Old Cucumber and Carrots in Pork Broth

Old Cucumber and Carrots in Pork Broth

Soup Name:

Old Cucumber and Carrots in Pork Broth

Traditional Chinese Name:

老黃瓜胡蘿蔔湯 (lǎo huáng guā hú luóbo tāng)

This soup is slightly cooling in nature, sweet to taste, and helps clear excess water from the body.

 

For videos, visit us on YouTube.

Another soup for the damp, wet spring season! You’ll find a recurring theme within Spring soups, mainly consisting of an assortment of beans and certain vegetables that are diuretic. This is a simple soup with a pretty strong “bean” taste – so use less beans if it’s for kids. Mine found it a bit too “beany” and didn’t really like it that much. Consider adding corn to sweeten it up, but the adults lapped it up. It’s an easy to drink soup that is excellent for our health during this time of the year, especially when it’s wet and humid. You can also use chayotes, onions and fish for variation.

What’s involved?

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours 10 mins

Serves: 8 bowls

Ingredients
Cooking Instructions
  1. In a small pot of boiling water, blanch your pork for 5 minutes. Scoop out and rinse of any excess foam.
  2. Start boiling your soup water.
  3. Prepare old cucumber and carrots. Keep the peel for the old cucumber to prevent disintegration.
  4. Soak the dried tangerine peel in warm water for 5 minutes and with a sharp knife, scrape the outer peel (where it’s darker in color) to remove the outer layer of the skin (which is most bitter).
  5. When you soup water boils, add all the ingredients together
  6. Boil on high for 30 minutes and reduce to a medium boil for another 1.5 hours.
  7. Salt to taste – enjoy!
Any benefits?
  • This soup is perfect for Spring or humid conditions when there is a lot of moisture in the body
  • It is great for clearing damp heat since it’s cooling in nature
  • Fit for the whole family, this soup eats like a meal!

For videos, visit us on YouTube.

EXPLORE MORE

Healing Chinese Herbal Soup

Soup Name: Healing Chinese Herbal Soup Traditional Chinese Name: 北芪黨參消腫養陰湯 (běi qí dǎngshēn xiāo zhǒng yǎng yīn tāng) For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.This soup is perfect for anyone who wants to replenish and strengthen blood and qi, has poor...

Simple Roasted Chicken Congee

Soup Name: Roasted (leftover) Chicken Congee Traditional Chinese Name: 烤雞粥 (kǎo jī zhōu) What’s the Best Chinese Comfort Food? Hot Homemade Congee!When it comes to leftovers, congee with meats is the ultimate!  The best are with left over roasted chicken (even Costco...

Pu’er Chinese Tea: A Traditional Chinese Medicinal Perspective

A PU'ER Chinese (TEA) LOVE STORYChinese pu'er tea:  Why I love it! As part of my overall health regime.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...

A Quick Dinner Macaroni in Vegetable Soup

Soup Name: Macaroni in a quick boil vegetable soup (a quickie dinner) Traditional Chinese Name: 雜菜湯 (zá cài tāng) This soup is warming in nature and sweet to taste. For more videos on soups and teas, you can follow us on YouTube.   This is one of our families'...

ABC Chinese Soup (with a Fancy Lobster Soup Base)

Soup Name: ABC Chinese Soup (using a Lobster Base Soup) Traditional Chinese Name: ABC湯 (ABC tāng).  The easiest name in the Cantonese repertoire for ABC vegetable soup is 雜菜湯 (zá cài tāng), which literally translates to mixed vegetable soup. This soup is warming in...

Healing Chinese Herbal Soup

Soup Name: Healing Chinese Herbal Soup Traditional Chinese Name: 北芪黨參消腫養陰湯 (běi qí dǎngshēn xiāo zhǒng yǎng yīn tāng) For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.This soup is perfect for anyone who wants to replenish and strengthen blood and qi, has poor...

Simple Roasted Chicken Congee

Soup Name: Roasted (leftover) Chicken Congee Traditional Chinese Name: 烤雞粥 (kǎo jī zhōu) What’s the Best Chinese Comfort Food? Hot Homemade Congee!When it comes to leftovers, congee with meats is the ultimate!  The best are with left over roasted chicken (even Costco...

Chinese Herbal Soup with Abalone

Soup Name: Chicken Herbal Soup with Abalone  Traditional Chinese Name: 鮑魚清雞湯 (bào yú qīng jī tāng) This soup is warming in nature and sweet to taste. Visit us on YouTube for more tea and soup videos.One of my favourite basic chicken Chinese soups - ever!  And it's...

Sweet Rice Cakes for Chinese New Year’s!

Happy Chinese New Year's!! Wishing you and your family a very happy, healthy, and beautiful year of the rabbit!! As a tradition, the Chinese will eat what's called "New Year's Cake".  It's basically sweetened rice and glutinous rice flour pan fried until soft and...

Cooling and Calming Chrysanthemum and Roselle (Hibiscus) Honey Tea

Tea Name: Chrysanthemum and Roselle (Hibiscus) Honey Tea Traditional Chinese Name: 菊花茶 (jú huā chá) This tea is sweet and sour to taste and cooling in nature.Visit us on YouTube for more tea and soup videos.Taking a moment?  Want something calming and soothing?  Try...

Old Cucumber

Ingredient Name:  Old Cucumber

Chinese Name:  老黄瓜 (lǎo huáng guā)

What is this?
  • A wildly cultivated plant in the gourd family
  • Cylindrical and elongated body with tapered ends
  • The yellow colouring comes from being an aged cucumber and is normally eaten in its relatively young green state (hence the name old cucumber)
  • It has a very thick and rough viney skin with a fleshy interior and a pocket of seeds and air

How do I prepare it?

  • In soups, old cucumbers are washed and cut into large chucks
  • Ensure to remove the interior seeds and do not remove the skin

Where can I buy this?

  • In most asian supermarkets, you will find this unique type of cucumber
  • In wet marts in Hong Kong, simply ask the produce vendor and they will point you to it
  • Be sure to buy large, firm and heavy in weight cucumbers

What is the cost?

  • Old cucumbers cost around $15-$20 HKD each

Any benefits?

  • Old cucumber is good for clearing heatiness and has a diuretic effect
  • Extremely high in dietary fibre, Calcium and Iron
  • It is also a good source of Vitamins A, B6 and C

Any precautions?

  • Old cucumbers are known to be a “cooling” food
  • Women who are pregnant or menstruating should take caution when consuming this

 Additional Information?

  • It is suggested to boil the cucumber with its skin on because the skin will help keep the flesh together and avoid disintegration

 References