蓮子百合腐竹雞蛋糖水 Sweet Soup of Lotus Seed, Lily Bulb and Bean Curd Sheet with Egg

剛送走了苦冷濕寒的二月。才踏入三月之始，天氣竟然乾爽和轉晴。雖然空氣仍然冰冷，起碼雨和雪都沒下了。

We've had quite a miserable February weather-wise; but now March has stepped in the days are getting brighter and drier. Even though the chilly air is still around, at least the snow and rain have stopped.

風仍很大。從外面回來，我們的臉和唇都又乾又紅。

喉和肺都感到乾燥，猶其是丈夫的咳嗽剛復原。我們都很想飲些滋潤氣管咽喉和腸胃的糖水。頓時便想到「蓮子百合腐竹雞蛋糖水 」。每次喝過這糖水後，晚上都可以睡得很舒憇安寧。

The wind was still keen. Coming back from walking outdoors, our cheeks and lips were red and dry.

Our throat and lungs somehow feel very much the same way, my husband in particular; having recently recovered from a winter cough. We both really fancied having some nice and soothing sweet soup to moisten our internal organs. One that especially came to mind was the " Sweet soup of Lotus seed, Lily bulb and bean curd sheet with egg". We've always found our sleep is more restful after drinking this soup.

我有一本小冊子，裏面是我爸爸親自寫下的各道藥方；多年前離家前他按進我手中的。我當時已快二十一歲，自念已到了可以照顧自己的年齡。不要父母負擔，我頑固地堅持唸美街學院要自供自給。爸媽見不能改變我的主意，只好盡他們所知教導訓誨我如何小心安全和照顧自己。

I have a book of hand written remedies written by my father, which he tucked into my hands years ago when I left home. I was nearly twenty one, old enough to be independent. I didn't want to burden my parents; I stubbornly insisted on supporting myself through Art college. Seeing that I wouldn't change my mind, my parents could only tell me how to look after myself and stay safe and well.

那時，在行李箱中攜帶很多中藥也沒有問題的。母親很小心的把每服分量配成、紥好的藥材細意包裹，夾在我一層一層的衣服之中。父親則不厭其煩地對我解釋，每種藥物的性能和醫治療效。假如我患了怎樣的病便要煎怎樣的藥等等。

奇怪地，我竟然連一次生病也沒有。一綑綑看顧我的藥物原封沒動。但用來煲糖水的小包們，就消失得很快了。在漫長刻苦和想家的日子中，那些糖水在精神和身體上給予我不少振作的元氣。

In those days, you can pack large quantities of herbal medicine in your suit case. My mum would carefully wrapped each bundle of medicine for me and layer them with my clothes. My dad would explain to me what each remedy was for, and which symptoms they would alleviate if I happened to fall ill.

Strangely enough, I was never ill. Those medicine parcels were left untouched. The sweet soup parcels, on the other hand, disappeared rather quickly. During the long days and nights of homesickness, those sweet soup revitalized me physically and emotionally.

「蓮子百合腐竹雞蛋糖水」就是其中一款。這糖水滋陰潤肺、清熱解毒、健脾益胃，老少皆宜。無論任何季候，都可飲用。煲好後加雞蛋同吃，好味有益。後來我在懷孕期間和做了媽媽後，這也是我經常煲給自己和家人飲用的糖水之一。

This " Sweet soup of  Lotus seed, Lily bulb and bean curd sheet with egg" was one of them that my father said I could have at any season of the year or whenever I feel like having something soothing; and for relieving the symptoms of a cold and dry cough. Later on during my pregnancy and after I became a mother, I would make this for myself and for my family regularly too.

蓮子百合腐竹雞蛋糖水
(3 - 4 人用)

材料：

• 去皮去芯乾蓮子、乾百合各 100g
• 乾腐竹片一至二片約 20g
• 冰糖或黄冰糖 220g 或隨意
• 雞蛋 6 - 8 隻

Sweet Soup of Lotus Seed, Lily Bulb and Bean Curd Sheet with Egg 

( serve 3 - 4 )

Ingredients：

• 100g Dried lotus seed and 100g dried Lily bulb  
• 20g Dried bean curd sheet
• 220g Rock sugar or Yellow Rock sugar
• 6 - 8 eggs 

做法：

1. 蓮子百合洗浄用沸水浸泡 30 分鐘後，查看每粒蓮子，有綠色蓮芯的要打開取出再冲洗乾淨，不然會有苦澀味。乾腐竹片洗淨按碎成小塊後，同放大煲內。加水 12 碗。 
2. 加蓋大火煲滾後轉小火煲約两小時至蓮子、百合軟稔便可了。冰糖可在糖水收火前半小時加入讓其慢慢溶化。
3. 另外用小煲煮開水，水滾後小心用篩子把蛋全部放下。把水再燒開後蓋著小火再煮 7 - 8 分鐘，取出放進冷水中浸 10 分鐘。去殼後加進糖水同吃。

Method: 

1. Lotus seeds, Lily bulbs washed; dried bean curd sheets washed and broken into small pieces. Place together in a big pan, add 12 bowl of water.
2. Cover and bring to the boil, then simmer for about 2 hours until the lotus seeds and lily bulbs became soft and mushy. Add the rock sugar at the final 30 minutes to let them dissolve slowly.
3. Boil a small pan of water, slowly lower the eggs with a mesh sieve. Bring the water back to the boil and simmer the eggs with the lid on for 7 - 8 minutes. Then lift them into a pan of cold water and leave for 10 minutes. Peel off the shells and serve the eggs with the sweet soup. 

廚師的話：

   之前在 Facebook 中有網友詢問以下兩個問題，我在這裏一起解答也好供大家参考。

    Q.  為甚麼要用乾的豆腐皮，用市塲或唐人超市賣那些新鮮的不行嗎？

    A.  新鮮的腐皮多數很大的一張摺起來賣，煲一次糖水只需 20g 很少份量，用剩不知

          怎樣處理，用來煮吃也用不了那麼多。乾的腐皮存放時間長久，買一包回來可以放著

          慢慢用。而且新鮮腐皮比較多油，做菜恰宜，加進糖水有點不適合。

    Q.  為甚麼要加雞蛋同吃，味道不會很怪嗎？

    A.  我們廣東人吃糖水有很多都喜歡加進水煮後去殼的雞蛋，是一種傳統的吃法。因為雞
          蛋價亷而有豐富營養價值，其中所含的鈣質和蛋白質更是兒童成長期間和婦女生產前後
          所需要的。但想要吃清甜澄淨的糖水，雞蛋千萬不能打蛋花。一定要分開煮好後才加進
          糖水去，不然蛋中的味道和色澤會混濁了蓮子百合糖水的清新口味。

Cook's note:

    The other day some blogger friends have asked me the below questions on Facebook. I will share the
    answers here in case anybody else may be interested too.

    Q.  Why do we have to use dry bean curd sheets? Can we use those fresh ones which sold in
          markets or Chinese supermarkets?

    A.  Fresh bean curd sheets often sold as a big folded sheet, we only need a very small amount of 20g
          here and if you don't use it up soon enough they go off quickly. Dry bean curd sheets can be stored
          and kept for longer even after it's been opened so you can use them whenever you need.  Also fresh
          bean curd sheets are quite oily, it's good for adding into a savoury dish, not ideal for putting into a
          sweet soup.

     Q. Why do we have to add eggs? Wouldn't the taste be a little funny.

     A.  In Canton ( Guang-Dong ) Province we have a long tradition of eating sweet soup with eggs. It's
          because eggs are affordable but also nutritious, rich both in calcium and protein; excellent for
          growing children and women especially before and after child birth. But remember, if you want to
          have a clear looking and pure sweet taste bowl of sweet soup, you would have to boil the eggs
          separately before adding them into the soup to avoid it looking murky or taste eggy.