Pear and Snow Fungus Sweet Soup (银耳雪梨糖水)
Cantonese sweet soups are not only delicious desserts but also health tonics. Tired all the time after too many late nights? Your mouth feels dry? Pear and snow fungus is a great combination for relieving your symptoms. Feeling perfectly fine? Hey, you can still enjoy the sweet soup.
Ingredients
- 10 g dried snow fungus (雪耳/银耳)
- 550 g Chinese or Japanese pears
- 1½ tbsp Chinese bitter almonds (北杏) rinsed
- 1½ tbsp Chinese sweet almonds (南杏) rinsed
- 10 Chinese dried red dates (红枣) rinsed and pits removed
- 70 g rock sugar (adjust to taste) or light brown sugar to taste
Instructions
- Soak snow fungus in water till soft, about 20 minutes. Trim dirty, tough ends and discard. Rinse thoroughly and tear into bite-size pieces.10 g dried snow fungus (雪耳/银耳)
- Rinse, peel, core and quarter pears. Cut each quarter into 3-4 chunky pieces.550 g Chinese or Japanese pears
- Put snow fungus, pears, bitter almonds, sweet almonds and red dates in a pot with 6 cups water. Bring to a boil. Simmer gently, covered. Check after 45 minutes. There should be enough water for ingredients to just float freely. Top up if necessary. Or increase heat slightly if there's too much.1½ tbsp Chinese bitter almonds (北杏) rinsed, 1½ tbsp Chinese sweet almonds (南杏) rinsed, 10 Chinese dried red dates (红枣) rinsed and pits removed
- Simmer another 15 minutes if you like snow fungus crunchy, or 30 minutes if you prefer it soft.
- Season to taste with rock sugar. If you like, discard pears which would be quite tasteless after the long simmer. Serve hot, chilled or at room temperature, as dessert, afternoon tea or supper. It's up to you. May be stored in the fridge for 2 days.70 g rock sugar (adjust to taste)