Sweet Potato and Longan Soup

This is one of my favourite Chinese dessert that's so easy to prepare within minutes. Whenever I crave for something sweet, light, guilt-free and hassle-free, this is it. It is simply a concoction of sweet potatoes and dried longans, sweetened with rock sugar and red dates. I add some sliced ginger to give the zing, which helps 'spice' up the dessert.

Sweet potato is a wonderfully versatile root vegetable fruit that can be prepared and consumed in many ways. It can be eaten steamed, baked as a cake, eaten french fried, a dessert in either Chinese or Western styles. It is a good source Vitamin C, potassium, beta carotene and folic acid among others.

Longan, (Dragon Eyeball known for its resemblance to the eye), is another common fruit in Asia grown in temperatures no less than 4.5 deg C. Driged longan is used in making Chinese desserts. They are dried and dark brown and expands when boiled in water. It is sweet and is known to have an effect on relaxation.

For a simple dose of Sweet Potato and Longan Soup, all you need to prepare are:

A:
1 to 1.5 l water
1/2 cup red dates

B:
Sliced ginger
2/3 cup dried longans (washed and soaked)
1 cup diced sweet potato
Some cut fungus (washed, soaked and expanded)

C:
1-2 tbs rock sugar

1. Bring 1 to boil.
2. Add in B and let it boil over small fire for 20min.
3. Add in C and stir thoroughly for another 20min.
4. Serve hot.

Optional: You may wish to add in 1/2 tbs of apricot seeds to the soup in Step 1 if desired.