Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese herbal pork broth
Soup Name:
Green radish with carrots & corn in a Chinese Herbal Pork Broth
Traditional Chinese Name:
紅青蘿蔔湯 (hóng qing luóbo tang)
Nature: Cooling
Taste: Sweet and savory
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My parents came home last night from a cruise from Italy and are jet lagging and there’s nothing more warming, homecoming, and beautiful than a familiar Chinese soup waiting for them!
I made an easy green radish, carrots, and corn pork herbal broth. The trick to this soup is to really let it boil out. I made it early morning and then pretty much let it sit in the thermal pot all day until dinner.
TIP: This soup actually tastes even better left overnight! Don’t forget to boil it before you sleep and don’t open the lid or cover (this will ensure that everything is killed off and isn’t reintroduced, this is how they manufacture canned food and soups in large scale!). Re-boil the next day and you can still drink it.
Traditionally in the Cantonese soup repertoire, this green radish and carrot soup is cooling and often recommended if you’re feeling heaty, want to cool the body, or it’s hot and humid in the summer and autumn months.
It is also commonly found as a dinner soup, where restaurants will serve it at the beginning of the meal known as “lai tong” (or aka, free soup). You’ll find the bits of carrots and green radish chopped up and along with pork (or chicken).
What’s involved?
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 2-3 hours
Total time: 2 hours and 20 mins
Serves: 10 bowls
Ingredients
- fresh pork leg bones
- 2 fresh green radish, peeled and cubed
- 2 fresh carrots, peeled and cubed
- 2 fresh corn, quartered
- 3 dried honey dates
- 1 tablespoon of dried apricot kernals
- 5 pieces of dried Chinese Yam
- 3 L of water
Cooking Instructions
- Boil both your soup water (3L) and another pot to blanch the pork bones in (enough to cover all the bones)
- Once your blanching water boils, gently drop in the pork bones and boil on high for 5-7 minutes, until the brown foam begins to form on top of the water. You can turn off the stove at this time.
- Prepare your vegetables by peeling and chopping into large bite-sizes
- Once your soup water boils, transfer the pork bones to your soup pot. You can either rinse them gently in the water, or do a water rinse under warm water to remove all the debris and foam stuck to the pork bones
- Drop in all the ingredients (herbs + vegetables) together
- Cover and boil on high for 30 minutes
- Transfer to a thermal pot for at least 2-3 hours
- Re-boil for 10 minutes prior to serving
If you’d like to quick boil this faster, I’d suggest cutting up the pieces smaller, almost cubed.
Be sure to also buy fresh, firm green radish. You’ll know they’re fresh because they are super hard to touch and you can’t really squeeze them. When they get soft, squishy (but not leaky), they’re already drying out and aging.
This combination of green radish and carrots are amazingly delicious! Some people will also add white radishes, which makes the soup even more cooling, and corn is also a nice addition! Enjoy!
Q&A
A huge thank you to my Instagram community for the questions as they also hugely benefit other readers who may be thinking the same thing!
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