Chicken Essence (鸡精)

Once in a while we will need to re-boost our energy. My mother used to say, drink the essence as it will improve your memory and reduce stress.
If you want to know more about the benefits of Chicken essense; read this : Effect of Taking Chicken Essence on Stress and Cognition

nutriweb.org.my/publications/mjn009_1/mjn9n1_art3.pdf

Chicken essence is actually good for both old and young. I personally do not like the ones that they sell off the rack Chicken essence as I do not really like the smell of it, also I have no faith in how they are prepared. So I decided that the only way is to cooked it myself, and it is really easy to cook using a double boiler.

Chicken Essence -鸡精(serves 4)

1 whole   Free range chicken / Kampung Chicken

6-8 pcs    American ginseng shreds

1. First flatten the chicken and hammer it a few times at the bonny areas.
2. Put in the ginseng shreds at the bottom of the pot. Then place your hammered chicken on top of it.
3. Cover the double boiler and boil for at least 3-4 hours. (I boil for 6 hours using my electric double boiler.)
4. Now when it is done, discard the chicken and drink only the essence.
5. If you feel that throwing away the chicken is a bit wasted, try to cook it again with some vegetables and drink the soup and eat the veges only as the chicken will be tasteless.

Please note that a double boiler has two pots in its combination. One pot to place the water and let it boil while inside there is another pot whereby you place in your ingredients. You cannot substitute it with a slow cooker.