Vermicelli in Papaya Chicken Soup with Red Dates & Wolfberries

While this is not my first attempt at cooking papaya soup it certainly was without a doubt, THE best! I usually cook it with fish & the result is a very sweet-tasting soup. Armed with the intention to enhance the nutritional value of the soup, I decided to add in some red dates & wolfberries.

Ingredients (serve 2 adults + 1 toddler)

1 small green papaya, cut into 1 inch chunks

2 big + 12 small red dates, seeds removed

50g of wolfberries

1.5 litres of water

1 chicken leg + 1 small drumstick

150g of Origins brown rice vermicelli, soaked in water for 15 minutes

Directions:

1. Place papaya & dates into a big pot filled with water, bring to boil & simmer for 2 hours.

2. After 45 minutes, blanch the chicken first by placing it in a small pot with just enough water to cover it. Bring the water to a boil then remove the chicken from the heat, drain, rinse before adding it into the big pot.

3. 15 minutes before the time is up, add in the wolfberries.

4. Lastly, add in the vermicelli to warm it up for 2 minutes, then serve immediately.

I scooped up two bowls of soup before adding the vermicelli as it usually causes the soup to become more bland. To my astonishment, the soup still tasted extremely sweet even after the addition of the vermicelli. My BB finished one big bowl of the vermicelli & even requested excitedly for the small bowl of soup which I've set aside for him. Daddy-O came home early unexpectedly & luckily there was enough for the both of us. It's always such a joy to see my loved ones eating healthily & enjoying themselves in the process <3