Snow Fungus Longan Date Soup 銀耳桂圓紅棗甜湯

Sweets for Spring~ 春天吃甜甜.

Sharing with y’all this sweet soup dessert my grandma always served during Luna New Year.

An auspicious and beauty soup with ingredients good for skin, vision and immune system.

甜湯內有喜慶的紅白小湯圓 (無餡兒). 更吉祥如意唷～

Ingredients:

35g dried snow fungus – Tremella Mushroom(銀耳)

16-20 dried longan, better get the shell-on ones. (桂圓）

12 dried jujubes (red dates)

A handful of Gogi berries

Small white and red glutinous rice balls (small tangyuan without filling)- they come in frozen, boxed.

Water (about 3- 3.5 Liters)

Crystal sugar, to taste

Optional: a few pieces of ginger --- Ginger is an unusual ingredient in this soup. I added it just because I’d like to have ginger flavor and make the soup even ‘warmer’ to body.

Instructions:

1. Soak dried snow fungus in clean water for a few hours till soften and larger in size. Drain, then chop or cut into smaller pieces.

2. Remove shells of dried longan. Rinse jujubes, and Gogi berries.

3. Place snow fungus, jujubes, dried longan, and ginger in a large soup pot. Fill in water.

4. Bring the soup pot to boil over high heat. Then simmer over low heat for 2-3 hours.

5. Add Gogi berries. Add crystal sugar, to taste. Start with ¼ cup.

6. Add small white and red glutinous rice balls and cook till soften, about 10 minutes.