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.

• 1 pound of fresh pork shank, cut and blanched
• 1 large old cucumber, washed and largely cubed (with skin)
• 2 large fresh carrots, peeled and largely cubed
• 3 dried honey dates
• 40 g lentil
• 40 g red beans
• 1 small piece of dried tangerine peel, cleaned
• 2 L of water

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!

• 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!

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