Poria & lotus leaf steamed chicken rice
A one-pot rice-cooker lunch: lotus leaf perfumes the chicken and rice, light and low in oil. Cook it the night before for your lunchbox.
- 1 hr 5 min
- Serves 2
- Steam
- Easy
Why it suits you: Phlegm-Dampness brings a heavy body and head and lots of phlegm, and Rain Water's damp 'return of the south wind' piles damp on damp. Poria and lotus leaf drain damp and wake up digestion; with lean chicken and sweetcorn in a modest portion, it is light and won't leave you foggy.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 45 min- 1Rinse the poria and soak for 30 minutes. Soften the lotus leaf in hot water, rinse and trim it to fit the rice cooker. Soak and slice the shiitake.
- 2Slice the chicken and mix with the ginger, soy sauce and cornflour; leave for 15 minutes. Dice the carrot.
- 3Rinse the rice and put it in the rice cooker with the poria, sweetcorn and carrot. Add water to the usual level.
- 4Lay the lotus leaf over the rice, add the chicken and shiitake and fold the leaf over. Cook on the normal rice setting, then leave covered for 10 minutes.
- 5Open the leaf and stir the chicken and mushrooms through the rice.
Chef's tips
- Cook it the night before, cool and refrigerate within an hour. Pack it with the lotus leaf and microwave until piping hot — the fragrance gets even stronger.
- Dried lotus leaves and diced poria are sold at dried-seafood and herbal shops; one pack lasts a long time.
The TCM view
Poria is sweet, bland and neutral, draining damp and strengthening the spleen; lotus leaf is bitter and neutral, resolving damp and lifting clear yang; chicken breast is sweet, warm and low in fat; sweetcorn is sweet and neutral and promotes urination; shiitake is sweet and neutral and builds qi. Light and clean — it clears damp without weakening you.
