YuZhu Recipes

White Fungus with Yuzhu soup 



Ingredient A:
20g white fungus 银耳(washed, soaked and torn into small pieces)
20g yu zhu 玉竹 (washed)
20g lily bulb 百合(washed)
10g red dates (removed seeds) / 15g candied dates (I used 2 big candied dates)
100g carrots (washed, cut into chunks)
2 medium-sized sweetcorns (washed, cut into chunks)
Ingredient B:
250g lean pork (washed, cut into chunks, blanched over hot water)
Pinch of salt
Methods:
1) Put ingredient A into a cooking pot, add in adequate water, soak for 1 hour.
2) Bring water to boil, add in lean pork for a while, reduce heat to low fire, simmer for 2 hours, season with salt.




Yu Zhu Tang - Soup for a Beautiful Complexion

Women all over the world want to have beautiful skin. Throughout history, soft, smooth, moist skin has been a valued attribute. Jars containing unguents, oils and cosmetics have been unearthed in archeological sites from Egypt to China; and today's TV and magazine advertising indicates that beautiful skin is still a top concern. For the most part, skin is treated topically, applying moisturizers and cosmetics to the skin surface. But a thousand years ago in China, noblemen and women in the emperor's court took a special herb called Yu Zhu, which they believed would promote ageless beauty. Yu Zhu is consumed internally, as an ingredient in soup, rather than applied externally to the skin. Try a pot of Yu Zhu soup, and become beautiful from the inside out!

Ingredients
50 - 100 grams Yu Zhu (solomon's seal rhizome, polygonatus odoratus)
One whole Chicken
20 grams Ginger root
One piece Cao Guo (tsaoko fruit, cardamom species)
Two pieces Ba Jiao Hui Xiang (star anise)
50 grams (or less) Salt

Preparation
1. Soak Solomon's seal rhizome overnight in 1 quart (1000ml) of water.
2. Cut the chicken into pieces, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 - 5 minutes, until scum begins to float on the surface. Drain. Wash chicken pieces in cold water and then place in a cooking vessel with 2 quarts (2000ml) of fresh water.
3. Add Solomon's seal rhizome and soaking liquid to chicken, along with ginger, tsaoko fruit, star anise and salt.
4. Bring ingredients to a boil and simmer for two hours. Serves 6 - 8 people.

TCM Functions

Yu Zhu enters the lung meridian and the lung "opens into" the skin. When the lung is healthy, the skin is also healthy. We can see this in tuberculosis patients and people suffering from a chronic cough; their skin is often dry and rough. Yu Zhu Tang functions to moisten lung yin and tonify lung qi. Modern research has also found that Yu Zhu has a beneficial effect on the immune system and promotes the growth of skin cells.



Recipe for Double boiled Black chicken soup

Ingredients
  • 650 gm or 1  black chicken with skin
  • 5 gm  'Pau Sum'/American ginseng
  • 40 gm yuzhu/polygonatum, rinsed
  • 20 gm wolfberries, rinsed
  • 5 cups hot water
  • Salt to taste
Preparation
  1. Wash the chicken, clean the inside, set aside.
  2. Prepare a double boiler with water, put the chicken inside the boiler pot, add in the ginseng slices, yuzhu/polygonatum, hot water and salt.
  3. Let the soup brew for 3  hours under medium low heat.
  4. Rinse the wolfberries and add into the soup before the last 15 mins. of brewing time.
  5. Skim off any fat from the soup surface, test for taste.
  6. Ladle onto soup bowls.
  7. Serve immediately.



Roast Herbal Emperor Chicken


Ingredients

  • 1 Chicken, cleaned
  • 500ml Water
  • Salt to taste
Assorted Herbs in approximate weight:
  • 24g Huai Shan 淮山 (Radix Dioscoreae Oppositae)
  • 18g Dang Shen 党参 (Codonopsis Pilosulae)
  • 16g Yu Zhu 玉竹 (Solomon's Seal Rhizome)
  • 22g Long Yan Gan 龙眼干 (Dried Longan)
  • 10g Gou Qi Zi 枸杞子 (Wolfberries)
  • 6 Hong Zao 红枣 (Red Dates)
  • 3g Chuan Gong 川芎 (Szechwan Lovage Rhizome)
  • 5g Tang Gui 当归 (Angelica Sinensis)
  • 15g Bei Qi 北芪 (Astragalus Membranaceus)
  1. Place herbs in a oven-proof casserole and add water.
  2. Place chicken, breast side down, on top
  3. Place casserole on a stove and bring to a boil over medium-high fire.
  4. Remove from stove, cover with lid for 5 to 10 minutes so the herbs can softened.
  5. Carefully remove the chicken and stuff some herbs in the cavity.
  6. Return the chicken to the casserole and cover the lid.
  7. Roast in the oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours at180C
  8. Check for doneness; juices would run clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a metal skewer.
  9. Remove the lid, season with salt.
  10. Baste the chicken with the soup sauce and continue to cook for another 10 to 15 minutes to brown the skin.
  11. Carve chicken or serve as whole.

Alternative Steaming Method:
  1. Steam all herbs with water for 5 minutes.
  2. Place chicken on a aluminum foil.
  3. Stuff some herbs in chicken and scatter the rest around the chicken.
  4. Pour the water used together with the herbs for steaming inside.
  5. Wrap and seal the foil.
  6. Place on a dish and steam for at least 2 hours.
  7. Add salt to taste and serve.

Note:
  • Remember to keep checking the water level if you are using the steaming method.
  • Keep a kettle of hot water ready; to add in if the water level is low.
  • DO NOT add cold water.
Another Great Emperor's Chicken Recipe made with Yuzhu. Click on Here.