Quarantine Comforter — Qingping Bat and Apple Soup
Going batty cooped up in your quarantine cave, eating same old-same old everyday? Try this secret family recipe.
Qingping Bat and Apple Soup
Serves 4
400g bat, trimmed (fruit bat is good)
3 red apples, skinned, sans core and pits
8 red dates, pits removed
25g black wood fungus, soaked
1 slice orange peel, julienned
8 bowls water
Seasoning: Soy sauce or salt
Note: If your local Whole Foods doesn’t stock bat, substitute pork. Apples can be substituted with pears. Wood fungus with any dried mushrooms.
Method
Drain the soaked dried black fungus and shred finely.
Skin the bat. Hook it by the head, cut the skin around the neck, then cut the skin on its back and pull it towards the hind legs. Cut the limbs off at the first joint and remove the skin completely. Cut off the the wings and head and remove all internal organs.
The next step is tricky and involves removing the glands. There are glands on either side of the neck, under all the limbs and one on each side of the vertical column close to the kidneys. Do NOT cut through the glands when removing them.
Rinse bat in cold water and slice finely.
Bring water to boil, add all ingredients and simmer for 1.5 hours until soup thickens.
If you like things a bit zippy, stir in a little five spice or chili flakes, and add a twist of lime.
Serve hot.
Safety Note
Boil and boil wonderful. Ensures kill all bat and virus.
Nutrition
1 Serving (1 cup)
Carb17g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugar 0g, Fat 7g (Saturated 0g, Polyunsaturated 0g, Monounsaturated 0g, Trans 0g), Protein 14g, Huawei 5g