Slow-boiled soup 老火湯
Gastrodia and fish head soup
天麻川芎魚頭湯tin1 maa4 cyun1 gung1 jyu4 tau4 tong1
Traditionally eaten to warm and nourish. Best in cold weather. Bighead carp and chuanxiong are warm; gastrodia is neutral.
Good for traditionally believed to ease wind-type headaches and dizziness.
- 20 minprep
- 1 h 30 mincook
- 4servings
- One potAutumn, Winter
Eat at ? Start by …
Ingredients
Tick what you have. Watch the pot fill.
0 of 6 in the pot
Ticked = you have it. The rest goes in your cart.
-
Fresh: local Asian grocerAbout
- 2 quarts2 LWater
1 pantry item with a checked Amazon match. Buy the fresh produce and meat locally or on Weee!.
Method
- Rinse the fish head, pat dry and fry with the ginger until golden.
- Soak the gastrodia for 30 minutes.
- Boil the water with everything except the fish for 30 minutes on low.
- Add the fish and simmer 45 minutes more.
- Skim off any fat and season with salt just before serving.
Who should go easy
Avoid during pregnancy and heavy periods (chuanxiong moves blood).
Traditional Chinese food therapy, not medical advice. Ask your doctor if you are pregnant, on medication or unwell.
Ingredient natures from Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society, "中醫食療——食物種類分析" (Dr Lam To-yee, registered Chinese medicine practitioner, 2022), Me & Qi herb database, Me & Qi herb database. How we judge a soup’s nature.
Watch someone make it
Home cooks on YouTube. Opens right here.
