French78部落格

Watercress is a very good for weight lost.

It is widely added in the weight lost diet.

And actually we can see it in our daily traditional dishes, especial in the Southern Chinese dishes such as Cantonese and Taiwanese.

Hereunder I quoted a traditional soup prepared with some Chinese Herbs; this is very light soup, it will be very nice after holiday feast.

You can also visit the following link to see more details and other easy prepare dishes.

http://www.noobcook.com/2008/04/02/watercress-soup/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watercress

This recipe is revised for a few times and we really like it with chicken (versus pork ribs), while the addition of pao shen makes this soup more ‘cooling’ & ‘herby’. This is an easy & nutritious soup which is perfect for the hot & humid weather in Singapore . The hamsters are sure discerning, as the benefits of watercress are countless (among them: anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, high in Vitamin C).

- 1/2 fresh chicken, chopped and skin removed (or 2 chicken drumsticks/thighs, or 200g pork ribs)
- 200g watercress (ends trimmed, separate stems & leaves)
- 80g carrots, peeled & cut to pieces (I used peeled baby carrots as a short cut)
- 15 red dates (pitted)
- 1 tbsp wolfberries
- 1200ml water
- 10 short american ginseng (aka ‘Pao Shen, 泡参) [optional]
- a small pinch of salt [optional]

Directions
1. Blanch chicken in boiling water for 5 minutes (so that you are rid of the icky small bits). Set aside.
2. Place water, watercress stems, carrots, red dates and short american ginseng in pot and bring to a boil. Add the previously blanched chicken, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Add watercress leaves and wolfberries. Continue boiling for 10-15 minutes*.
4. Season with salt if needed.

* Watercress leaves are added later so that they stay crunchy. If you prefer them soft or don’t intend to eat the watercress, you can place it together with the other ingredients in step 2. Wolfberries are added later so that they stay firm and will not burst.