Black Chicken Ginseng Soup

Summer weddings often lead a year later to… summer babies! I’ve made this recipe for five friends, all of whom had recently given birth. To help restore balance in the form of “heat” to these new moms, black chicken (chicken with black skin) is traditionally cooked for them. I’ve adapted the Black Chicken Ginseng Soup from Betty Saw’s original recipe. It is a good soup for people who need to be “toned” and have their qi replaced, i.e. people who are recovering from a long illness, new mothers or people who are weak and ill. People who have hot qi should avoid overindulging, as the black chicken is very warming.

• Ready In: 3 hrs 50 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  black roasting chicken, whole, skinned and cut into big chunks
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 50  g  ginseng roots, cut up (or 1 3/4 oz)
• 1⁄8 cup  dried  Chinese wolfberries (Or Tibetan Gouji Berry, or Lycium chinense, it's all the same)
• 15  seeded dried chinese dates (Hongzao)
• 8  cups water

Directions

1. Rub chicken chunks with salt and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Put all ingredients into an earthenware pot (or crock-pot) and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and let simmer, covered, for 3 1/2 hours.