Cheng Tng is a very traditional sweet dessert that is loved by many chinese people. The name literally translates to clear soup, and is made up of many assortments of ingredients such as combining dried longan, white fungus, gingko nuts, red dates, pearl barley, large sago pearls, lotus seeds, and candied winter melon. The soup is sometimes also usually enhanced with pang da hai (Sterculia lychnophora), and it can be consumed either warm or chilled. This is my particular version.
Cheng Tng
Ingredients:
1. 200g of Lian Zi, aka Lotus Seeds.
2. 200g of Bai He, aka Lily Bulbs.
3. 200g of Dried Longan.
4. 2 full white fungus.
5. 500g of Gingko Nuts.
6. Rock Sugar
Instructions:
1.
Soak the Lian Zi or Lotus Seeds in hot water for 2 hrs to soften. When you are done, slowly peel them up into halves and be sure to take out the green shoot that is found between the nuts. Those cause bitterness.
The green shoots look like this.
2.
Get ready a wok of boiling water to steam the Lian Zi or Lotus Seeds for 1/2hr to further cook and soften it.
3. Now soak the Gingko Nuts in hot water till you are ready to cook. Be sure to rinse it before using.
4. As for the Dried Longans, just rinse them will do.
4. Soak the Bai He or Lily Bulbs as well as the White Fungus to allow them to fatten up. Be sure to peel the fungus into pieces when done. Rinse them well before using.
5. In the actual pot for the dessert, once the water is boiling put in all the ingredients such as Dried Longans, White Fungus, and Bai He/ Lily Bulbs except for the Lian Zi or Lotus Seeds as it is already cooked.
6. Boil the ingredients for 1/2hr with low fire.
7. Add in the rock sugar to taste depending on how sweet you desire. And then finally add in the Lian Zi or Lotus Seeds at the end before serving!
8. And you are done!