Japanese Pumpkin with Century Egg in Pork Broth
Tea Name:
Japanese Pumpkin with Century Egg in Pork Broth
Chinese Name:
皮蛋南瓜豬骨湯 (pídàn nán guā zhū gǔ tāng)
Nature: Warm
Taste: Sweet, Salty
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This soup was an accidental creation! LOL.
I had originally wanted pumpkin in pork broth and somehow my helper saw that I had purchased century eggs, she thought it was a good idea to throw it in. At first, when I saw the soup, I didn’t think anything of the rich, milky color. Most pork bones soup are milky in color because of the marrow (at least for me, I am usually inclined to use pork bone marrow instead and end up eating the marrow).
The thing that threw me off was when I tasted it. There was a very distinct, golden taste. Just like wine, I like to savor the taste of the soup and try to separate the ingredients through taste. There was something definitely different about this soup. After asking my helper what else she added, she sheepishly told me the century eggs and I burst out laughing.
It was different and unique and I loved it. See, so it goes to show that there is no fixed recipe for making good soup. Just some general knowledge of what pairings to make and desire.
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1 hr 30 mins
Total time: 1 hr 45 mins
Serves: 8 bowls of soup
- 1 pound of fresh pork bones
- 1/2 fresh Japanese pumpkin, cubed with skin intact
- 4 century eggs, washed and halved
- 1 tablespoon of apricot kernals
- 2 L of water
- Rinse and soak the apricot kernals for 10 minutes in warm water
- Boil your soup water
- Wash pork bones and in a separate pot of boiling water, blanch your bones for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Wash and cut up pumpkin, while keeping the outer skin on (this helps keep the pumpkin from disintegrating)
- When soup water boils, add the pork bones, the pumpkin and the apricot kernals
- Boil on high heat for 30 minutes and add the century eggs
- Reduce heat and boil on medium for another hour
- Serve and enjoy!
Why Japanese Pumpkin?
- In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the pumpkin is amazing for dispelling damp and wetness in the body and both the pumpkin flesh and seeds are sweet and warming
- This ingredient targets the stomach and large intestines
- The pumpkin itself is a delicious and nutritious additive to the soup and is high in zinc and vitamin A
- Boil in the soup keeping the skin on so that the flesh doesn’t disintegrate into the soup and melt, although you could also use that to create a thicker cream like broth (which isn’t very common in Chinese soups)
Try this alternative with Japanese pumpkin (with corn and carrots) in MILK! It’s actually a Japanese recipe using Hokkaido milk. Oh so yummy!
Hi,
I was wondering when you just put apricot kernel as ingredient, do you mean the north or the south?
Thanks
Dear Ima, I put both in most soups. That evens it out! Lisa