Luo Han Guo in Watercress Soup

by LadyTong | Dec 26, 2010 | Fall Soups, Soups for Children, Winter Soups | 14 comments

Luo Han Guo in Watercress Soup

Soup Name:

Traditional Chinese Name:

羅漢果西洋菜湯 (luó hàn guǒ xī yáng cài tāng)

Nature: Cooling

Taste: Sweet and savory

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

This soup is excellent for assisting in coughs and removing phelgm. It also aids in providing moisture (with the chestnuts) to the body and lungs for those dry autumn and winter months. It is considered a pretty sweet soup and ideal for all ages.

What’s involved?

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours and 20 mins

Serves: 10 bowls

Ingredients

1 pound of fresh pork shank
1/2 dried luo han guo
1 tablespoon of apricot kernals
15 whole raw chestnuts
2-3 bunches of fresh watercress
1 large piece of dried tangerine pee
2-3 L of water
1 teaspoon of salt (to marinate the pork)

Cooking Instructions

Pre-marinate the pork overnight with the salt (although this step is not necessary)
Boil your soup water
Blanch pork shank in a separate pot of boiling water for 7-10 minutes until you see some brown foam come to the top. This step will also rinse the salt from the pork bones.
In another separate pot, boil chestnuts for 2-3 minutes. Remove from water and peel while still hot (removing the outer and inner skin). You can also use prepackaged deshelled chestnuts, but I find they aren’t as sweet or tasty!
Start with a quarter of the dried luo han guo and rinse in warm water. I will smash the whole dried fruit with the flat side of a butcher’s knife and use only the outer shell and not the insides.
Wash and soak apricot kernals and tangerine peel in warm water
When the water boils, add all the ingredients together except the watercress (this should be added last because it will stay relatively crunchy before consumption)
Boil on high for thirty minutes and reduce to a simmer for another 1.5 hours (or use a thermal pot)
When almost ready to drink, re-boil and add in watercress. Boil on high for 10 minutes (or until desired softness of watercress)
Serve and enjoy!

CHECK OUT OTHER LUO HAN GUO SOUPS & TEAS

Cough Reducing and Lung Nourishing Tea

Monk Fruit and Chrysanthemum Flower Herbal Tea (for dry coughs and yin deficiency)

Japanese Yam and Monk Fruit in Pork Broth Chinese Soup

Luo Han Guo and Apricot Kernals with Pork Shank Soup

Luo Han Guo in Watercress Soup

Anti-cough and congestion relief Chinese Herbal Tea

EXPLORE MORE

Hong Kong Styled Russian Borscht Soup

Soup Name: Hong Kong Styled Russian Borscht (with oxtail) Traditional Chinese Name: 羅宋湯 (luó sòng tāng) Nature: Warming Taste: Savory, sweet, and slightly sour For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube. Did you know the secret ingredient to an HK-styled...

What are good replacement ingredients for peanut allergies in Chinese Soups?

Here are suggestions for replacement ingredients for peanuts in Chinese soupsOne guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory. In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet, they also exist...

Healing Chinese Chicken Herbal Soup with Fish Maw

Soup Name: Healing Chinese Chicken Herbal Soup with Fish Maw Traditional Chinese Name: 花膠雞湯 (huā jiāo jī tāng) Nature: Warming Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube. The star of this soup is FISH MAW. This takes collagen to the...

Delicious One Pot Vegetable Vermicelli Soup for Dinner

Soup Name: Delicious One Pot Vegetable Vermicelli Soup for Dinner. Literal translation from Chinese is "Mixed vegetables vermicelli pot soup". Traditional Chinese Name: 雜菜粉絲鍋湯 (zá cài fěnsī guō tāng) Nature: Neutral Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you...

ABC Soup in a Collagen Rich Salmon Head and Chicken Feet Broth

Soup Name: ABC Chinese Soup in a collagen rich Salmon Broth (with Chicken Feet) Traditional Chinese Name: 雜菜蕃茄三文魚湯 (zá cài fānjiā sānwènyú tāng) Nature: Slightly cooling Taste: Sweet and savory For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube. Taking collagen to...

Hong Kong Styled Russian Borscht Soup

ABC Soup in a Collagen Rich Salmon Head and Chicken Feet Broth

5 Tips for Exercising in the Cold (from a Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective)

5 Tips for Exercising in the Cold (from a Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective)One guiding principle in Traditional Chinese Medicine is the yin yang theory. In the natural world, there exists a balance between 2 opposing and co-existing forces and yet, they also...

Turn leftover rice into a delicious, warming congee with shrimp and yams

Soup Name: Shrimp Congee with Fresh Yams and Lettuce Traditional Chinese Name: 蝦粥 (xiā zhōu) Nature: Neutral Taste: Sweet For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube. Want something easy? Want something delicious? This is the perfect lunch to make in 30 minutes...

Making a Delicious Lotus Root with Vegetables in Pork Broth Chinese Soup (with Roasted Fresh Peanuts!)

Soup Name: Making a Delicious Lotus Root with Vegetables in Pork Broth Chinese Soup (with Roasted Fresh Peanuts!) Traditional Chinese Name: 蓮藕豬骨湯 (Lián'ǒu zhū gǔ tāng) Nature: Neutral Taste: Sweet For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube. For this post, I made 6...

FOLLOW US AND SHARE.

ON YOUTUBE

ON INSTAGRAM

ON FACEBOOK

ON TIKTOK

ON PINTEREST

Chayotes and Corn with Seabed Coconut in Pork Broth

by LadyTong | Feb 25, 2010 | Soups for Children | 0 comments

Soup Name: Chayotes and Corn with Seabed Coconut in Pork Broth

Traditional Chinese Name: 合掌瓜玉米海底椰豬骨湯 (hup jeung gwa yù mǐ hai di ye zhū gǔ tāng)

Introduction:
A neutral soup that aids with cough and cold symptoms, it’s mildly sweet and brings moisture to the body. Rich ingredients make for a rich broth. Baby and pregnant friendly, it’s a great soup!

What Ingredients are required?

1 pound of fresh pork bones
15 fresh chestnuts
3-4 fresh chayotes
2-3 fresh corn
5-6 fresh seabed coconuts (or Coco de Mer)
1 piece of dried tangerine peel
2-3 L of water
1 teaspoon of salt (to marinate the pork)

How do I prepare it?

Pre-marinate the pork bones overnight with the salt (although this step is not necessary)
Boil your soup water
Blanch pork bones in a separate pot of boiling water
Wash chestnuts and boil for 10 minutes (or until shell is soft)
Peel chestnuts while they are still hot (use gloves or towel)
Wash, cut and cube chayotes (with skin) and corn
Wash and soak seabed coconut and tangerine peel
When the water boils, add all the ingredients together
Boil on high for thirty minutes, reduce to a simmer boil for another 2 hours
Serve and enjoy!

Any benefits?

Helps with cough symptoms

Neutral soup ideal for children and pregnant woman

Chestnuts help add moisture to body

Low in fat soup with high protein value in its content

Any precautions?

Be sure to purchase seabed coconut from a reliable source
If intended for helping cough symptoms, don’t use carrots (as carrots will enhance coughing)

Pork Bones and Lotus Root with Chestnuts Soup

by LadyTong | Jan 19, 2009 | Winter Soups | 0 comments

Soup Name: Pork Bones and Arrowroot Soup

Traditional Chinese Name: 蓮藕栗子湯 (lián ou lì zi tāng)

Introduction:

This savory soup is sweet in taste and healthy to eat. It’s rich in vitamins and fiber and is neutral for your body. Caution may need to be taken with chestnuts as it can potentially be allergenic, although it is not very common.

What Ingredients are required?

1 pound of fresh pork bones
2 large lotus roots
3 large dried dates
5-6 pieces of dried scallop
10 – 15 chestnuts
1 teaspoon of salt (to marinate the pork bones)

How do I prepare it?

Mix salt and pork bones together and let sit in a bag for at least an hour (best overnight)
Wash the pork bones thoroughly in cool running water
Start boiling your water soup and add the dried dates and conpoys
In a separate pot, blanch the pork bones and strain it to remove any dirt and debris from the blanching
Add the pork bones and chopped lotus root to the boiling water of your soup
In a separate pot, boil the chestnuts for 5 minutes
Strain and immediately peel the shell and outer skin
Put the peeled and boiled chestnuts into your boiling soup
Boil together for at least 60-90 minutes on high heat. The longer you boil it, the tastier the soup. It is best eaten when the pork is falling off the bones.

Any benefits?

This soup is high in fiber and is good for muscles, nerves and veinous system

Any precautions?

The longer you boil this soup, the tastier it gets, but that also means the chestnuts will begin to disintegrate. If boiled too long, the chestnuts will thicken the soup and its remnants will sink to the bottom.

Chestnuts

by LadyTong | Jan 19, 2009 | Ingredients | 0 comments

Chestnuts

Ingredient Name:

Chestnuts, sweet chestnuts, chinkapin

Traditional Chinese Name:

栗子 (lì zǐ)

Nature: warm in nature (and even warmer when they are processed such as roasted), although is considered “moistening” and targets the spleen, stomach, and kidneys.

Taste: Sweet in taste

You can get started on your Chinese Soup Kitchen Pantry from this video! With chestnuts, you can use either fresh, roasted (the types that you can find in the winter that are roasting on the streets of Hong Kong!), or processed chestnuts that come in snack packs!

Oh, chestnuts are such a delicious addition to Chinese soups (and dishes such as stews and stir-fry!). The Chinese love to eat them roasted as well and it’s a common treat to find them roasting on a bed of coals in the streets in Hong Kong from local hawkers!

For soups, you’ll need to remove the chestnuts from their shells and use just the flesh. You can use both raw and cooked chestnuts in soups and they’ll produce similar flavours, although roasted and cooked ones also carry some of that roasted delight with them. The best part of the chestnuts in soups is that you can eat them!

How do I prepare it?

For fresh and raw chestnuts, I will extract the flesh from the chestnut itself with the backside of a butcher’s knife, halving them and gently removing the whole inner chestnut from its shell, including the skin, which is OK to eat. The skin will also come off during soup boiling.
I will also sometimes use prepared chestnuts (as snacks) because I just want something quick and easy. This is a common Asian snack and the chestnuts are prepared as slightly sweetened, pre-cooked, and ready to eat! These are perfect to keep in your pantry all your round.
The last type of chestnut I will use are either roasted or boiled before I remove them from the shell for soup making. The roasting ensures a toasty and increased nutty taste to the soup and the boiling will be salted. It just makes them tastier.

What is the cost & where to buy?

A bag of fresh chestnuts cost around $2.99 per pound CAD in Toronto
While prepared and snackable chestnuts packs cost around $5 CAD for 200g of peeled prepared chestnuts (these are yummy though!)
You can buy fresh chestnuts in most supermarkets and I see them quite commonly all year round in the Asian supermarkets. They are also more common in Western supermarkets around the Christmas festive season (chestnuts roasting on an open fire?)

Any benefits?

Chestnuts nourish the spleen and stomach (when eaten in moderation) and also tonifies the Qi (especially Kidney Qi)
Most nuts strengthen the brain (as a muscle, not necessarily as a function, but there is a correlation). The common Chinese narrative that adults tell children is that walnuts and chestnuts will make you smart!
They also help slow bleeding and reduces inflammation in the body.

Any precautions?

Chestnuts are “wet hot” in Cantonese (ie: 濕熱) meaning that they are contain moisture and are warm. True story, I was eating roasted chestnuts in Japan while on holiday a few years ago for 3-4 days in a row and ended up having a stomachache when I got back to Hong Kong. My TCM doctor told me he could feel the moisture and heat in my stomach. This is why I saw, in moderation. And especially as a roasted product, it’s even warmer.
Be sure to use fresh chestnuts. You can feel this by squeezing the chestnut as they should feel firm and bouncy. Chestnuts that are drying out will have more air pockets between the shell and the flesh (as the flesh is shrinking and losing moisture).

Looking to build your basic Chinese Soup Pantry?

Luo Han Guo in Watercress Soup

CHECK OUT OTHER LUO HAN GUO SOUPS & TEAS

EXPLORE MORE

GIVE YOUR LOVE OF SOUP.

FOLLOW US AND SHARE.

Chestnuts

EXPLORE MORE

GIVE YOUR LOVE OF SOUP.

FOLLOW US AND SHARE.

Recent Posts