Five Whites Soup 五白汤

Five white ingredients in one pale, silky pot: silver ear, lily bulb, lotus seeds, Chinese yam and job's tears. It is the gentlest recipe of autumn and the one I make the most, a pot on Sunday and bowls all week.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1/2 dried silver ear mushroom (银耳, about 1/2 ounce), soaked 20 minutes
• 1/4 cup dried lily bulbs (百合), soaked 20 minutes
• 1/3 cup dried lotus seeds (莲子, halved, hearts removed), soaked 20 minutes
• 1 Chinese yam (山药, about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/3 cup job's tears (薏米), soaked 1 hour
• 8 cups water
• Rock sugar to taste (start with 3 tablespoons)
• A few goji berries (optional)

Steps

1. Trim the hard yellow base off the silver ear and tear it into small pieces.
2. Simmer the silver ear, lotus seeds and job's tears in the water for 40 minutes, until the broth turns slightly silky and the grains start to open.
3. Add the yam and lily bulbs and simmer 15 minutes more.
4. Stir in the rock sugar and simmer 5 minutes, until it dissolves.
5. Serve warm, scattered with goji berries. It keeps 3 days in the fridge and is good cold too, though warm is the season's way.