Old Cucumber Soup with Red Dates & Chicken (老黄瓜汤)
Meet my mum's slow-simmered old cucumber soup with red dates and chicken, the ultimate cure for poor appetite
Equipment
- Large enough soup pot, chopping board, knife
Ingredients
- 1 old cucumber
- 5 –6 dried scallops
- ½ kampung chicken + 1 chicken leg
- 7 –8 red dates
- Salt to taste
- Water
Instructions
Prep ingredients
- Soak dried scallops in boiling water until they are soft, at least 15 minutes.Remove as much skin as possible from kampung chicken and cut into pieces. Cut old cucumber into rings and scoop the seeds out. De-seed red dates - I find using a pair of scissors easiest to do this.
Cook
- Place all ingredients into a pot and add enough water to just cover the solids.
- Season lightly with salt.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to the lowest.
- Cover with a lid, leaving a tiny gap, and simmer gently for 1–1¼ hours, or until the cucumber is very soft.
- Taste and adjust for salt before serving.
Notes
Key Tips for a Really Good Old Cucumber Soup
1. Season earlyThis is the game-changer. It allows the salt to penetrate the ingredients as they cook, giving a deeper, more rounded flavour. 2. Remove the chicken skin
This keeps the soup clear and clean-tasting, without excess oil. I do this instead of pre-scalding the chicken before boiling it with the rest of the ingredients. 3. Use kampung (free-range) chicken if you can
It’s leaner and has a higher bone-to-meat ratio compared to conventional chicken, which means more natural sweetness is released into the broth as it simmers. 4. Prep the cucumber properly
Always remove the seeds—they can affect the taste and clarity of the soup. 5. Go low and slow
A gentle simmer, not a rolling boil, gives you that clean, sweet broth.