Shiitake, Water Chestnut and Chicken Feet Soup

Why people make this soup

Nourilo picked up a few packs of dried shiitake at the food expo and was pleasantly surprised — fragrant, smooth and tastier than expected, lovely in soup or stir-fried. He turned them into this soup, traditionally used to gently moisten and nourish yin, whet the appetite and generate fluids. It’s a comforting bowl for the dry days of autumn, when the mouth, nose and throat feel parched.

Method

1. Wash the chicken feet and blanch them. Soak the shiitake until soft and remove the stems. Peel and halve the water chestnuts.
2. Put everything in a pot with water.
3. Simmer about 2 hours, then eat the soup together with the ingredients.

Nourilo’s Tips

This soup is fragrant and tasty — good for the whole family. It suits those who tend toward yin deficiency with a dry throat and mouth, or whose fluids are depleted after a feverish illness with a poor appetite — but it is not for anyone currently running a feverish cold. Shiitake is high in purines, so if you’re watching uric acid, swap the shiitake for corn — just as tasty and well suited to gout.