Basic Chinese Chicken Soup Stock (Soup Base)

Ingredient Name:  Smilax Root, Greenbriers Root, Toe Folk Ling, Rhizoma Smilacis Glabrae

Traditional Chinese Name: 土茯苓(tǔ fú líng)

What is this?

• The root of a climbing flowering plant that produces small berries
• Extremely resilent plant that usually growns in shrub shapes and climbs on to other trees or surfaces
• The plant grows in tropic and subtropic areas
• In China alone, there are 80 different types of smilaxes
• Used in various Chinese soups and dishes (such as Gwei Ling Go “The Tortoise Jelly”)

How do I prepare it?

• Rinse with warm water and blanch in boiling water before use
• Cut into large cubes to soups

Where can I buy this?

This is available in most Asian supermarkets
Can be purchased both fresh and frozen
Also available in dried form in Asian Herbal stores and sold in sliced pieces

What is the cost

• A bag of 15 large pieces of $20 HKD

Any benefits?

• Excellent for treatment of gout
• It is said to help with extraction of excess phlegm and dry throat

Any precautions?

• Must be blanched before usage

Resources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smilax