Papaya Soup with American Ginseng & Black Chicken Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Traditional low fat and healthy herbal soup recipe which offers excellent medicinal virtues, is brothed with papaya, black chicken and american ginseng, also a great confinement recipe for breatfeeding mums.

I like to broth traditional Chinese-styled soups especially whenever I feel the body is in need of some replenishment in one area or another.

Papaya Soup with American ginseng and black chicken is said to nourish kidneys, replenish blood, enhance digestion system and strengthen bones and tendons. This traditional low fat and healthy herbal soup is also a great confinement recipe for breastfeeding mums. The selected papaya should not be too ripe (1/3 ripen, with the criteria of papaya's skin slightly greenish-yellow in color).

As for black chicken, beyond being evil-smelling or bitter-tasting, the soup however, is tinged with sweetness from sweet dates and papaya. Black chicken enriched in protein, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A, B1, B2, C, E, and it helps to replenish blood and Qi (boosting), liver and kidneys, expel body heat and regulate menstrual ailments. Traditional Chinese medicine has held that chicken soup made with black chicken meat is a curative food where it is usually used to make broth and braising.

Concocted from American ginseng, sweet almonds and sweet dates, the soup incorporates all the herbal essence in promoting general health. American ginseng is root of a plant similar to Korean ginseng, but it has the Yin properties which helps to clean excessive Yang in the body, whereas sweet almonds (sweet apricot kernels) target the lungs and sweet dates target the stomach and spleen.

After imbibing a bowl of this soup, overall balancing out the yin and yang within seems to be compromised.

(Philosophy of Yin and Yang in the sphere of food : Yang foods are believed to increase the body's heat (raise the metabolism), while Yin foods are believed to decrease the body's heat (lower the metabolism). The ideal belief is to consume both types of food to keep the body in balance).

A healthy chinese tonic soup recipe laid out as below.

Ingredients : 材料

1 whole black chicken (rinsed, chopped)

1 papaya (peeled, diced)

40g sweet almonds (南杏)

20g American ginseng(sliced)(花旗參)

2 sweet dates (蜜枣)

5 bowls water

Seasoning : 调味料

Salt adequate

Method : 做法

1. Scald the black chicken into boiling water. Drain up for use.

将黑鸡沸过水，捞起沥干备用。

2. Bring the water to boil into a boiling pot. Put in all ingredients and bring to boil. Simmer for 2 hours with mild flame.

煲滚清水，倒入全部材料煮沸，再以中火熬约两小时。

3. Season with salt. Stir well and ready to serve.

下盐调味搅匀后即可上桌。

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Hot & Spicy Belacan Prawns Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Sautéed in pounded spices of chillies,belacan,curry leaves,dried prawns and shallot, then concealed and cooked together with prawns in aluminium foil, this features a traditional Malaysian cuisine, the very best of authentic Malaysia recipe!

This is a tempting spicy dish which is fragrant and bursting with flavour! With local flavour thrown in with the presence of belacan, we enjoyed the lip smacking lunch at home.

Belacan, is a Malay-Indonesian sauce made with dried shrimp paste, is a dense mixture of fermented ground prawns. It is commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine. It is pungent in smell and the strong fishy flavour will dissipates during cooking, which in turn will help you to clear the congested nasal passage. :)

You can indulge in spicy belacan prawn if you're hankering for some traditional true-blue Malaysian cuisine. This dish totally captures the essence of Malaysian cooking and is one of the authentic cuisine derived from the rich multicultural culinary heritage of Malaysia.

Prawns are seasoned with traditional Malaysian ingredient - chillies, belacan and curry leaves to give a wonderful fragrant aroma. The curry leaves lend a distinct flavor and complement the richness of belacan, and the chilli padi (bird's eye chillies) add an extra kick to the dish. The wonderful aromas wafting over to us when we opened up the aluminium parcel with the rumbling stomachs. It's such a wonderful dish to whet our appetite!

If you running out of aluminium foil, alternatively, you can deep-fry the prawn briskly in hot oil until golden brown. Dish and drain, put aside. Then sauté the pounded spices with the previous fried prawn added in again and stir well to coat.

这道Belacan虾很道地哦！

前阵子从大众书局买了“大牌档食谱”，老公也顺道掀了一下，对这道菜垂涎欲滴。 当然，为了满足他的味蕊，就依样画葫芦地尝试一下，果然正入他的口味。

其实步骤很简单，只要准备材料，香料与调味料混在一起，用锡箔纸包札起来，用水加盖煮滚15分钟，便可上桌。

用锡箔子焗虾可保住原汁原味，又能热辣辣上桌，而且方便简易，一箭三雕喔！

注：另一种煮法是将大虾炸熟捞起，加入虾炒匀便可上碟。香辣Belacan虾，在掀开锡箔纸的刹那，香料的香味扑鼻。

用大虾当然比较好味，可我在买不到大虾时，只好退求其次，改用中虾咯！

香辣马来栈虾食谱

Ingredients：材料
1 tbsp oil 1 大匙油
500g big prawns (about 8 - 15 prawns)500g大明虾，约8-15只

Spices (Pounded or Blended) : 香料（打烂或以搅拌机搅烂）
3 tbsp dried prawns 3 大匙虾米
6 shallot, with skin peeled off 6粒葱头子，去皮
6 chilli padi (bird's eye chilli) 6条指天椒
6 red chillies 6条红辣椒
1/2 tbsp belacan 1/2 大匙马来栈
1 tbsp curry leaves 1大匙加哩叶

Seasoning : 调味料
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce 1/2大匙生抽
1 tsp sugar 1小匙糖
500ml water 500ml水
1 sheet of Aluminium foil 1张锡箔纸
100ml water 100ml水

Method : 做法

1. Pound the dried prawns (presoaked in warm water for half an hour and drained), shallot, bird's eye chillies, red chillies, belacan and curry leaves with a mortar and pestle until fine. Alternatively, all the spices can be blended using blender or food processor with some oil added in.
将全部香料混合，以臼与杵打烂或以搅拌机搅烂（加少许油）。

2. Heat up oil. Sauté the pounded/blended spices mixture, stir-fry briskly over high heat, then turn to mediun low heat until fragrant. When the colour of the spices mixture changed from chilli red to dark brownish-red, add in seasoning and stir well.
烧热油，爆香香料，加入调味料炒匀。

3. Place all the prawns in Aluminium foil, pour in the previous sautéed sauce (in Method 2) and wrap up neatly.
虾铺在锡箔纸上，淋上（2）汁料，包好。

4. Bring 100ml water to boil in a clean wok. Place the above prawn parcel in the wok, close lid and simmer for 15 minutes (or until water is dry and Aluminium parcel puffs up). Ready to serve.
准备一个干净的瓁，倒入100ml水煮滚，放入包札好的锡箔纸，加盖煮15分钟至水烧干及锡箔纸鼓起，便可取出享用。

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