Soup Name: Papayas and Chestnuts in Pork Broth
Traditional Chinese Name: 木瓜栗子湯 (mù gua lì zi tāng)
Introduction:
A simple and extremely sweet soup that is ideal for relieving symptoms of cough and sore throat. It also brings moisture to the body and is highly rich in Vitamin C and Beta Carotene. Ideal for children and pregnant woman, it’s a family favourite.
What Ingredients are required?
1 pound of fresh pork shank
1 whole fresh papaya (red meat)
15 whole raw chestnuts
1 fresh lily bulb (or dried)
How do I prepare it?
- Boil a separate pot of water to blanch the pork shank
- When water is boiling, add in chopped pork shank and boil on high heat for 5 minutes
- Strain and set aside
- In another pot of water, add chestnuts and boil for 8-10 minutes
- Take chestnuts off stove and strain of water. With gloves, peel chestnuts while still hot (the peel should fall off)
- Boil your soup water
- Wash and cube papaya
- Wash lily bulb in warm water
- When your soup water boils, add all the ingredients together
- Boil on high heat for 30 minutes, reduce to a medium boil for another 1 hour.
- Serve and enjoy!
Any benefits?
- A naturally sweet soup that is ideal for all drinkers
- Excellent source of Vitamin C and Beta Carotene
- Helps with cough symptoms
- Papaya is a digestive aid
Any precautions?
- None, enjoy!
Tried this recipe last night and it was brilliant! Thank you for sharing the recipe x
can i replace fresh chestnuts with dry chestnuts?
and can i add tangerine peels in? My daughter has been coughing. Is this a good soup to make for her? which soups and ingredients do you recommend to make soups with??
Hi Pochable,
Dry and fresh work equally well (probably less work with dry), but usually not as sweet as fresh.
Tangerine peels are good for reducing phlegm.
Try these soups for coughs:
Loquat Soup (For The Lungs)
Arrowroot and Water Chestnuts in Chicken Soup
Luo Han Guo in Watercress Soup
G’luck! Lisa
Hi there,
I was just wondering about the type of papaya to use. I see there are the red type which are very large from Mexico, is that the type meant for this soup?
Also does the papaya have to be ripe?
Thank you! Love your website!!!
Elsa
Hi Elsa, if it’s not meant for confinement or milk production, any type of papaya will do. Large red papayas from Mexico are also great for this soup. You can consider keeping the skin on when boiling it so that the pieces stay in tack as they boil. Hope this helps and let me know if you have more questions. Lisa
Hi Lady
Do I boil dried chestnuts for 8-10 minutes? How many grams would that be if use dried lily bulb?
Christine
Hello,
I am preparing dishes for my wife during her confinement period.
I found this recipe on the confinement article page. But I do not find any confirmation within the recipe itself of it being suited to this diet. Lily bulb seems to ‘relieve heatiness’, though I believe heatiness is required during the postnatal confinement period.
Is this a confinement recipe?
Thank you very much.
best regards,
rik
Dear rik,
You’re right in that the lily bulbs are slightly cooling and there’s nothing too standout-ish that screams confinement. Consider it a soup you can drink towards the end of confinement, but will remove from this list 🙂 Thank you. I think you understand the concepts of confinement! Appreciate the reply! Lisa