Fall has arrived at that means we need some soup to sooth our soul. BOILED CHICKEN W/ HMONG MEDICINAL HERBS! Yes! It’s finally here! Except….. I don’t really know the English terms for some of this herbs. So help your sister out a bit yeah? But here is a chicken soup that a lot of Hmong people eat during sick days, cold days, post maternal diet days, hang over days, and a “I just want a comforting” soup kind of day. Boiled chicken with Hmong medicinal herbs does amazing work for the body in terms of balancing your body system. I love eating this soup when I’m sick because it makes my body feel light and warm. There are over 20+ variety of medicinal herbs that Hmong people use for a variety of reasons. Tho, some of this herbs may be unknown, there is great history behind the use of them through the knowledge of our ancestors, grandparents, and parents. Here, my mom will be using 12 different kinds of medicinal herbs from her garden for this boil chicken soup. Hope you all enjoy and hope you all learn a little something today. Again, do let me know if you know any of these herbs! 🙂 Happy cooking!
HMONG MEDICINAL HERBS
Hmong Terms for 12 of these variety
Hmong Green
Hmong White
English terms for some of the herbs
1) Taab kib lab (Artemisia lactiflora)
2) Tshuaj tsog lab (Okinawa spinach)
3) Tshuaj tsog ntsuab (Okinawa spinach green version)
4) Qhau lab
5) Zaaj tshua ntuag (Joe-pye weed)
6) Tshaab Xyoob (Mugwort)
7) Suv ntsim (Lovage)
8) Pawj Qab (Acorus gramineus)
9) Maab ntshaa ntoo
10) Saam maaj kaab
11) Maab ntshaa lab (Red malabar spinach)
12) Tauj Qab (Lemongrass)
Using fresh organic chicken makes this soup even more comforting. The flavor of organic chicken gives the broth a nice clean but also rich flavor
If you can, get a hold of the leaner brown chicken. They can be found in Asian markets.
Cooking it up
Serve with Rice and pepper dip
ENJOY!
Ingredients
- 3 quarts water (12 cups)
- 1 whole chicken (Organic brown chicken is preferred)
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 tsp mushroom or chicken bouillon
- A bundle of medicinal herbs such as....
- 1 lemongrass
- 3-4 Okinawa spinach and Red malabar spinach
- 3-4 lovage leafs
- 4-5 -Mugwort leafs
- 3 Acorus gramineus
- 3-4 Joe-pye weed leafs
- etc.....
Instructions
1) Add 3 quarts of water to a pot and let it come to a boil.
2) Wash and trim off any excess residue from the chicken. Then cut the chicken into bite size pieces (bone on). Add it into the boiled water and add in 1 tbsp salt and 1 tsp mushroom or chicken bouillon powder. Simmer and cook the chicken for about 20-25 minutes or just until the chicken is cooked. Taste and adjust seasonings before adding in the medicinal herbs.
3) Rinse the medicinal herbs well before use.
4) Once the chicken is cooked, add in the medicinal herbs. Add in the harder stem herbs first and cook for about 3 minutes or so. Then add in the rest of the softer herbs and cook until the stems are nice and tender. Take it off the heat and serve with rice! ENJOY!
-CHawjCreations
Notes
Add as much or as little medicinal herbs to your liking. Serve the chicken with some pepper dip too 🙂
4 comments
Hi. I love this article and posting it on my fb group #bestmoms #chickendiet! It’s a support group for moms going through this to help motivate and push eachother thru!! Thank you!
Thanks
Hi there! It’s a great article. I’ve been studying this soup by growing them. I’m still trying to find the names. The ginger you have is called white ginger (Hedychium coronarium). The green Okinawa spinach is actually Longetivity spinach (Gynura procumbens). Lovage is actually in the chrysanthemum family. I’m waiting for it to flower to identify it. Also it’s not Joe-pye weed but in the same family. I’m also waiting on that to flower as well. Lastly, my friend has 2 types of grass looking plant in her Hmong herb soup. The one with the strong aroma is Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus).
Sorry! You’re right it is sweet flag (Acorus Gramineus).
Hello there, It is good that many of us are studying the herbs we use for our favorite chicken soup. There are many plants that looks very similar and or smells similar. I just want to point out that “suv ntsim” is not “lovage”. I grow both of these plants and they are very different from each other. Suv ntsim is a viny plants, has leaves like tree and lovage is an upright plant like celery, has leaves like celery. Also “Zaj ntshua ntuag liab” is not Joe pye weed” I also plant both of these and they are two different plants. Zaj ntshua ntuag has smaller leaves not hairy and Joe pye weed’s leaves is abit hairy.