Leung Fai-hung, executive Chinese chef at Hoi King Heen at the InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong hotel, recently started serving a double-boiled soup with hairy fig that is said to strengthen the “chi” – the body’s energy.

The Chinese yam, glehnia root and dried tangerine peel in the soup are also reputed to soothe the lungs and nourish the liver.

“Good hairy fig smells like coconut,” Leung says. “It is good for both very hot and cool weather.”

Double-boiled soup with hairy fig

Ingredients:

400g pork

250g chicken

80g hairy fig

300g Chinese yam

3 pieces dried fig

40g glehnia root

1 small piece dried tangerine peel

1 small piece ginger

Method:

Cut the pork and chicken meat into small pieces. Rinse them thoroughly then blanch in boiling water.

Wash all the other ingredients and place them, together with the cooked pork and chicken meat, in the soup pot. Fill it with one litre of water.

Steam the covered soup pot for four hours. Add a spoonful of salt before serving.

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Leung recommends incorporating fresh and black garlic into dishes for healthier meals.

Rich in allicin, fresh garlic can help fight flu and the common cold. Aged and fermented black garlic is loaded with antioxidants and can be added to double-boiled soup for its subtle sweetness, Leung explains.

Here is one dish he recommends that involves pan-frying Angus beef tenderloin with fresh and black garlic.

Pan-fried Angus beef tenderloin with garlic

Ingredients:

300g Angus beef tenderloin, diced

⅓ tsp salt

120g black garlic

80g fresh garlic, peeled and sliced

2 spring onions, cut into 2cm lengths

1 red pepper, cut into matchsticks

1 teaspoon cornstarch solution (1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water)

Cooking oil

Seasonings:

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

½ teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon Chinese yellow wine

1 teaspoon cornstarch solution

Method:

Marinate the Angus beef tenderloin with the salt and a teaspoon of cornstarch solution for 20 minutes. Slowly pan-fry until golden brown.

Deep-fry the fresh garlic until crisp.

Heat two teaspoons of oil in a wok and add the red pepper and black garlic and stir-fry briefly. Add the beef and mix. Stir together the seasoning ingredients and add them to the pan and simmer briefly. Place on a dish then sprinkle with the deep-fried garlic before serving.

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Dr Ruth Lee, a registered Chinese medicine practitioner at Balance Health, a holistic health clinic in Hong Kong’s Central business district, recommends a sweet dessert soup that can moisturise the lungs, clear phlegm and relieve coughing.

Sweet dessert soup

Ingredients:

½ stick Henan yam

2 Tianjin pears

½ bulb Lanzhou lily root

1 piece dried tremella

30 almonds

20 goji berries

20g-30g rock sugar

Method:

Peel the yam and cut it into cubes. Cut the pears into cubes and slice the lily bulbs. Soak the dried tremella in water for 15 minutes. Rinse the almonds and goji berries.

Put the yam, pear, tremella and almonds with one litre of water in a pot over a high flame. After the water boils, turn the flame to medium and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the lily root and rock sugar and cook for another 10 minutes. Put the goji berries into bowls and ladle the ingredients in before serving.

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Lee also recommends an immunity-boosting herbal formula that can be drunk throughout the day. For children under the age of 10, halve the amount of the ingredients, she says.

Immunity-boosting herbal formula

Ingredients:

9g astragalus

9g glehnia root

5g honeysuckle

5g weeping forsythia

9g Indian buead tuckahoe

3g dried tangerine peel

Method:

Soak all ingredients in one litre of water for 30 minutes.

Place over a high flame and cook until the liquid boils, then lower the flame and simmer for 15 minutes.

If you have symptoms such as sore throat or constipation, Lee suggests adding the following ingredients to the above formula.

9g radish seeds

9g rhizoma atractylodis

9g indigowoad root

9g platycodon grandiflorum

9g reed rhizome

9g oroxylum indicum

3g licorice root

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Having a well-rounded diet is key to preventing diseases caused by a deficiency of vitamins or minerals, as is keeping your immune system in optimum shape, says Dr Sonal Hattangdi-Haridas, nutritional medicine doctor at The London Medical Clinic in Hong Kong’s Central district.

When you shop for food, always check the source, she says – although that is not always possible in Hong Kong.

“If the soil [in which vegetables are grown] is selenium deficient, the vegetables will be selenium deficient,” she says. “Selenium deficiency is commonly observed in situations where a virus can mutate into much more pathogenic strains.”

Hattangdi-Haridas adds that for some ingredients, more nutrients are released after cooking. “For example, nuts – if you fry them in a wok with a little bit of oil, the bioavailability of a lot of the micronutrients increases. So roasted nuts would have more to give you than just raw nuts.”

She recommends these simple and easy recipes with ingredients you can easily find in supermarkets. “[They have] the correct blend of macro- and micronutrients to ensure your defence mechanism is nutritionally replete.”

Nutrient-rich frittata

This dish is high in zinc, selenium, vitamin C, protein and flavonoids with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped broccoli

¼ cup chopped shallots

¼ cup chopped spinach

¼ cup chopped red pepper

¼ cup chopped yellow pepper

A small pinch of dried oregano

¼ cup roasted nut mix

½ cup quartered cherry tomatoes

6 large eggs

¼ cup almond milk or cow’s milk

¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

Salt, to taste

Olive oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius). Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over a medium flame, add the vegetables (except the cherry tomatoes) and oregano. Stir-fry until the broccoli is tender and still green. Add the mixed nuts, followed by the tomatoes.

Whisk the eggs, milk and some salt until smooth and add to the vegetables in the skillet. Stir until the vegetables are evenly coated with the eggs. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until set. Garnish with feta cheese before serving.

Hod Mami’s spinach yogurt sauce

This sauce is rich in calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, iron, zinc, selenium and protein.

Ingredients:

2 cups finely chopped spinach

1 cup Greek yogurt, whisked

1 tsp coconut oil

¼ tsp mustard seeds

1 cup finely chopped onion

Salt to taste

Method:

Blanch the spinach in salted boiling water, then drain. Once the spinach has cooled to room temperature, squeeze out the excess water, then add to the whisked yogurt. Add salt to taste, then refrigerate.

Just before serving, heat the coconut oil in a small wok, add the mustard seeds and fry till they pop. Add the onions and fry until they soften. Spoon the ingredients over the spinach and yogurt and mix at the serving table.

Mung dal soup

This soup is packed with protein, zinc, vitamin C, potassium and selenium.

Ingredients:

1 small cup split and skinned mung dal (dried mung beans)

3 scant cups water

Salt

2 cloves garlic, sliced

½ inch piece of peeled ginger, finely sliced

Fresh coriander and freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method:

Soak the mung dal in water for 30 minutes, then boil until soft. Crush with a ladle to form a smooth mixture. Season to taste with salt. Stir fry ginger and garlic in a wok, add to the soup and bring to the boil. Ladle into bowls and garnish with finely chopped coriander and a little lemon juice.

Crunchy healthy cereal snack

This snack is loaded with calcium, vitamin D, zinc and selenium and is “best for school kids bored at home”, Hattangdi-Haridas says.

Ingredients:

2 tsp cooking oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

6 to 10 curry leaves

4 cloves

1-inch piece of cinnamon stick

1 cup cashew nuts, cut into small pieces

1 cup California organic raisins

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp fine cane sugar powder

Salt to taste

250g unsweetened cornflakes

Method:

Mix together the cumin powder, coriander powder, sugar and some salt.

Heat a wok over a low flame, add the oil and fry the mustard seeds, curry leaves, cloves and cinnamon. When the mustard seeds start popping, add the cashews and raisins and cook until they turn a little pink. Add the cornflakes a handful at a time and sprinkle with some of the mixed powder. Repeat the process until all the cornflakes have been thoroughly mixed with the spices.

After adding all the ingredients, stir over a low flame for at least five minutes. Cool to room temperature, then store in an airtight container.

Chickpea masala

Ingredients:

1 cup dried chickpeas, thoroughly rinsed

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 large onion, finely sliced lengthwise

2 large tomatoes, finely chopped

2 tsp garlic-ginger paste

1 tsp cumin seed powder

1 tsp coriander seed powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Fresh coriander

Method:

Soak the chickpeas in three cups of water overnight, then cook at high pressure for 15 minutes in a pressure cooker. Cool until you can open the lid, then drain the chickpeas, reserving the cooking water.

In a wok, shallow-fry the onions with the oil until they take on a reddish tinge. Add the tomatoes, cover with the lid and simmer until soft. Add the ginger-garlic paste, cumin powder and coriander powder and mix well

Add the cooked chickpeas and season with salt and garam masala. Add water to make the ingredients a saucy consistency, then garnish with coriander.