Tuesday 9 March 2010

Winter Melon, Sweetcorn & Pork Ribs Soup

The weather for the past few weeks had being so hot and humid that we really need to have some cooling soup to cool down our body system. While chatting with one of the mum of my boy classmate, she was sharing with us on some of her daily soup that she made for her family. One of the key ingredients that she often use for soup is "Winter Melon - 冬瓜", which we rarely cooked in our household.

Accordingly to some housewife myth, Winter Melon is used to boil soup with pork ribs or other herbs for cooling purpose such as quenches thirst and expel summer Heat. Whereas Huai Shan whets the appetite and strengthens the Spleen while Gou Qi Zi improves eyesight and promotes blood cell formation so these two mild herbs are suitable for the whole family. The use of carrots can also lower the blood glucose, invigorate the Spleen too. On the other hand, Corn is rich in many kinds of Vitamin B and C, thus preventing vascular sclerosis.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 Round Piece of Winter Melon(冬瓜), around 150 - 200g
300g of Pork Ribs
100g Fresh Huai Shan(淮山)
1 Small Carrot, cut into 1" thick
1 Corn(玉米), cut into 3 sections
5 Red Dates(红枣)
1/2 Tablespoon of Wolfberries(枸杞子)
1.5 Litre of Boiling Water

Method:
1. Roughly peel off the outer skin of the winter melon, scrap off the seed, rinse and cut into 2" rectangle cubes size.
2. Repeat the same procedure for the fresh huai shan and set aside.
3. Blanched the pork ribs in boiling water for about 30 seconds, rinse and set aside.
4. Bring the pot of water (1.5 litres) to boil, add in the pork ribs, winter melon, huai shan, carrot, corn and red dates to boil for about 5 minutes.
5. Transfer the pot of soup to slow cooker and cook on AUTO for at least 2 hrs. Add in wolfberries 30 minutes before cooking time.
6. Or if you don't have any slow-cooker at home, you can simmer the soup on the stove for about 45 minutes on low heat.


So why not try to whip out this cooling soup for your family during this hot and humid weather to quench their thirst as well as build up their immune system. I am sure this will be a great soup for kids as the adding of carrot and corn gives this soup it's nature sweetness as well as that extra flavour. Posted by Picasa


5 comments:

  1. I used winter melon last week and this week. Love it very much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ellena,

    I had this during CNY in a restaurant serving banquet dinner, the soup came in a large wintermelon pot, nicely carved. And the filling of the soup is almost similar to yours. Guess I don't have to pay a lot to be able to get good soup! Just need to drop by ellenaguan.blogspot.com!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have never used winter melon but will look for it next time; I like all soups especially this one and I would definitely not discount housewives old beliefs! My brother and his wife and kids live in Singapour and reading your blog helps me imagine what it must be like for them as well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Lena,

    I'm sure this soup must taste the most heavenly with merits good for health. Your family is blessed to have such a fine cook at home.

    Thanks for dropping by, you know how I love my lil bro. And the family is happy that he's back safe. Thank the Lord. =)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi tiger, Quinn, tasteofbeirut & Stardust

    Thanks for your kind words and glad that this recipe is of some good use to you. Hope to receive some feedback from anyone of you if you do try it out :)

    ReplyDelete

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Regards
Ellena (Cuisine Paradise)

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