Barley snow fungus quail eggs soup

This is a very Chinese kind of thing. We call it “Thongsui” which means sweet water. It can be eaten as a dessert or a snack, morning or evening, it doesn’t really matter. This sweet barley drink is a refreshing option from a cup of coffee or tea.

Ingredients

1/2 cup barley pearls (rinsed, drained)

1 palm size dried snow fungus (soak in water, it expands)

100 gm candied wintermelon (cut into small pieces)

50 gm rock sugar (depends on personal preference)

3 – 4 litres of filtered water

1 dozen quails eggs

Method

1. Boil quail eggs in a pot of water for 20 minutes. Discard hot water and leave eggs to cool then peel them.
2. Boil barley and water in an uncovered pot for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Tear the expanded snow fungus into bite-size pieces, discard the hard bits.
4. After an hour of boiling, add the snow fungus and candied wintermelon into the barley soup. Add rock sugar one at a time. How sweet really depends on personal taste.
5. Lastly, drop all the peeled quail eggs into the barley soup 10 minutes before soup is ready. Serve hot or cold.