Rice Wine Chicken (Confinement) Soup

One of the happiest times in my life was during my confinement period. I was pampered and fussed over with a variety of special dishes. All I had to do was rest and relax and eat whatever was put in front of me. According to the Mangalorean Protestant tradition, there are certain foods to be eaten during this period and others to be avoided. My Mum faithfully made all these traditional dishes for me and I meticulously copied them out in my recipe book. One of my favourites was the Confinement Soup that my Mum used to make everyday for elevenses. She served it with sweet rusks which I really enjoyed eating. I made this Confinement soup numerous times and even shared the recipe with my friends because it can be had by anyone anytime. The recipe came from my grandmother who probably got it from her mother and my Mum got it from her. Anyhow, to cut a long story short, I came across other recipes for Confinement Soup on my favourite site www.pinterest.com which are Chinese in origin and got really excited at making Rice Wine Chicken (Confinement) Soup since I had all the ingredients at home. It turned out spectacular and both of us slurped it up with …you guessed right… sweet rusks.

The Recipe For Rice Wine Chicken (Confinement) Soup:

The Ingredients For Rice Wine Chicken (Confinement) Soup:

500 gms skinless chicken washed with bones, cut into medium sized pieces

10 small red dates

2 tbsp goji berries ( also known as Wolf Berries)

2 cups Chinese Rice Wine

4 cups hot water

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp gingelly (sesame) oil

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp soy sauce

4 fat cloves of garlic

2 inches sliced ginger

Method For Rice Wine Chicken Confinement Soup:

Marinade the chicken with the soy sauce, sugar and olive oil for 5 minutes. Heat the sesame seed oil and stir fry the ginger and garlic over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant. Add the red dates, goji berries and chicken and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add the Chinese Wine and hot water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 30 minutes or until the flavour develops.

I was quite surprised at how well this recipe turned out and am planning to make it again.