Today’s Simple Lunch – American Ginseng Chicken Soup

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Posted by Vedis on January 27, 2010 – 7:44 am
Filed under Chinese Dishes, Chinese Soup Recipes, Eu Yan Sang, Today's Simple Lunch

Yesterday I talked about the Chinese New Year promotion at Eu Yan Sang and the American Wild Ginseng Tea I bought. Guess what? Today’s lunch was American Ginseng Chicken Soup!

Of course, it’s not Eu Yan Sang’s American Ginseng Soup. :-) I bought the pack of American Ginseng soup ingredients from a nearby herbal shop instead. Cheaper, that’s it.

At Eu Yan Sang, it’s RM13.80 per pack while the one I bought was RM6. Any difference in quality? I don’t know. Maybe I will give EYS a try next time.

American Ginseng Chicken Soup
Photo Credit for American Ginseng Chicken Soup

What were the ingredients in the pre-packed packet? Dried Longans, American Ginseng slices, wolfberries aka goji berries, Huai Shan aka Dioscorea Opposita and Yuk Zhu aka dried Polygonatum.

Let’s see the benefits of each ingredient:

Dried Longan aka Gui Yuan is said to have an effect on relaxation.

Wolfberries or goji berries are renowned for improving immune system and eye sight.

Huai Shan aka Dioscorea Opposita is said to be good for spleen, lungs and kidneys.

Yuk Zhu aka dried Polygonatum is … er, not so sure.

As the herbs came in one packet, I really didn’t know each ingredient’s weight. I just knew that the total weight of the ingredients was 100g.

Other ingredients to be added to this soup were a chicken drumstick, 500ml water and salt to taste. I totally forgot to add red dates! :-(

Instructions:

1. Blanch chicken pieces in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drained and set aside.

2. Rinse all the herbs with water, drained.

3. Place the blanched chicken and the ingredients into slow cooker. Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for two hours or longer to bring out the taste. Add salt to taste.

Updated at 4.05 pm: For those of you who are looking for the right weight for each ingredient for Ginseng Chicken Soup, here you are. I came across Amy Beh’s recipe while I was looking for a photo for the soup.

Amy Beh's American Ginseng Soup Recipe
Photo Credit to Amy Beh’s American Ginseng Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

# 1 kg kampung chicken, skinned and cut into fairly large pieces
# 15g American ginseng (Phao Sum)
# 1 green apple, cored and cut into quarters
# 3 seeded red dates
# 1 tsp kei chi (woldberries)
# 800ml hot water

Method:

1. Blanch chicken pieces in a pot of boiling water. Drain well.

2. Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized crockpot. Cook slowly on high heat for three hours.

3. Serve hot.

CNY Promotion – Eu Yan Sang’s American Wild Ginseng Tea – 2 Boxes For RM208!

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Posted by Vedis on January 26, 2010 – 8:12 am
Filed under Eu Yan Sang, Promotions

There is Chinese New Year promotion in Eu Yan Sang. Check out if you are one of its members. Well, even if you are not a member, it’s worth checking out at any EYS store where the promotion is held. ;-)

The day before yesterday, I received a copy of Eu Yan Sang’s Chinese New Year catalog by post. It’s filled with auspiciously-named hampers and gifts that you can gift your family and friends this CNY.

I like the catalog very much because of the clear price list. You can see the price of every item in each hamper; this helps you decide if you think the hamper is worth buying.

Okay, let’s come back to the promotion. Actually I didn’t know there was a CNY promotion going on before I went there. My plan was to buy a box of American Wild Ginseng Tea (5gm x 24 bags) and a bottle of Ginseng Wine (700ml) for hubby.

A box of American Wild Ginseng Tea’s usual price is RM138 while the Ginseng Wine’s usual price is $72.80.

Eu Yan Sang American Wild Ginseng Tea
Photo Credit for American Wild Ginseng Tea

With slightly more than RM200 in hand, I wanted to buy these two items only initially. See the word ‘initially‘?

After I told the staff that I wanted a box of American Wild Ginseng Tea, she recommended me to take two boxes since there’s a promotion.

2 boxes of American Wild Ginseng Tea cost RM208 only, a savings of RM54.20 if you are a member and RM68 for non-member. Wow, not bad!

If you are a member of Eu Yan Sang, you are entitled to 5% discount. Of course, there is no 5% discount on promotional products during promotion period. :-)

So the calculation goes like this, RM138 + RM138 – 5% = RM262.20. Now the promotional price is RM208, so the savings is RM54.20.

Of course, there’s also this buy-2-bottle Ginseng Wine deal. It’s RM118 for 2 bottles. A savings of roughly RM20.30.

With only slightly more than RM200 in hand, I had to make a choice, American Wild Ginseng Tea or Ginseng Wine?

Of course the former. Hubby had tried Eu Yan Sang’s American Wild Ginseng Tea more than 10 years ago when he was a tourist guide.

Due to long working hours and insufficient sleep during tours, it’s this particular brand of American Wild Ginseng Tea that helped reduce body heat and increase energy effectively.

Throughout the years, he as tried a few different brand names of American Wild Ginseng Tea, still, Eu Yan Sang’s suits his body best.

Now that hubby is a full time school teacher (again) with long working hours and loads of school load, he needs this amazing tea again to help him stay refreshed and revitalized.