Double-Boiled Apple Soup

Here is a quick and short recipe for a soup that will take some time to cook. It is packed with nutrition, tastes wonderful and requires minimal prep time. It is almost unbelievable how the ratio of ‘effort put in : benefits received’ is so uneven, but who cares? Just enjoy this fragrant and healthy double-boiled apple soup!

I’ve mentioned before that my mum is Cantonese, so growing up I am used to having a pot of Cantonese-style soup boiling away on the stove releasing its wonderful fragrance throughout the house at least once a week. I love the smell of a soup brewing away for that 2 hours – it is a sign that dinner is near, and that it is going to be a delicious one.

It was only when I was in my teens that I started getting curious about how certain dishes were prepared, I would stand and chat with my mum in the kitchen while carefully observing how she prepares dinner (she would shoo me out very often, citing the reason that I was disrupting her concentration). I remember the time I saw her popping apple slices into boiling water to make soup and I was like “whaaaaaat?!?! Apples in soup?” It seemed unbelievable, and the bowl of soup I had for dinner that night was unbelievable too – unbelievably good.

This Double-boiled Apple soup is a personal favourite. The sweetness of the apple mingles with the sweetness emanated from the dried longans and all that mixes with the stock that is derived from the chicken (whether you choose to use thighs, breast meat or bones). Apricot kernels (南北杏) are used here too, and are generally very commonly used in Chinese medicine to easy coughs or other respiratory ailments and to ease constipation. Apricot kernels are easily available in Chinese medicine stores and are used in many Chinese recipes (eg steamed herbal chicken). Another essential ingredient in the double-boiled apple soup is dried longans, also commonly utilized in Chinese medicine. The health benefits of the longan fruit are soooooo vast that I choose not to describe them here, instead, do proceed to read about them here at Home Remedies For You. All I can say is that Longans, whether taken in the dried form or when fresh, taste delish! I don’t have one of those equipment used especially for double-boiling, and so I had to make do with getting the largest pot I had in my cupboard and placing a medium sized pot that would fit into that to make this soup. Toss in the ever-popular soup ingredient, red dates, and the beautiful red wolfberries (aka Goji berries), and you have an authentic double-boiled soup. You really should get that water boiling now! You will need~ – 2 Chicken Thighs/2 Breast meat/Chicken bones – 1 medium Apple (cut into slices) – 1/2 cup of Apricot Kernels – 6-7 Red Dates – 1/4 cup Dried Longans – 1/4 Wolfberries/Goji Berries If you are using a double-boiler, fill it up with 1.5 litres of water and set to boil. If you are using a makeshift double boiler by placing a smaller pot inside a larger one, fill the larger pot up with water 2-inches off of the height of the smaller pot, and fill the smaller pot to half of its volume or maximum of 1.5 litres of water. Don’t worry if you have less than 1.5 litres of water in your smaller pot, you can continue adding more as it boils. When the water is boiling, with the exception of the wolfberries, add all the ingredients into the pot and turn the heat down to allow it to simmer. Leave it to simmer for the next 1-1/2 hours, at which point add the wolfberries, then leave to simmer for another 15 minutes to 30 minutes. Before serving, remember to taste the soup to see if it is sweet and tasty enough. If it is too dilute, leave it to simmer for a longer time. Check on the soup during the time that it is cooking, if the water dries out to less that the original amount, add more water in. Enjoy!

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