White Pepper Pork Stomach & Chicken Soup
Cooking with Xianyitang dried ingredients
Hob
White pepper brings a warming flavour to tender, gently chewy pork stomach and chicken. The soup mix adds a mellow depth from dried ingredients including red dates and Chinese yam. Tenderise the stomach first, then add the mix and chicken for a generous pot to share.
Times are estimates and include preparation and the waits listed. Check hydration, tenderness and doneness as described.
Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.
Ingredients
- Herbal mix for pig stomach and chicken soup, use the whole pack; already contains white pepper 140 g
- Cleaned raw pork stomach, emptied; not ready-cooked tripe 600 g
- Bone-in chicken legs, cut into roughly 5 cm pieces, bought separately; do not wash raw chicken 600 g
- Fresh ginger, sliced 20 g
- Starting drinking water for the hob method, plus boiling water to replace evaporation 2.4 L
- Warm water for briefly soaking the mix; discard afterwards 500 ml
- Salt, up to 3 g, added to taste at the end; you may not need it all Up to 3 g
Method
Prepare the stomach and soup mix
Buy raw pork stomach already emptied and cleaned by the butcher. Follow the supplier’s preparation instructions, using a dedicated bowl and minimising splashing; trim excess fat and any remaining tough membrane. Keep raw and cooked equipment separate. Blanch in plenty of boiling water for about 5–8 minutes, drain, discard the blanching water and clean the pan. Do not rinse raw chicken; keep it refrigerated until needed. Rinse the soup mix briefly, soak in 500 ml warm water for 15–30 minutes, then discard that water. Put the mix loosely into a large, fine-mesh food-grade soup bag with room to expand.
Tenderise the stomach on the hob
Put the blanched stomach, ginger and 2.4 litres fresh drinking water into a sufficiently large, deep pan. Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer gently with the lid slightly ajar for about 1½–2 hours. It should be easy to pierce with a fork and nearly as tender as you want; allow longer for a thick stomach. Do not add the chicken or soup mix yet. Keep the stomach covered with liquid, topping up with boiling water as needed.
Add the mix, then the chicken
Lift the stomach onto a clean plate and let it cool just enough to handle safely. Cut into strips about 1 × 5 cm and return to the pan. Add the loosely filled soup bag, pressing all dried ingredients below the liquid and turning occasionally to keep them immersed. Simmer for 20–30 minutes. Add the refrigerated chicken, return to the boil, then simmer for about 25–30 minutes or longer until fully cooked. The mix needs 45–60 minutes of simmering in total, in line with its instructions; chicken thickness affects cooking time. Maintain enough liquid to avoid cooking the ingredients dry.
Check doneness and remove the soup bag
Use a clean food thermometer in the centre of the thickest chicken piece, away from bone: reach 75°C for at least 30 seconds, or 70°C for 2 minutes. The stomach must also be fully cooked and as tender as desired. Continue cooking if underdone or still too firm. Remove the soup bag; do not serve whole peppercorns or hard roots as ingredients to swallow. Taste before adding a little salt. The broth has its natural colour and needs no milk to whiten it. Take care with bones when serving.
Cooking tips
- Difficulty: Intermediate; involves handling offal and checking meat doneness.
- Use the whole 140 g mixed pack for about six soup portions. Taking a random handful may give a very different balance of ingredients.
- The mix contains white pepper, codonopsis, red dates, Chinese yam, astragalus, lily bulb, longan and goji berries. Buy the stomach, chicken and ginger separately. This describes culinary flavour rather than medical benefits.
- Both methods use the same main ingredients. The pressure-cooker option uses a different water quantity and sequence; follow one complete method. Tenderising time varies with stomach thickness, supplier preparation and cooker.
Allergens
Check the actual soup-mix label and individual sensitivities to its ingredients. The Xianyitang dried-ingredient packs state that they are packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Check the actual labels of every brand used.
Storage and reheating
Keep raw chicken and pork stomach refrigerated at 5°C or below and follow their use-by instructions. Separate raw and cooked utensils. Cool leftovers promptly in shallow containers, refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking, and eat within 48 hours or freeze. Reheat only once until hot throughout.
Electric pressure cooker
White pepper brings a warming flavour to tender, gently chewy pork stomach and chicken. The soup mix adds a mellow depth from dried ingredients including red dates and Chinese yam. Tenderise the stomach first, then add the mix and chicken for a generous pot to share.
Times are estimates and include preparation and the waits listed. Check hydration, tenderness and doneness as described.
Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.
Ingredients
- Herbal mix for pig stomach and chicken soup, use the whole pack; already contains white pepper 140 g
- Cleaned raw pork stomach, emptied; not ready-cooked tripe 600 g
- Bone-in chicken legs, cut into roughly 5 cm pieces, bought separately; do not wash raw chicken 600 g
- Fresh ginger, sliced 20 g
- Fresh drinking water: 1.6 L for the pressure stage, 300 ml added after opening, plus boiling water for evaporation 1.6 L + 300 ml
- Warm water for briefly soaking the mix; discard afterwards 500 ml
- Salt, up to 3 g, added to taste at the end; you may not need it all Up to 3 g
Method
Prepare and blanch
Use an electric pressure cooker of at least 6 litres with a high-pressure setting. Check its minimum liquid, soup fill limit and release instructions first. Clean, blanch and soak as in hob step 1, keeping the chicken refrigerated. Only the blanched stomach and ginger go into the pressure stage, with no chicken or soup bag.
Pressure-cook the stomach for 30 minutes
Put the blanched stomach, ginger and 1.6 litres fresh drinking water in the inner pot, covering the stomach while meeting the cooker’s minimum liquid. Food and water together must stay below both the model’s soup limit and the half-full line, whichever is lower. Use the hob method if the batch will not fit; do not force it in. Check the rim, vent and sealing ring are clean, lock the lid and set to sealing as instructed. Select high pressure for 30 minutes. Allow a further roughly 15–25 minutes to come to pressure; 30 minutes is not the whole preparation time.
Allow complete natural release and check tenderness
When cooking ends, turn off Keep Warm and leave the valve sealed until pressure has fallen to zero and the float is fully down. This often takes about 20–40 minutes or longer; follow the cooker’s indicators. Do not force-release or force the lid open. Open away from steam as instructed. Check the stomach is easily pierced with a fork. If still firm, simmer uncovered until nearly as tender as desired. Lift out, cool just enough to handle safely, slice and return to the pot.
Simmer the mix and chicken with the lid open
Keep the lid open from now on and do not pressurise again. Add 300 ml boiling water and the loosely filled soup bag. Keep all its ingredients immersed, turning occasionally. Use a controllable low sauté setting, or transfer to a hob pan, and simmer gently for 20–30 minutes. If the sauté setting is too fierce, reduce it or transfer pans. Add the refrigerated chicken, return to the boil and simmer for about 25–30 minutes or longer until fully cooked. The soup mix needs 45–60 minutes of simmering in total. Replace evaporation with a little boiling water as needed.
Check temperature, remove the bag and season
The thickest chicken centre, away from bone, must reach 75°C for at least 30 seconds or 70°C for 2 minutes; the stomach must be fully cooked and suitably tender. Continue cooking if needed. Remove the soup bag, taste before adding salt and take care with bones. Pressure is used only to tenderise the stomach; the chicken and mixed dried ingredients finish in an open pot.
Cooking tips
- Difficulty: Intermediate; involves handling offal and checking meat doneness.
- Use the whole 140 g mixed pack for about six soup portions. Taking a random handful may give a very different balance of ingredients.
- The mix contains white pepper, codonopsis, red dates, Chinese yam, astragalus, lily bulb, longan and goji berries. Buy the stomach, chicken and ginger separately. This describes culinary flavour rather than medical benefits.
- Both methods use the same main ingredients. The pressure-cooker option uses a different water quantity and sequence; follow one complete method. Tenderising time varies with stomach thickness, supplier preparation and cooker.
- For an electric cooker with a high-pressure setting; do not transfer these timings directly to a stovetop pressure cooker. Natural release means letting pressure fall on its own, without turning the valve for quick release. Add the mix and chicken only after opening, allowing the mix its labelled simmering time.
Allergens
Check the actual soup-mix label and individual sensitivities to its ingredients. The Xianyitang dried-ingredient packs state that they are packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Check the actual labels of every brand used.
Storage and reheating
Keep raw chicken and pork stomach refrigerated at 5°C or below and follow their use-by instructions. Separate raw and cooked utensils. Cool leftovers promptly in shallow containers, refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking, and eat within 48 hours or freeze. Reheat only once until hot throughout.
Shop the Xianyitang ingredients for this recipe
