This delicious, milky broth Chinese Soup is ideal for the whole family! Made with a handful of Chinese herbs (dried dates, dried longans, and dried wolfberries) and fresh vegetables, the secret ingredient is Hokkaido whole milk! An usual mixture, but very rich, smooth, and creamy, it’s a delicious addition to any meal! Below, I’ve included both a youtube video of this soup and the standard recipe.
Start with fresh vegetables. I use Japanese pumpkins (instead of your traditional Western Orange pumpkins). The Japanese pumpkin is very starchy and can eat like a meal with the soup. Keep the skin on when you’re making the soup so the pumpkin doesn’t disintegrate into the soup and melt.
Also, in Hong Kong, there is thing with this 3.6 Hokkaido milk. It’s apparently the smoothest, richest, fattest milk available, aside from cream and one of the more reputable Japanese brands available. You can find this in most Asian supermarkets here. My kids love to drink this as whole milk, too!
What’s involved?
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 45 mins
Total time: 2 hours 15 mins
Serves: 6 bowls
Ingredients
1-2 large pieces of fresh pork shank
1 whole Japanese pumpkin, seeded and chopped large
2 fresh carrots, peeled and chopped large
2 fresh corn, chopped into quarters
2 tablespoons of dried wolfberries
2 tablespoons of dried longans
2 tablespoons of dried red dates (seed removal optional, although it is said that the seeds are fiery)
salt as needed
0.75 L of fresh 3.6 Hokkaido Milk
Cooking Instructions
Boil two pots of water – one for your soup and one for blanching the pork shank
Once the smaller pot of water is boiling, gently lower the pork shank and let it boil (turning as needed to ensure it’s all cooked) for 5 minutes, drain and set aside
When your soup water boils, add in the Chinese herbs and blanched pork shank
Chop your carrots and corn and add to the boiling soup water
Half your Japanese pumpkin and using a spoon, hollow out the seeds, then cut into large chunks with the skin still on (this will prevent it from disintegrating in your soup) – then add to your soup
Boil in medium high for 30 minutes
Transfer the pot to a thermal pot, or continue to boil on medium low for an hour (still bubbling slightly)
minutes before you’re ready to serve, add 0.75 L of the fresh milk into the pot and boil on medium high for another 15 minutes
Salt as needed
Serve and enjoy – including all the veggies! They are so yummy!
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A traditional Chinese soup that is served in most Chinese restaurants (at least in Hong Kong) and this relatively difficult soup will bring you great pride if you actually execute! I say this because for starters, cleaning and preparing pork lung is not an easy task. Secondly, preparing the almonds is not an easy task because this recipe calls for almond juice. However, because of all the grunt hours and sweat you’ve put into making this, the enjoyment is that much more worth it. Trust me! So here I give you a soup that many of our readers have requested. Good luck and let me know how yours turns out!
60 g of dried cabbage, washed and separated (optional)
2 L of water
1 teaspoon of salt (to marinate the pork)
How do I prepare it?
Pre-marinate your pork shank with the salt and refrigerate for at least 2 hours
Prepare your pork lung (see instructions here) by washing, cutting into cubes or slices and then frying in a hot wok or pan with ginger
Set aside your pork lung once cooked
Begin to boil your soup water
In a separate pot of boiling water, blanch your pre-marinated pork shank and then set aside
To make your almond juice, wash the rice and almonds. In a blender, add the almonds, rice and 2 cups of water and blend until smooth.
With a fine strainer or sieve, separate the almond juice from blended grains
When your soup water boils, add the pork shank, pork lung, apricot kernals, dates and cabbage together. Boil on high for 30 minutes and reduce to a simmer for 1.5 hours.
Add the strained almond juice to your soup and boil on high for another 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Any benefits?
Excellent soup for the lungs to help relieve cough because of lung problems or asthma
Helps moisten the lungs and throat
This soup is said to help strengthen the lungs
Any precautions?
Pig’s lung must be thoroughly cleaned and fried with ginger to remove the “steely” taste from the organ
Pig’s lung must be taken with caution for those with gout as it is an internal organ that can further irritate your gout
Other comments
I’ve also noticed that some restaurant versions of this soup is far more dense in its white color. You can definitely add more almonds, or even purchase the pre-ground almond juice (intended for the Chinese dessert) for your soup.
