My BB 1st Try on Huai San: Organic Rolled Oats Porridge with Garoupa & Chinese Spinach in 'Huai San' & Wolfberries Chicken Soup Base

婆婆 cooked a nice pot of fresh san yao or huai san (aka Chinese wild yam) with wolfberries & chicken soup and thus I decided to use it as a soup base for BB's oats porridge. According to my mum, there're two types of fresh huai san sold locally. They're either imported from China or Japan. The huai san from China are softer after being cooked. On the contrary, the Japanese huai san has a crunchier texture. In conclusion, the China ones are actually more suitable for toddlers' consumption. The following recipe is my mum's.

Ingredients (serve 3 adults & 1 toddler):

1 fresh huai san, sliced into 1/2 inch thickness

1 chicken, excluding the drumsticks & wings

1 big handful of wolfberries

3 litres of water

Directions:

1. Blanch the chicken first by placing it in a pot with enough water to cover it. Bring the water to boil then remove from heat, drain & rinse.

2. Place all the ingredients except wolfberries into a big pot, bring to boil & simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Add in wolfberries & simmer for another 15 minutes.

The fresh huai san has a texture more similar to tapioca rather than yam unlike its dried counterparts. Even though huai san is quite bland, the soup is very light yet sweet tasting. 

Ingredients:

250ml of soup with huai san & wolfberries

3 tbsps of organic rolled oats

1 piece of garoupa

60g of Chinese spinach, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Transfer the soup to a smaller pot then add the fish in & cook for 10 minutes.

2. Remove fish to cool slightly & to check for bones. Add oats in then cook for another 5 minutes before adding the Chinese spinach & cook for another 5 minutes. 

3. Top with fish & serve warm.

Surprisingly, BB liked the huai san despite its blandness. He actually pointed to it & asked for more. Another addition to my collection of soup recipes >.~

Beneficial Combination:

San yao + Wolfberries = Good for spleen & stomach, benefit lung & tonify kidney as well as concentrate one's attention