I was flipping through a Chinese soup cookbook at a bookshop some time ago just to get some inspiration for new soups to make and I came across this recipe that combined clams and Chinese yam. Normally I wouldn’t think of having both seafood and poultry in a soup as I felt the former would make the soup taste fishy and also overpower the rest of the ingredients.
So what I did was to boil some chicken stock beforehand just to extract all the sweetness from the chicken bones and then use that as a base to make this soup. And I only added the clams at the end so they wouldn’t be overcooked – I just wanted the clams to be a complement. Much to my delight, the clams lent a subtle ocean flavour to the soup as well as an extra tinge of sweetness – absolutely not fishy at all.
Chicken Soup with Chinese Yam and Clams
Ingredients (serves 4)
4 chicken legs & 4 chicken wings (or use half a large chicken, chopped into pieces)
250g fresh clams
300g Chinese yam, peeled & sliced
1 large carrot, peeled & sliced
8 red dates
1.5 litres fresh chicken stock
salt to taste
Instructions
1. Combine the broth, chicken, yam and carrot in a soup pot and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Add the clams and dates and cook till the clam shells open.
3. Season with salt to taste.
Interesting combination. I think this is a “must try”.
Gina
It does sound like a different combination…glad it worked out for you! 🙂
thankfully it did! 🙂 Happy new year, Linda! 🙂
Happy New Year Geri! Here’s to a great year ahead! 🙂