Pregnancy Vitality Herbal Tonic Cooking Instructions
Steps 1-2
(Vegan variation - disregard step 2)
1. Rinse the herbs in cold water to 'awaken' herbs.
2. Blanch Wash Protein. Prepare a pot of boiling water (you can use a separate pot to your soup stock pot). Add protein to a pot and ensure water covers the protein. Bring back to boil.
Once the liquid has boiled, boil for an extra 1 minute before discarding the liquid. You may notice some brown foam and impurities surface.
Give the protein another thorough rinse under water to clean any impurities and fat.
Steps 3-6
3. Add All Ingredients. Prepare 2.5L of boiling water in your soup pot. Strain rinsed herbs and add to your soup pot with cleaned protein, ginger & any aromatic/add-ins.
4. Boil. Bring to boil
5. Simmer. Turn down heat to the lowest setting on the smallest burner and simmer for 2 - 3 hours.
6. Season. Stir in rice wine / sesame oil (if using) and season salt to taste. Rest for 5 mins before serving.
Herbal Soups Cooking Notes
Top Tip
The longer the herbal tonic soup has been cooked, the more the tonic will reduce into a beautiful, darker & richer flavour. Herbal soups are best cooked 'low and slow'. Recommend cooking the night before and reheat throughout the day when ready to serve. This will further infuse the herbs and ingredients into the liquid for a more robust flavoured soup. If too much water has evaporated during the cooking process, you may add more water into the pot.
Bone Broth
To make a true bone broth, it is recommended you simmer the bones for 8+ hours toĀ allow for the chemical breakdown needed to extract the collagen and other nutrients from the bones into the soup. Add in a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to help extracting the collagen.
You can choose to use a slow cooker /Ā multi cooker. Make sure you use quality ingredients. You can also roast the bones in theĀ oven for 20-30 mins at 200 degrees before adding to your pot for a more robust flavour.
Choosing Add-In Ingredients
These are optional so you do not have to add in extra ingredients however they will enhance the flavour and add in extra nutrients. You also don't need to go overboard with the additions. If you ask us what our 'must haves' are, our no-brainers are carrots, a small hand-full of shiitake or black wood ear mushrooms and a hand full of beans (black soy beans and black-eyed beans are our favourite). Dried seafood such as dried scallops, squid and octopus will also enhance the flavours.
Adding Extra Protein
If adding more protein than the recommended amount, ensure all ingredients are submerged in water. You can add a combination of protein with bone-in as well as lean protein for enhanced meaty flavour. Look for bone with more meat if possible. Lean protein will be tough after cooking but the flavour will be beautifully extracted into the soup.
Other Tips
- For extra flavour, marinate the protein with salt after blanch washing protein.
- For a clean and clear soup, remove any skin and fat from protein. Skim the layer of oil from the surface & discard before serving.
- If you find that there is too much liquid for daily consumption, increase the fire to help reduce the soup into a more concentrated liquid.
- Store leftover herbal soup in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, just bring to boil.
- The herbs are edible so don't be afraid to taste although some can be fibrous. You can either serve them with your tonic or strain & discard.