Today both Hubby and I tried to be hardworking and prepared the first double-boiled soup in my pregnancy. Since the second trimester, I have been taking 'instant' tonics, such as Eu Yan Sang's Concentrated Bird's Nest and Brand's Essence of Chicken regularly.

But after listening to the advice of friends and colleagues, we decided to try some double-boiled soups to better prepare both Buddy and I. 

In fact, we were rather surprised that quite a number of our friends and colleagues were willing to splurge during their or their wives' pregnancies and spend quite a fortune on the tonics. Weeks ago, we knew that almost everyone we asked have invested in bird's nest during their pregnancy, and off we went to buy the goodies. And a few days ago, to our surprise, almost all have invested in cordyceps （冬虫草）as well! Mind you, the price of cordyceps has increased tremendously in recent years, due to declining supply. Thanks to the opening special by the Eu Yan Sang outlet in 112 Katong, we were able to purchase tonics such as Essence of Chicken at discounted price.

8 boxes of Essence of Chicken!

Let me give you an idea on the price range for cordycep sold in EYS and ZTP.

For EYS, the selling price for 4000 pcs is $2900. (a 10% discount is possible). We saw a smaller box of 40 pcs selling at $800+. During the opening special, EYS is selling the 4000 pcs at $2088, but it's only limited to 50 sets per day (23-24 Mar).

For ZTP, the selling price for a small box of around 40 pcs (tried to visually count), quality looks similar to EYS and from Tibet, is $500+. The salesperson offered a discount and the final price is $360. ZTP also offers cheaper alternatives, in bundled form from Qinghai, but the cordyceps are not as good looking as the more expensive ones.

As we weren't sure how my body will react to cordyceps, we opted for a small box from EYS.

While Hubby was preparing the soup today, 
I counted and there are 22 pcs. 

We were given a few recipes to try, and we opted for the Cordycep with Black Chicken recipe from Grace.

Ingredients:
Cordyceps - 6 pcs
Pitted red dates - 6 pcs
Wolfberries -  6 pcs
Black chicken - 1 whole

Thanks to my Mom's advice, Hubby bought the black chicken from the wet market instead of the supermarket. The stallholder was able to skin the chicken for him, thus saving him effort and time!

Btw, the Wolfberries are from EYS (from the same roadshow). The wolfberries came in a can form and the quality is indeed better than those in packet form.

 $25.50 per can. We got it at $20.40 due to the opening special.

The wolfberries were bigger and fresher looking.

Ok, let's get back to the preparation:

1. Wash all ingredients. (We saved the cordyceps for the last)

2. Put the black chicken in boiling water for a few minutes. 

3. Put all ingredients in the ceramic pot and cover with hot water.

4. Double boil the pot for 1.5hrs.

5. Add salt to taste.

This is what it looked like before we add the cordyceps.

Think we added too much water.. But the taste is still nice!

Voila! After 2 hrs plus of boiling...

Conclusion: More skin can be removed from the chicken as there was a layer of oil in the end. Nevertheless, it was great effort by Hubby and a yummy way to spend our Sunday afternoon. Hubby, who's quite averse to Chinese soups, drank a big bowl today! He shall be tasked to eat the fungus as there may still be some medicinal value left.

Adios!