Turtle with Lean Pork Soup
Soup Name:
Turtle and Lean Pork Soup
Traditional Chinese Name:
水魚瘦豬肉湯 (shuǐ yú shòu zhū ròu tāng)
This soup is very warming in nature and sweet to taste.
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A warm and healing soup, it’s often recommended for cold winter days or confinement. The turtle meat is said to be a nourishing meat (similar to chicken) and should be avoided if you are sick. From our experience, even when properly cleaned, soft-shelled turtle meat may have a taste of the “sea” and may require ginger to counter the taste.
See a lighter variation of this soup here: Longan Meat in Turtle Soup
For more information on what confinement is and the Chinese ingredients associated with confinement, please see our Confinement Soups page.
This is the first time that I have bought and tried soft shell turtle (to my knowledge). These types of turtles are actually bred for consumption and considered a prize delicacy in East Asia (ie: China). They are also harvested in the US (with set limits) for breeding and consumption as well (especially common to have Turtle soup in New Orleans). Ever since coming to Asia, I have developed an open mind to the types of food that is culturally different from my upbringing. The turtle definitely falls into this category. It is so commonplace that you can find soft shell turtles at your local wet marts.
To prepare soft-shell turtle, my vendor (and mom) told me to pan-fry them with ginger. This will help eliminate any fishiness in flavours and create a fragrant base for your soup.
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 3 hours
Total time: 3 hours 30 mins
Serves: 4 bowls
- 1 whole fresh soft shell turtle
- 1 pound of fresh pork shank
- 15 dried longans
- 6 slices of dried Chinese yam
- 3 slices of ginger
- 8 dried dates (for sweetness. Use red dates for confinement soups.)
- 2L of water
- Pre-marinate the pork with salt and let sit for at least one hour (overnight is best). I’ll quickly rinse under cool water before usage.
- Wash turtle meat and shell
- In a pan, fry meat and shell with ginger on high heat until cooked
- Blanch the pork in a separate pot of boiling water
- Boil your soup water
- Soak and wash dried longans, Chinese yams, and dates
- When the water boils, add all the ingredients together
- Boil on high for 30 minutes and then simmer on medium heat for another 3 hours.
- Serve and enjoy!
- A nourishing soup ideal for confinement
- Good for urinary infections and bladder
- Helps with asthma and breathing complications (such as shortage of breath)
- The shell is an excellent source of collagen
For videos, visit us on YouTube.
A selection of confinement Chinese Soups
What is confinement and confinement stories
Baby 5 & 6 Confinement story
Some confinement foods for your tummy!
The DO's and DON'T's of confinement