Black Fungus (Wood ears), Lily Bulbs and Pork Soup

Two items that are always kept in a Foochow food safe (Hang Diu) are black fungus and lily bulbs or golden needles. These are taken out and soaked whenever an extra dish is required. It could be a relative dropping by or a grandmother feeling some lack of appetite.

My mother's recipe is simple. She only used lily bulbs, ginger, lots of onions and a few slices of well seasoned tapioca flour coated pork.

We children loved this dish very much and asked for a second bowl of rice to finish off the soup. Most of us depended on just the soup for a good meal.

In the olden days lily bulbs or golden needles were very cheap so it was a very budget dish. Today because of the strength of the Chinese Yuan and the weakness of the Malaysian economy we have to pay quite a bit for golden needles. We just use a little bit of the nice golden vegetables, knot them a bit, to enhance the soup.

It is a lovely soup nevertheless.

On the other hand, a good herbal and healthy soup can also be cooked slowly in a clay pot if a free range or kampong chicken is preferred. That would be really over the top!!