Fresh Walnut and chicken soup

Using walnuts in cooking was a novelty when I first came to Beijing after I discovered fresh local walnuts. These are milky and sweet, with none of the slight bitterness of dried nuts. Fresh walnuts are also very good in stir-fries, but probably needs to be skinned.

Ingredients (serves 4 to 6):

1 chicken breast (abt 400g)

100g fresh walnut meat, soaked in boiling water

2-3 slices ginger

2 tbsp wolfberries (gouqi zi)

2-3 Chinese dates or jujubes, seeded

1 small piece rock sugar

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Using a soft brush, scrub the soaked walnuts to get as much of the brown skin off as possible.

2. Rinse and dry the chicken breast, and cut it into 2 cm cubes.

3. Heat up a large pot of water, about 3 liters, and add the chicken cubes and walnut meat, with the ginger slices and Chinese dates.

4. As the pot comes to a boil, skim off any froth. There should be very little.

5. Turn down the heat and allow the soup to simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.

6. Remove the ginger slices and add the wolfberries and rock sugar just before serving. Adding the wolfberries too early will discolor the soup, and also remove much of the high vitamin content in the berries. The rock sugar offsets the slight bitterness of the walnuts.