Soup Name: Bitter Melon and Preserved Sour Vegetable Soup (in Pork Broth)
Traditional Chinese Name: 苦瓜酸菜湯 (Kǔ guā suan cai tāng)
Introduction:
This soup is a delight of two tastes. The first is an appetizing sour taste and it finished off with a golden, rich, bitterness. It’s a unique soup that is designed for the bridging season of Summer and Autumn and helps cool the body and aid in digestion. If you like it more sour, you can add more preserved sour vegetable and if you like it more bitter, then more bitter melon. This soup also doesn’t really need salt as the preserved veggies are already salted.
A mildly sweet soup containing mainly Chinese herbs and dried additives, it’s an easy make and great for cold days or someone who needs to replenish their heat and warmth. It comes highly recommended as a basis for confinement and you can double-boil it with Chicken as well for added warming and healing properties.
It’s not an overly powerful soup and is appropriate for the whole family (use a more dilute concentration if children are drinking it).
What’s involved?
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours 15 mins
Serves: 2 bowls (confinement size)
Ingredients
500 g of pork shank (or pork marrows and bones for confinement)
Here is something I want to share with my readers as well since it’s a foodie blog. It’s not your typical soup fare, but still edible.
My children LOVE sushi. It’s because 1. we’re in ASIA, 2. they attend an international + Japanese kindergarten and 3. they like the sweet/vinegar rice and seaweed. My youngest daughter is actually a HUGE fan of the sweet botan shrimp (eaten raw) and has been since she was a wee girl of 2.
So as a nice surprise, I make some happy sushi art to brighten their day.
Ingredients used above:
Japanese rice
Sushi vinegar
Sushi seaweed
Scrambled eggs
Sausages
This one is pretty easy. Some of our research on google yields some crazy-looking sushi art. In due time, I’ll figure it out, but for now, we’ll stick to the basics.
Soup Name: Chinese Yam with Apples and Corn in Chicken Broth (with Ginger)
Traditional Chinese Name: 蘋果玉米淮山雞湯 (píng guǒ yù mǐ huái shān jī tāng)
Introduction:
A simple, clean chicken broth with just a hint of sweetness and a tang of spice (from the ginger). Depending on who your consumer is, add less or more ginger. For confinement, don’t be scared to throw it all in! This soup is easy to make, it’s got basic neutral ingredients and is great for the whole family!
What Ingredients are required?
1 fresh whole chicken, quartered 4-5 whole apples, cored and quartered 2 fresh corn, quartered 2 fresh pieces of Chinese Yam about 1 foot in length, peeling is optional, quartered 150 g of sliced fresh ginger (for confinement purposes) 2 L of water salt to taste How do I prepare it?
Clean, prepare and blanch chicken in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes
Set aside to cool
Wash, prepare apples, corn and Chinese Yam
Slice ginger thinly
Boil your soup water, when it boils, add all the ingredients together
Boil on high for about 30 minutes and reduce to a simmer for 1 hour
Serve and enjoy!
Any benefits?
With ginger, it’s a slightly warm soup, but without it, it’s neutral
Pregnancy, confinement and child friendly
Sweet and fresh to the taste
Excellent source of Vitamins and hearty to eat
Any precautions?
For children, go easy on the ginger because that can really spice up the soup!
Be sure to clean, peel Chinese Yam with gloves as the outer skin of the Chinese Yam can make your fingers itchy (if you opt to peel the skin)
