Skip to main content

Dried Fig, Apple and Almond Soup

I got this link from a reader of this blog. And what a great link it was... it was linked to a soup recipe and of course a book by someone called Grace Young.

Grace's book is called "The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing". I hope to find this book at my local Borders Bookstore one of these days. It reads like one of those books I simply want in my TCM book collection!

Here's a recipe called Dried Fig, Apple and Almond Soup taken from Grace's book. There's more information about this soup/tonic from the Global Gourmet website, a link given by a reader, TC!

Dried Fig, Apple and Almond Soup
by Grace Young


According to Grace, this soup helps cure a persistent cough. I always think that it's better to take a tonic than to take cough medicine. A tonic tastes so much better too!

1/4 cup Chinese almonds (nom hung)
4 to 5 Chinese almonds (buck hung)
3 medium red Delicious apples, unpeeled
8 ounces pork loin, well trimmed
10 Chinese dried figs, rinsed

Rinse almonds in several changes of cold water. Soak almonds in 1/2 cup cold water overnight to soften almonds.

Core apples and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges.

In a 4-quart saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil over high heat. Add pork and return to a boil, skimming any scum that forms.

Add the apple wedges, dried figs, almonds and their soaking water. Return to a boil over high heat.

Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 3 hours. Serve piping hot (no more than 1-1/2 cups per person).

For more information, visit Grace Young's website at http://www.graceyoung.com




Comments

yellowfeline said…
hi,
I'm also a soup lover and chanced upon your blog and I must say that it's now in my Favourites folder :)
Do you know if this soup is suitable for babies around 9 months old? I'm thinking of using the soup to make her porridge, but am wondering if the bei and nan xing ren will be too toxic for babies?
Krista Goon said…
Hi Yellowpiglet
I don't think it's suitable to make porridge with bei xing and nan xing for your toddler.My dad makes a quick and easy porridge for my 16 month old niece - just boil carrots and ikan bilis in porridge. Then once the porridge is cooked, take out the ikan bilis and carrots and puree till fine. Add back into the porridge and mix well. My niece loves this porridge. Actually my dad made this for me when I was a toddler too. A very tasty porridge and full of vitamins and calcium too. Try it. And thanks for being such a sweet reader. You make my blogging worthwhile!
Anonymous said…
hi mayakirana,
Thanks for the baby soup tip! I've tried it... it does taste delicious!
Actually my main concern for baby is calcium, so the ikan bilis solved everything! :)

P/S. I was yellowpiglet previously ;)
Krista Goon said…
Hi yellowfeline/yellowpiglet,
Great! I loved the porridge when I was young and now my niece loves it too. And it's nutritious as well as affordable. ;-) Bon appetit to baby!
Anonymous said…
Hi Mayakirana,
Thanks for your wonderful soup, I would like to confirm that there are many types of Dried Fig, I do not know which type you are referring to for this soup, any chinese name for it. Thanks.
yangonman said…
are you sure of the ratio of sweet to bitter almonds? Many FB posts have the same ratio as yours.
Traditionally, the standard ratio is 2:1 for sweet: bitter almonds

Popular posts from this blog

Astralagus Tea (Huang Qi) For Liver, Kidneys and Immunity

I recently bought a small container of wild astralagus slices when I was back home in Banting to visit my dad. There's really nothing much to do in Banting except spend time with my dad or take him out for breakfast of bak kut teh or nasi lemak.  The nearest and most interesting place is Tanjung Sepat which is a seaside village that has become rather prosperous due to the influx of local tourists from other parts of Selangor or even other states.  Many come to Tanjung Sepat for its fresh seafood and fish and the seafood restaurants are a big attraction. There's also a scenic spot called the Lovers' Bridge which in the 1990s was a rickety, almost falling down wooden bridge jutting out to sea.  This is where the fishing sampan or fishing boats would moor and have their catch hauled up to the shore. I am not sure if this bridge was demolished but the bridge is no longer there. A little further down is now a man-made cement bridge that juts out to sea. Tourists can walk out to

24 Herb Tea - Bitter, Foul-Tasting But Oh So Good For You!

Was out running a couple of errands this entire afternoon and ended up buying groceries at the nearby supermarket. If I had a choice I wouldn't go into this decade-old supermarket because it's small, cramped and you tend to knock into other shoppers with your trolley (yes, the aisles are that narrow). Nic and I figured that we might as well buy our groceries since we were in this vicinity and he did need some coffee. Finally we ended up with a trolley full of cheese, butter, coffee and noodles. Anyway, I was getting thirsty after all the errands and shopping. We decided to stop and have a drink at this stall which sells Chinese herbal tea. This uncle who mans it is actually a Hong Kong native who has been living in Malaysia for a long time. He drives a little white van which he parks at the corner of a junction and opens up for business. You see, he sells hot and cold Chinese herbal teas of all types - the kind that is slowly boiled and brewed. It's common to see Mal

Have You Seen Curry Leaf Berries?

Ripe berries or fruits from my 9 foot curry leaf tree.  This is a photo of the ripe fruits from my 9 foot curry leaf tree or known scientifically as  Murraya koenigii   . Yes, most curry leaf plants are about human height.  Mine is a bit special because when it was still a young sapling, I used a lot of my own homemade compost . It had so much of nutrients that it started growing taller and taller.  Right now, it is shading the compost pots!  Which means I am cooler when I stand under this tree to do my daily composting. You see how wonderful it all works out to be?  Because these berries attract the Asian koel (black birds with fiery red eyes which make the annoying loud "ku-yo, ku-yo" sounds), the curry leaf seeds get propagated everywhere.  Yet some drop right under the tree and start growing. I have a curry leaf sapling attack haha. I keep pulling the saplings up as there's just too many.  Besides throwing them into my curries (my most