the mind — a light steamed dish that lifts the spirits.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 18 min- 1Soak the day lily for 15 minutes, snip off the hard ends and tie each one in a knot. Separate the lily bulb into petals and rinse.
- 2Pat the chicken dry, mix with the soy sauce, ginger and cornflour, then the oil, and marinate for 15 minutes. Mix in the day lily and red dates.
- 3Spread on a deep plate and steam over boiling water on high heat for 12 minutes, then add the lily petals and steam 3–5 minutes more, until no pink juices run near the bone.
- 4Scatter over the spring onion. While the chicken steams, blanch the spinach for 1 minute and serve with rice.
Cautions
- Only use dried day lily — fresh day lily flowers are toxic if cooked as they are.
Chef's tips
- Fresh lily petals fall apart easily; add them only for the last few minutes so they stay crisp and sweet.
The TCM view
Day lily is sweet and cool and opens the chest and relieves constraint; fresh lily bulb is sweet and slightly cold and moistens the lungs and calms the heart; red dates are sweet and warm and nourish blood; chicken is sweet and warm; ginger and spring onion are pungent and warm and get qi moving. Warm and cool in balance, it frees stuck qi and eases autumn dryness.
