Watercress Soup : No.1 Cleansing Soup

There really is nothing like a big bowl of hot soup to drive away the "cold weather blues". Surfing the net for some ideas, I stumbled upon a certain Soup No. 5 "Viagra Soup". Haha ... I wonder if that's how they make the infamous pill from scratch. Using beef penis along with other chinese medicinal herbs like "dang shen" aka "tong-shen" and chinese yam "wai san" and whatnot. For my own anti-"chill pill", I thought I'd stick with the basics, the No. 1 "Cleansing Soup".

Infected by Simscooks's detox diet, I wasted no time in getting some watercress myself. I also rummaged through my fridge for some known anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients to enrich my watercress soup. I found some goji berries, figs & dried longan - ingredients that should provide the necessary nutrients to start my cleansing process after a week-long battle with the flu. Goji berries (wolfberries OR gogi berries), are raisin-like dried fruit which are evidently known to improve cell communication among other health promoting properties. Figs, yet another one of my sweet discoveries, are rich in fiber and healthy minerals. I don't particularly enjoy eating the figs, I just like the way just a couple of them can enhance a whole pot of soup with a mild sweet fruity flavor. As for the dried longan, I read somewhere that they are "brain food", which is good, for I am quite forgetful nowadays :( To further make up for my protein deprivation, I added a couple of chicken feet and meaty pork bones. Oh what the heck, let's get a little crazy and throw in another one of my favourite ingredients for any kind of soup .. fish balls :P

Final verdict : One beeeg bowl of a sweet, hearty, and "interior"-cleansing soup :)

Watercress Soup With Asian Herbs Recipe

Ingredients :
4 pc. chicken feet
2 pc. meaty pork bones
6 fish balls
3 figs
1 tbsp goji berries
1 tbsp dried longan
1 bunch watercress
salt to taste

Method :
1) Dump all the ingredients (except the watercress and fish balls) in a soup pot, and cook to a boil. The watercress turn soggy fast and the fish balls are pre-cooked so you can add them in later.
2) Let it simmer for at least 20 minutes in medium heat.
3) Add watercress and fish balls in and simmer for an additional 10 minutes before serving.