Step 1

Rinse the dried lotus seeds, dried lily bulbs, dried south almonds, and dried north almonds (be sure to look at the measurements for each of the almonds!). Add them all into a bowl with 1 cup of hot water. Cover and let rehydrate for about an hour or until lotus seeds are easily split apart.

Step 2

In a separate, large bowl, add the dried snow fungus and submerge in cold or room temp water to rehydrate. This should only take 5 minutes. Once rehydrated, drain the water.

Step 3

On the underside of the snow fungus, there’s a tough, round end. Carefully use a scissor to cut around and remove this part, as it’s inedible.

Step 4

With your hands or a knife, split the snow fungus into smaller, bite-sized pieces, about the size of a broccoli floret.

Step 5

Once the lotus seed is mostly rehydrated, it should be easy to split. Split all the seeds in half and remove any sprouts you find in the middle, as these can be bitter. Make sure to keep the water that the seeds were rehydrating in, we’ll use it for the soup!

Step 6

Peel the Asian pear. Cut out the tough middle core, then slice into 1 inch chunks.

Step 7

To a large soup pot, add the rehydrated lotus seeds, lily bulbs, north and south almonds, and the water they were rehydrating in. Add the chunks of Asian pear.

Step 8

Add 8 cups of water to the pot. Bring everything up to a boil.

Step 9

Once it’s boiling, lower it to a simmer, then cover and let simmer for about 45 mins. You don’t need to simmer it this long, but my mom prefers to to extract out the flavors more. As long as the lotus seeds, lily bulbs, and almonds are softened enough to eat, you can move onto the next step!

Step 10

If a lot of water was lost during cooking, you can add more water to the pot.

Step 11

Lastly, add the snow fungus, goji berries, and sugar to taste. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes and it’s ready to enjoy! We also love to eat this soup cold, so it’s great as leftovers.