Traditional Sweet Ginkgo BeanCurd Soup

The Chinese people love occasional deserts that can make up the long busy day at work. One common favorite of such is the sweet Ginkgo Beancurd soup, a desert cooked with rock sugar and barley. It is easy to drink, mildly sweet allowing the whole body to feel replenished and refreshed without pumping too much sugar into the blood.

Ginkgo nuts are the seeds of the lotus plant and they are known to be one of the oldest plants existed with a pretty sturdy rate of survival. The leaves are used to treat a variety of ailments and conditions including asthma, bronchitis, fatigue, and tinnitus (ringing or roaring sounds in the ears). It is also known to be able to improve memory, blood circulation, prevent Alzheimer's disease, improve sexual health, and decrease intermittent claudication (leg pain caused by narrowing of arteries).

To make this soup, first is to ensure that you wash the Ginkgo nuts and take out the black stripe from the middle of the nut. This stripe is very bitter and contains toxic. Be sure to remove them first. Then follow these steps:

1. Rinse the barley, cut the beancurd strips and soak them from 20 minutes.
2. Bring water to boil and add ginkgo nuts, barley and the beancurd strips
3. Cover the pot and boil for 15 minutes on high
4. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour
5. Add the rock sugar and cook till dissolve (The reason for adding rock sugar last, is to make sure the sweet taste do not get dissolved during the long hour cooking.)
   
6. Beat the eggs (optional to put eggs, if you are egg allergic, opt them out)
   
7. Remove the soup from the heat
8. Stream the beaten eggs into the soup before serving.

Word of Caution: Some people are allergic to Ginkgo nuts causing them headache, nausea, gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea, dizziness, or allergic skin reactions. However, these reactions are more prone if user is taking Ginkgo pills or other forms of extract. The desert itself should be mild enough not to cause too much problems for anyone.