Peach Gum, White Fungus, and Snow Pear Soup

Prepare all kinds of ingredients. Choose five or six pieces of peach gum and put them into a large bowl. Fill with water and soak overnight in advance (unsoaked peach gum looks like the small transparent stones shown in the picture). Soak the white fungus for half an hour in advance. Small tip: Don’t be greedy when soaking peach gum. Five or six pieces the size of a fingernail can expand more than ten times after soaking, enough to make two full bowls (this is the amount after removing impurities and other losses). The container for soaking must be large enough, and there must be enough water to soak it thoroughly. If the weather is hot, it should be soaked in the refrigerator. Do not soak too much at once, as bacteria can easily grow in the water. Do not consume it if it goes bad.

Soak the peach gum until it is soft and when you pinch it with your hand, there is no hard core, indicating that it is properly soaked. Break it into small pieces, sift and rinse to remove black impurities. A small tip: During the cutting, harvesting, and drying process, peach gum inevitably picks up some bark and impurities from the air, which are difficult to clean before soaking. After soaking, you can use tweezers to remove the black impurities, or, like I do, crushing and sifting with water is more convenient.

Put the prepared peach gum and chopped white fungus into a small pot, and add an appropriate amount of water.

Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for about half an hour. Small tip: Peach gum is not better the longer it is cooked; cooking it for too long not only loses nutrients but also causes it to break down, losing its naturally chewy texture. Generally, peach gum that has been fully soaked only needs to be cooked for half an hour.

Wait until the peach gum is cooked to a slightly thickened consistency, then measure out an appropriate amount of brown sugar. Tip: I used brown sugar this time, but you can also use rock sugar or rock sugar syrup to flavor it. When adding sugar, add it in small amounts gradually to avoid making it too sweet all at once. In terms of sweetness, the different sugars rank as follows: white sugar > rock sugar syrup > rock sugar > brown sugar. You can choose according to your personal taste.

Peel the snow pear, cut it into small pieces, use a mold to carve it into flower shapes, and put it into a pot together with brown sugar.

Continue simmering over low heat for about 3 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the sugar is dissolved and flavorful, then serve.