Double Boiled Soup

One of the most delicate and easiest to make soup is double-boiled soup. The principle is simple--slowly cook soup in a well sealed container inside a slow steamer. The cooking time is long, 4-5 hours in very low heat but it is simple to do. The meat (stewing hen and ham here) is parboiled for 10 minutes before going in. The Monkey-Head Mushrooms 猴頭菰 are soaked for a day and a half. Everything goes into this glazed clay pot inside a steaming pot with ginger, scallion, shaoxing liquor and hot water. The resulting soup is clear with all the goodness contained in the the soup. Chinese use this method to make the most delicate and healthful tonics.