Arrowroot ~ 'Fun Kot' soup

Arrowroot comes from the root of a large, leafy plant that is native to Central and South America and the Caribbean.  It is also found in other tropical regions such as South East Asia, South Africa, Australia and Florida.
Although bland in taste, Arrowroot contains calcium and carbohydrates and other nutrients, primarily used for its soothing benefit and its effect in dealing with diarrhoea.  It is also used in the kitchen to thicken soups, sauces or as an ingredient in some recipes for biscuits.  Vegetarians use it instead of eggs in bread and desserts.

Now back to this soup.............  Arrowroot soup or in Cantonese 'Fun Kot' soup with 'Loh Kai Por' literally translated to mean 'Old Mother Hen'.  Poor chicks, once their 'reproductive' cycle have expired, they'll land in the cooking pot!

A piece of Arrowroot cut into half, some wolfberries - 'Kei Chi', some 'Hoi Chook' and red dates.

Do remove the 'oil slick' from the soup as the 'star' ingredient has been accumulating oil and fat over the years, but nevertheless the soup is indeed tasty!

Ingredients

• 650 gm Arrowroot ~ 'Fun Kot'.
• 11 cups of water
• 20 gm red dates, seeded
• 10 gm wolfberries ~ 'Kei Chi'
• 10 gm Hoi Chook
• 1 mother hen, about 500 gm, cut into chunks
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Cut off the skin of the arrowroot, wash and cut the arrowroot into cubes.
2. Heat up some water in a pot and blanch the chciken pieces for a few minutes in the hot water.  Remove and rinse in running water, drain.
3. Boil the 11 cups of water with the arrowroot, red dates, wolfberries and hoi chook.
4. Once the soup is boiling, add in the chicken pieces, boil under medium heat.
5. Adjust to low heat and simmer the soup for 3 hours.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Serve hot.