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Alicia hasn’t been eating so well lately – ok, she picked up a bit since Saturday – so I decided to make this si shen soup. It is well-known for improving appetite and is commonly given to children with poor appetites. I think the main herb that does this is fu ling as research has shown that it strengthens the body, improves body weight and improves appetite. I wouldn’t encourage parents with big babies/toddlers or babies/toddlers with an already hearty appetite to serve up this soup to your darlings as si shen soup is probably the equivalent of the Western appetizer.

After sieving out the herbs:

Alicia guzzled down this 100ml of soup at one go last night! 😀

The 四神:

si shen soup recipe

Traditionally, si shen soup is cooked with these four ingredients plus lean pork or pork ribs. To make it more flavourful for my toddler, I have included some ingredients and here’s sharing the delicious modified si shen soup recipe!

Modified Si Shen soup (四神汤)

Author: Simply Mommie

Ingredients

5g huai shan (淮山)
10g dried foxnuts (qian shi) (芡实)
20g fu ling (茯苓)
40g dried lotus seed (lian zi) (莲子)
250g pork rib
2-3L of water

For added taste I added these ingredients:

4 dried figs (无花果）
3 candied dates (金丝蜜枣)
1 big red apple (cut into quarters)

Instructions

Rinse the chinese herbs.
Blanch the ribs and bones.
Place all the ingredients into the soup pot and bring to a boil.
Simmer on low heat for 3 hours.
Sieve the soup and serve only the soup.

Notes

Excess soup can be frozen and used to cook porridge or served as a soup.

Click the link for the full list of soup recipes (with thumbnails).

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Easy steamed egg

easy steamed egg

If you haven’t got much in the pantry, this easy steamed egg is certainly a dish you can try. Simple, light, and easy to make! And because the light soy sauce is added only after the dish is cooked, you can tailor how much or how little you’d like it to be.

Easy steamed egg

Author: Simply Mommie

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 eggs
200ml stock
1 bunch scallions (sliced)
2 shallots (slice thinly)
ground white pepper
2 teaspoons light soy sauce

Instructions

Beat the eggs and mix them together with the stock.
Add ground white pepper.
Sieve the egg mixture twice to get a smooth fluid.
Cover the egg mixture with food-grade cling wrap then steam the egg mixture on high heat for10 minutes.
Heat some oil and fry the shallots.
Pour a little light soy sauce, the shallot oil and shallots over the steamed egg.
Sprinkle the scallions over the dish.

Notes

Tip: I usually make a batch of fried shallots in my microwave oven (a jam-jar full of them) at one go to save time and effort.

See, told you it was easy!

Related egg recipes:

Preserved turnip omelette recipe (chai por egg)