By Chef John
This delicious coconut chicken soup with goji berry has a natural sweetness from the coconut. It is a downright crave-worthy soup that doubles for comfort food. Goji berries contain healthy antioxidants, which help fight off free radicals that can damage cells and lead to aging and disease. It is also rich in zeaxanthin, an antioxidant known for its superb benefits for the eyes. You can cook with dried goji berries in both sweet and savory recipes. Dried goji berries have a natural sweet flavor with hints of cherry and cranberry.
Recipe
Servings: 5Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: 65 minutes
Ingredients:
4 cups Coconut water
1 Large Coconut meat
7 oz. Chicken thigh
3 slices Ginger, sliced
1/2 cup Dried jujube
2 tbsp. Dried longan
1 tsp. Dried goji berries
Directions:
- Open a coconut: find the 3 eyes of the coconut. One of the eyes looks a little different from the other 2 - this one is easiest to open, but you can open the coconut from any eye. Insert a screwdriver or sharp knife into the eye. If needed, use the help of a hammer or mallet to break the screwdriver through the coconut shell to fully open the eye. Invert the coconut over a glass and let the coconut water drip out.
- Remove the coconut meat: rewrap one half of the coconut, and continue hitting it until it breaks into a few more pieces. The coconut shell pieces will be removed from the meat in the process. Any remaining pieces of coconut meat can be loosened from the shell by inserting a butter knife between shell and meat.
- Remove the brown skin on the coconut meat. Cut the coconut into bite-sized pieces.
- Cut the chicken thighs into small pieces. Blanch them in boiling water and drain them out.
- In a large pot, add the chicken, sliced coconut meat, ginger slices, dried jujube, dried longan, and coconut water. Cover with a lid, and steam or stew for about 45 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. Add dried goji berry and enjoy it.
