Published:  10:34 Thursday - October 13, 2016

Chicken simmered with traditional herbs is very nutrition and one of the best food for your health. It is usually eat when still hot so it is suitable to enjoy in winter and cold days.

Chicken simmered is a Hanoi speciality and a deeply-guarded traditional Chicken steamrecipe incorporating a special mixture of secret herbs and spices handed down from parent to child over generations. The result is a quarter of chicken bobbing in a tasty broth, which is believed to be something akin to a health tonic by Vietnamese connoisseurs. A bowl of chicken simmered will impart energy and vitality; give strength to your tendons and bones; help you sleep better; and ease backache and asthma. Preparation centres on choosing the right chicken for the job. An old chicken will be too tough and a spring one may not impart the right flavour. But once the perfect chicken has been found, it is drawn, quartered and marinated in salt and spices for about 20 minutes before being simmered with medicinal herbs, nuts and seeds.

Ingredients

– 3 pounds chicken wings and drumsticks

– 75 g longan ( long nhãn )

– 25 g rhizoma discoreae ( hoài sơn )

– 25 g coix lachryma-jobi ( ý dĩ )

– 50 g chinese date ( táo tàu đen )

– 25 g tankwe gin ( đương quy )

– 100 to 200 g mugwort (I used dried mugwort but the fresh one is the best )

– 3 cubes of chicken bouillon

– 1 litre water

– salt to your taste

Method

– Marinate chicken wings and drumsticks with chicken bouillon for at least 1 hour before cooking

– Saute chicken without oil for 5 – 10 minutes

– Add water with herbs except mugwort

– Bring to a boil and then simmer chicken for 1 hour then add mugwort

– Simmer another 30 minutes and it’s ready for serving.