2 Chinese Chicken Mushroom Soup Recipes for Nursing Mothers

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Use these two Chinese chicken mushroom soup recipes as breastfeeding recipes.

Have I mention that chicken and Chinese mushrooms are one of those golden couples in breastfeeding recipes? They only come in second after ginger and chicken.

When preparing food for nursing mothers, the Chinese avoids anything that is considered cold or cooling. The dishes need to be warming but not heaty just like the following 2 recipes.

Chicken and ginger is a golden pair in the Chinese dietary practice. A mild and warming combination. Most beneficial for nursing mothers.

Dried Chinese mushrooms impart a woody, smoky flavour to the chicken and ginger stew. It has a stronger flavour than the fresh mushrooms and is more suitable for stewing.

1. Chicken mushroom soup for nursing mothers

This soup is more like a chicken stew than a soup.

Ingredients

  • 1 free range chicken
  • 10 dried and large Chinese mushrooms
  • 2 stalks of spring onion
  • 2 pieces of old ginger
  • 2 tbsp garlic

Seasonings

  • 2 tsp salt
  • 5 tbsp rice wine
  • Dash of sesame seed oil

Directions (for claypot)

  1. Soak the dried mushrooms in room temperature water until they re-hydrate
  2. Cut the chicken into sections
  3. Parboil the chicken pieces for about 5 minutes
  4. Score the caps of the mushrooms
  5. Wash and cut the spring onions into smaller sections
  6. Place the chicken pieces, mushrooms, ginger and garlic in a claypot
  7. Add enough water to cover the chicken pieces
  8. Bring the pot to a boil
  9. Lower the heat and cover the pot and simmer for 30 minutes
  10. Add the spring onions and cook for a further 5 minutes
  11. Add the seasonings before serving

If you don't have a clay pot, use a dutch oven or a slow cooker

2. Rice cooker chicken mushroom soup 

It is not common to cook food other than white rice in a rice cooker but it is possible. Read more about using the rice cooker to cook non-rice dishes or start with this recipe. 

Make sure you have a rice cooker that is big enough to hold the ingredients and still be only 70% full. Having said that, you do not have to use a rice cooker for this. Any soup pot, slow cooker and even thermal cooking pot will do. 

Chicken, shiitake mushrooms and carrots are good complementary ingredients in a Chinese soup. They offer a good range of vitamins and minerals as well as proteins and carbohydrates. They are also not exotic ingredients where you need to hunt high and low for in an asian grocery store.

They are readily available in most supermarkets. You soak the dried mushrooms the night before to ensure complete re-hydration. If you don't have time, you can use fresh shiitake mushrooms. The flavour and texture will not be the same but that's okay. 

Depending on the rice cooker you are using, you may have to turn off your rice cooker manually if it doesn't have other settings. 

Ingredients

  • Half a chicken
  • 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
  • 2 carrots
  • Salt to taste

Directions (for the rice cooker)

  1. Clean the chicken and place it into the inner pot of the rice cooker. Remove the skin if you do not want the soup to be too oily
  2. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Substitute with chicken or vegetable stock if you have some
  3. Rinse the dried mushrooms and soak in warm water until they re-hydrate
  4. Wash and peel the carrots and cut into bite-sized cubes
  5. Drain the mushrooms and cut into bite-sized pieces
  6. Place the mushrooms and carrots into the rice cooker together with the chicken and stock
  7. Cover and press the cook button to start the cooking process
  8. When the soup is done, turn the cooker off and let the soup sit for another 10 minutes before serving

Happy Souping, Phoebe

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