Red Date Dessert with Lotus Seed

I was browsing the old Jusco's Pearl magazine and found this dessert recipe for Chinese New Year, yup.. the book is almost a year old... but who cares... recipes never go out of style...

O' well, so captivated with the picture that I 'pledged' to make this dessert for my family...

But first, let's see what are the nutritional values behind the main characters.

Red Dates / Red Jujubes (Hong Zhou)


Good for anaemics. Nourish blood. Best for fatigue, hypertension, physical exhaustion and malnutrition.





White Fungus / Snow Fungues (Suet Yee)

Nourishing the lungs, healing dry cough and clearing heat in the lung. Those who often catch cold can eat White Fungus and Red Dates together. If eaten with Hasma / Suet Kap (dried glands of a snow frog), it will give you a smooth complexion.

Sweet Preserved Apricots (Nam Hang) & Bitter Preserved Apricots (Pak Hang)



Target the lungs. Cures cough and constipation.





Dried Lotus Seed



Clear Heat and restore your health. It's always in my mind that this seed works wonders. Used to make the lotus paste (in mooncakes).




Dried longans : Dark Brown in colour. Sweet and nourishing.


Recipes courtesy from Pearl Magazine:
6-8 cups of water
40 gm white fungus (Shuet Yee)
3-5 gm Hasma (Shuet Kap)
3 gm sweet red dates (with seed removed)
1 gm sweet preserved apricots (Nam Hang)
1 gm bitter preserved apricots (Pak Hang)
180-250 gm Rock sugar(Adjust to taste)

As I didn't buy Hasma, I just replaced it with Lotus Seed (100gm or more if you like it, RM3.80/gm), dried longans and also add some Sago (for decorative purposes).

Steps:
1. Soak white fungus & hasma till soft. Blanch both in hot boiling water, rinse and drain again.
2. Rinse sweet dates, sweet and bitter preserved apricots, lotus seed and sago.
3. Put all ingredients in a pot except sago and sugar.
4. Add boiling hot water and leave to cook slowly for 2-3 hours (make sure ingredients are soft by then).
5. Add sago.
6. Then add rock sugar to taste.
7. Serve hot / cold.
8. Yummy..............



Ready to serve