Yen Can Cook: English Gourd Chicken Soup

Anyone miss my boiled soup? It’s been awhile since my last recipe post of boiled soup because recently I only prepared the same boring soup such as ABC soup (the easiest and laziest, LOL), old cucumber soup, white radish soup & etc. Just the other day when I did my grocery shopping, I saw this English Gourd aka Chayote. Also known as Buddha Palm Gourd (佛手瓜) as the fruit itself looks like clasped palm, it is rich in amino acids and vitamin C.

Ingredients (Serve: 3-4)

1 English gourd

1 carrot

3 chicken drumsticks

20g apricot kernels (南北杏)

Can get from Chinese medicine shop and there are south apricot kernels (南杏) & north apricot kernels (北杏). South apricot kernels (南杏) are sweet in taste while the north apricot kernels (北杏) are for medical use only and bitter in taste. Also a reminder that north apricot kernel (北杏) is slightly poisoning, so please consume under doctor advise.

10g barley

Handful of red dates (de-seeded) & wolfberries (goji)

2500ml water

Salt to taste

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Step 1: Peel the skin of English Gourd and carrot, clean and cut into small chunks.

Step 2: Clean the chicken drumsticks, remove skin then scald in boiling water to remove blood and impurities.

Step 3: Put all the ingredients into a pot and add in water until enough to immerse all the ingredients. Bring to boil and lower the heat and let the soup simmer for 2-3 hours.

Step 4: Add salt to taste & serve.

Happy Cooking!