Tea Tree Mushroom Chicken Soup with Red Dates and Goji Berries
Hob / electric pressure cooker · Two methods for one recipe
Hob
Rehydrate tea tree mushrooms and simmer with ginger, chicken thighs and a few red dates, adding goji berries near the end. Use 25 g dried mushrooms from the 100 g pack for a comforting family soup.
Times are estimates and some preparation can overlap cooking. Check that fungi are soft throughout and use the doneness checks in the method; thicker ingredients or smaller pans may take longer. If using frozen chicken, thaw in the fridge following the pack first; allow extra thawing time.
Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.
Ingredients
- Xianyitang dried tea tree mushrooms, from a 100 g pack; dried weight 25 g
- Bone-in chicken thighs, skin-on or skinless, about 3–4 whole pieces; 600 g includes bones 600 g
- Xianyitang dried red dates, from a 200 g pack; 15 g after removing stones, halved or cut into thick pieces 15 g
- Xianyitang goji berries, from a 250 g pack 8 g
- Ginger, sliced 10 g
- Salt, added at the end and adjusted to taste 2 g, adjust to taste
- Fresh drinking water for the broth; top up with hot water if needed 2 litres; top up with hot water as needed
- Lukewarm drinking water for soaking; discard afterwards About 500 ml
Method
Rehydrate and rinse the tea tree mushrooms
Pick over and rinse 25 g dried tea tree mushrooms. Cover with about 500 ml lukewarm drinking water, roughly 30–40°C, and soak for 15–30 minutes following the pack until stems are pliable and soft throughout. Check and continue as needed without prolonged room-temperature soaking; if cooking must wait, cover and refrigerate at 5°C or below. Trim hard roots, discard soaking water and rinse again.
Start the mushrooms and prepare chicken and dates
Bring 2 litres fresh water, tea tree mushrooms and ginger to the boil in a soup pot, then gently boil for 15 minutes. Meanwhile rinse and stone dates, weigh 15 g prepared dried dates and halve them or cut them into thick pieces. Fully thaw chicken and remove skin if needed. Do not wash raw chicken; use separate tools and clean hands and surfaces afterwards.
Add chicken and simmer until fully cooked
Add thighs and dates, return to the boil and skim foam. Cover with a small gap and maintain a steady gentle boil for 45–60 minutes, turning occasionally and topping up hot water so it does not dry out. Including their head start, the tea tree mushrooms cook for 60–75 minutes and must be cooked through with tender stems. Confirm 75°C for 30 seconds in the thickest chicken meat, keeping the probe away from bone. Continue and recheck if needed.
Add goji berries near the end and season
Rinse 8 g goji berries briefly and add to the cooked soup for another 5–10 minutes of gentle boiling. Finish with about 2 g salt, tasting cooked broth before adjusting. Share chicken, mushrooms, a modest amount of dates and goji berries between four bowls and serve hot with rice. Do not decorate cooked soup with uncooked dried fungi.
Cooking tips
- Tea tree mushrooms are slender dried fungi; trim hard roots and fully rehydrate and cook them. Their preparation differs from fresh mushrooms.
- These timings are for bone-in thighs. Breast or a whole chicken needs different timing; keep the temperature probe clear of bone.
- Use dates and goji berries in modest amounts to avoid making the broth too sweet.
- If using skin-on thighs, skim surplus surface fat with a spoon. Take care with chicken bones when serving.
Allergens
The Xianyitang pack states that it is packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Check every actual ingredient label.
Storage and reheating
Keep raw chicken and rehydrated fungi refrigerated at 5°C or below; follow chicken pack instructions. Separate raw and cooked utensils and clean hands and tools after handling raw chicken. Divide cooked leftovers into shallow containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 48 hours or freeze. Reheat only once until steaming hot throughout.
Pressure cooker
Rehydrate and wash the tea tree mushrooms, then simmer them with the lid off before adding bone-in chicken thighs and red dates for pressure cooking. Add goji berries after safe release. Uses the Xianyitang 100 g mushroom, 200 g red-date and 250 g goji packs. This offers an electric pressure-cooker option, without promising a shorter total time than the hob version.
The estimate includes soaking, preparation, uncovered mushroom simmering, heating to pressure, the 12-minute pressure cycle, natural release and the final goji simmer. The mushroom pack gives no pressure-cooking conversion, so retain its 40–60-minute simmer instead of substituting a short pressure cycle.
Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.
Ingredients
- Xianyitang dried tea tree mushrooms, from a 100 g pack; dried weight 25 g
- Bone-in chicken thighs, skin-on or skinless, about 3–4 whole pieces; 600 g includes bones 600 g
- Xianyitang dried red dates, from a 200 g pack; 15 g after removing stones, halved or cut into thick pieces 15 g
- Xianyitang goji berries, from a 250 g pack 8 g
- Ginger, sliced 10 g
- Salt, added at the end and adjusted to taste 2 g, adjust to taste
- Fresh drinking water for the soup; extra hot water for adjusting the broth only after opening safely 1.5 litres; replace evaporation during uncovered simmering
- Lukewarm drinking water for soaking; discard afterwards About 500 ml
Method
Rehydrate and rinse the tea tree mushrooms
Pick over and rinse 25 g dried tea tree mushrooms. Cover with about 500 ml lukewarm drinking water, roughly 30–40°C, and soak for 15–30 minutes following the pack until stems are pliable and soft throughout. Check and continue as needed without prolonged room-temperature soaking; if cooking must wait, cover and refrigerate at 5°C or below. Trim hard roots, discard soaking water and rinse again.
Choose the cooker and check capacity
Use an electric pressure cooker of at least 6 litres. Check the sealing ring, steam path and minimum liquid requirement as instructed for your model. Food and liquid together must remain below its soup fill limit; use the lower of the half-full line and the model’s specified soup limit. If the batch does not fit, reduce all ingredients proportionately or use a larger cooker; do not pack the ingredients down.
Simmer the mushrooms fully with the lid off
Add 1.5 litres fresh drinking water, the cleaned rehydrated mushrooms and ginger to the inner pot. Using an uncovered heating mode permitted by your model, bring to the boil and adjust to a steady gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for 40–60 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through and their stems tender enough to bite easily. Watch evaporation and add hot water to avoid boiling dry. Measure the broth or note its starting level, then replace evaporation to restore about 1.5 litres. If your cooker cannot maintain an uncovered simmer, complete this stage in a saucepan and transfer the mushrooms and broth to the inner pot.
Prepare chicken and dates; check the fill level
Meanwhile prepare 600 g fully thawed bone-in chicken thighs; do not wash raw chicken. Remove skin if preferred. Rinse and stone the red dates, weigh 15 g after stoning and halve or thickly slice. Use separate utensils for raw chicken, then wash hands and contact surfaces. Cancel uncovered heating and add chicken and dates. All food and broth must stay within the cooker’s soup limit, with no scorched food stuck to the bottom.
Pressure cook the chicken for 12 minutes
Lock the lid and select the sealing or pressure-cooking position according to the model. Set high pressure for 12 minutes. This timing is for roughly 3–4 bone-in thighs in a soup base whose tea tree mushrooms are already fully cooked; it is not for a whole chicken, frozen chicken or uncooked dried mushrooms. The countdown follows heating to working pressure. Do not open during cooking.
What is natural pressure release?
When the pressure timer finishes, cancel cooking and turn off Keep Warm as instructed for your model. Leave the lid locked and let the cooker cool so the pressure falls on its own. Do not turn the valve for a quick release, move the electric cooker or cool it under running water. Allow roughly 20–40 minutes, sometimes longer. Open only when the float or pressure indicator has fully dropped and the lid unlocks normally as specified by the manufacturer; elapsed minutes alone do not establish that it is safe. Direct the escaping steam away from your face and hands when lifting the lid.
Check the chicken, then add goji berries
After opening safely, use a clean thermometer in the thickest chicken meat, avoiding bone: reach 75°C for 30 seconds. If needed, simmer uncovered until fully cooked and recheck. The mushrooms must be cooked through with tender stems. Briefly rinse 8 g goji berries, add them and gently simmer uncovered for another 5–10 minutes. Add about 2 g salt, taste the cooked soup and adjust. Add a little hot drinking water only after opening if needed and bring back to the boil. Divide into four bowls; do not garnish with uncooked dried mushrooms.
Cooking tips
- Designed for an electric pressure cooker with a selectable high-pressure setting. Do not transfer these timings directly to a stovetop pressure cooker; follow that model’s instructions.
- Total time includes heating to pressure and natural release. The high-pressure timer starts when working pressure is reached, not when the Start button is pressed.
- Times are estimates. Check doneness and follow your appliance instructions.
Allergens
The Xianyitang pack states that it is packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Check every actual ingredient label.
Storage and reheating
Keep raw chicken and rehydrated fungi refrigerated at 5°C or below; follow chicken pack instructions. Separate raw and cooked utensils and clean hands and tools after handling raw chicken. Divide cooked leftovers into shallow containers, cool promptly and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 48 hours or freeze. Reheat only once until steaming hot throughout.
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