Chinese Herbal Chicken Soup

This is one soup hubby & I loved …sometimes I would add noodles but most times, we will just have it as it is as we did last night, with a plate of Stir-Fried Oyster Sauce Iceberg Lettuce

This is the combination of assortment of Chinese Herbs I had used for my Chicken Soup …. you can get various pre-packed combination of such herbs meant for Chicken or Pork Ribs soups from the Chinese Medical Hall and the label normally will tell you what medicinal value it may have … just simply give the herbs a quick rinse before use …

Normally such herbal soup is best “double-boiled” but I don’t have a big enough “double-boiler” pot so I cooked it in my Crockpot/Slow Cooker …some people prefer to use skinless chicken as it is healthier since herbal soup is supposed to be a health soup but I left the skin on the legs but stripped the skin off the breasts … I like my soup with a little oil in it still …tastier

RECIPE

Ingredients:

a pre-packed packet of Chinese Herbs 

1 whole chicken, chopped into 8 pieces or you may use 4 whole chicken legs

1.5 – 2 ltr water (use less water if you wish a more concentrated soup broth)

salt, to taste

Methods:

• Rinse the Chinese Herbs, set aside
• Clean and chop the chicken into 8 pieces if using whole chicken or if using whole legs just leave it as it is, skin the pieces if you wish to have a truly healthy soup
• Boil the chicken in water for 5 minutes and then lift the pieces of chicken into the Double-Boiler or  Crockpot/Slow Cooker
• Tip in the Chinese Herbs, add 1.5 – 2 litre hot water to the pot 
• If double-boiling, double boil for about 8 hours …keep watch that the boiling water in the double-boiler does not dry up
• If cooking in the Crockpot/Slow Cooker, set it on Auto and cook for 6 hours
• When done, add a dash of salt to taste …not too much as herbal soup shouldn’t be overly salty!
• Serve up with your other dishes for dinner with rice or you may, like us, enjoy the bowl of soup as your dinner, accompanied with a stir-fried green vegetable dish