Abalone soup with cordyceps is a banquet dish that turns up at Chinese New Year, at confinement tables and at the bedside of anyone the family has decided needs building up. It’s rich, faintly sweet, and has more ceremony than almost any other bowl in the repertoire.
Two clarifications before you shop.
The “cordyceps” in most home versions is cordyceps flower (虫草花), a cultivated golden-orange mushroom sold dried in any medical hall for a modest price. True wild cordyceps (冬虫夏草) is one of the most expensive ingredients in the world. Recipes rarely distinguish them; your soup almost certainly means the first.
About the health claims: this soup is nourishing in the ordinary way that a long-simmered protein broth is nourishing. Cordyceps is used in traditional Chinese medicine for the lungs and for vitality, and while it’s been studied, the evidence in humans remains limited. If you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a health condition, treat cordyceps as you’d any supplement and ask your doctor or a qualified TCM practitioner first.
Ingredients
Serves 4, about 2 hours mostly unattended
- 1 can abalone (about 425g), or 4 small fresh abalone, cleaned
- 500g chicken: whole legs or a small chicken, chopped
- 20g dried cordyceps flower (虫草花)
- 6 red dates, slit open
- 1 tbsp goji berries
- 4 slices ginger
- 2 dried scallops, optional but they make a difference
- 1.5 litres water
- Salt, to taste
Method
- Rinse the cordyceps flower in cool water and set aside. Soak the dried scallops in a little warm water for 20 minutes, keeping the soaking liquid.
- Blanch the chicken. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil, cook 2 minutes, then drain and rinse. This one step is the difference between a clear soup and a cloudy one.
- Bring the 1.5 litres of water to the boil with the ginger. Add the chicken, scallops with their liquid, red dates and cordyceps flower.
- Return to the boil, then drop to a bare simmer. Cover and leave for 1.5 hours. It should barely move.
- Add the abalone along with the liquid from the can, plus the goji berries. Simmer 15 minutes more.
- Season with salt at the very end. The canned abalone liquid is already salted, so taste before adding anything.
If using fresh abalone, add it with the chicken at step 3. It needs the longer cook to become tender, not rubbery.
Notes
- Don’t boil hard. A rolling boil emulsifies the fat and turns the soup cloudy and greasy. A bare simmer keeps it clear.
- Canned abalone is already cooked. Long cooking only toughens it, so it goes in near the end.
- Skim the surface in the first ten minutes for a cleaner result.
- A cheaper version works well with dried scallop and chicken alone. The abalone is the luxury, not the substance.
- Double-boiling, the pot set inside a larger pot of water, gives a clearer, more delicate soup over 3 to 4 hours, and is the traditional method.
What’s in the bowl
Abalone is a lean shellfish, high in protein and low in fat, and a source of iron. Chicken and dried scallop add protein and give the broth its body. Red dates and goji contribute a little sweetness, some iron and vitamin C.
What a long-simmered soup like this offers someone recovering, after birth or after illness, is warm, easily eaten protein and fluid at a time when appetite is poor. That’s a real benefit and it needs no larger claim attached.
One practical note: shellfish is a common allergen. If anyone at the table hasn’t had abalone before, this isn’t the occasion to find out.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between cordyceps and cordyceps flower?
Cordyceps flower (虫草花) is a cultivated mushroom, golden-orange, dried, inexpensive and what nearly all home recipes use. True wild cordyceps (冬虫夏草) is a rare and extremely costly ingredient. Recipes often say only “cordyceps”, which causes confusion at the medical hall.
Is this soup safe during pregnancy or breastfeeding?
The soup itself is ordinary food, but cordyceps is a medicinal ingredient, not a vegetable. Check with your doctor or a qualified TCM practitioner before taking it while pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication, or managing a health condition.
Can I use canned abalone?
Yes, and most home cooks do. Add it near the end with its liquid, since it’s already cooked and long simmering makes it tough.
Why is my soup cloudy?
Almost always because the chicken wasn’t blanched first, or because the soup was boiled instead of simmered. Blanch, skim, and keep it barely moving.
Is abalone soup good for recovery after birth?
It’s a warm, protein-rich broth that’s easy to eat when appetite is low, which helps in the weeks after birth. That’s what it does; claims beyond that are traditional, not demonstrated.
Quick summary
Blanch the chicken, simmer with cordyceps flower and red dates for an hour and a half, add abalone for the last fifteen minutes, salt at the end.
Buy cordyceps flower, not the wildly expensive wild kind. Keep it at a bare simmer. And ask your doctor before adding medicinal ingredients if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding.
Read next
- Sitting the month: which confinement practices to keep
- More local confinement recipes
- Lotus root and pork rib porridge
This article is general information and not medical advice. Speak to your doctor or a qualified practitioner before taking medicinal ingredients during pregnancy, breastfeeding or treatment.