In the process of making use of the herbs i have, my lovely mum came up with a recipe for us! She's great at making Chinese herbal soups and when I was still living at home, I'd have it multiple times a week.
All notes below are said by her so pay attention!
Benefits
This soup brings multiple benefits for your body.
Decreasing heat, eliminating excess fluids and decreasing tiredness in one's body.
What's different about this soup
Compared to other soup recipes I've read about, this soup doesn't involve boiling meat and vegetables for long hours. When meat is boiled for many hours, it is evident that it will lead to high urine acid and aching bones. Vegetables being boiled for hours can also lead to their vitamins being gone!
Balancing temperatures with Winter melon and ginger
Normally, winter melons cools the body down and the addition of ginger slices in this soup balances the temperature as it brings in heat.
Dried Chinese yam
This is a dry and hard herb. To prepare this herb before cooking, rinse then soak them in water for at least 2 hours/overnight in an airtight container in the fridge.
Red dates
Red dates need to be soaked in water for 20 minutes until they become softer. After soaking, cut and discard the seed. Looking for a substitute for red dates? Use 2 honey dates in its place!
Dried Mandarin peel
One whole mandarin peel usually has 3 or 4 portions. I used 2 portions so that the taste wasn't too strong. This needs to be soaked for 20 minutes and then you'd need to scrape off the inner white bit of the peel to avoid a bitter taste.
Blanching the pork ribs
Optional extras ~ carrots/sweetcorn
Diced carrots or sweet corn cobs can be added with the winter melon in step 5.
This recipe makes 2-3 servings
Total time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
500g Winter melon 冬瓜
20g Pearl Barley 薏米
1/4 Dried mandarin peel 陈皮
6 pieces Dried Chinese Yam 淮山
6 Red dates 紅棗 /2 honey dates
1-2 slices Ginger
2 large pork ribs
Salt 1/2 tsp
Carrot/ sweetcorn (optional)
Method:
Soak the dried Chinese yam 淮山 for at least 2 hours in water or overnight in an airtight container in the fridge.
Rinse the pearl barley 薏米 , dried mandarin peel 陈皮 and red dates 紅棗. soak the pearl barley 薏米 for 10 minutes in water. Soak the dried mandarin peel 陈皮 and red dates 紅棗for 20 minutes in water.
Slice ginger.
After soaking the dried mandarin peel 陈皮, scrape off the inner white part to avoid a bitter taste.
In a pot of boiling water, blanch the pork ribs for 2 minutes.
Cut the winter melon 冬瓜 into about 3cm wide cubes and separate the skin and seeds. Do not discard the skin and seeds as we will need to add them into the soup later!
In a pot of boiling water, add in the blanched pork ribs, soaked pearl barley 薏米, red dates 紅棗, mandarin peel 陈皮, Chinese yam 淮山 and ginger slices. Boil for 15 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium and continue to boil for 20 minutes.
Add in the winter melon with its skin and seeds. Boil for 20 minutes. Add in cubed carrots/sweetcorn cobs if used!
Skim off the oil on the surface.
Add some salt to taste.
when serving, there is no need to include the ginger slices, mandarin peel 陈皮, skin and seeds from the winter melon 冬瓜
Hope you enjoyed making this winter melon pearl barley soup if you did.
Feel free to leave a comment or a heart below!.
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