The 3 Chinese herbal pork soup pair pork ribs or lean pork fillet with an array of Chinese herbs to address a variety of conditions.
The first 2 recipes uses pork ribs and the last one uses lean pork.
1. 4-taste soup
One of the most popular herbal pork soup is the 4-taste soup or 四味汤 (si wei tang). This healthy soup features 4 mild Chinese herbs fondly known as the 4 officials in traditional Chinese dietary therapy. It is taken frequently to maintain general good health, loosely translated as the 4-taste soup.
These 4 herbs are good for the stomach. They strengthen the spleen. If you suffer from indigestion and diarrhoea, this soup should be great for you. You should avoid this if you have constipation.
Ingredients
2.5g lotus seeds
2.5g euryale seeds
2.5g coix seeds
2.5g poria
2.5g danggui
100g fresh Chinese yam
300g pork ribs
4 cups water
Seasonings
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon cooking wine
The Chinese yam in soup packs are obviously the dried type. The difference is that fresh Chinese yam can be eaten while the dried ones are not as nice.
Be careful when peeling fresh Chinese yam, they can be slippery. If you do not know how a fresh Chinese yam look like, here's a picture and another recipe.
Directions for Steaming
Wash and soak the lotus seeds, euryale seeds, coix seeds in warm water. Soaking re-hydrates and soften the seeds
Peel the Chinese yam and slice thinly
Wash the pork ribs and parboil
Place the Chinese yam, lotus seeds, euryale seeds, coix seeds, poria, and pork ribs into a ceramic bowl
Add the water until it covers the ingredients. Depending on your soup container, it might not need 4 cups of water.
Place the bowl in a steamer or big wok and steam for 20 to 30 minutes
Add salt and wine before serving
The recipe calls for steaming the soup. If you have a double-boiling jar, you can try double-boiling it. I hope you enjoy trying out this healthy soup recipe with 4 classic herbs.
2. Pork soup with pork ribs and lotus seeds
Close up shot of dried lotus seeds. Photo by Phoebe Lim
This soup is a gentle tonic and is refreshing for summer. I love to cook it till the lotus seeds are so soft they melt in my mouth and the pork is falling off the ribs.
Lotus seeds are usually sold in dried form. Before use, soak for about 30 minutes. Remove the brownish skins by rubbing them in your palms. They usually already have the bitter seeds removed.
If you are using fresh lotus seeds, remember to remove the skins and seeds. Try to buy those already skinned and pitted. It would save you a lot of preparation work.
If you like the pork ribs to be tender, lengthen the cooking time. Do not turn up the heat.
Ingredients
300g prime pork ribs
80g lotus seeds
80g carrot
2 slices ginger
1500ml water
Seasonings
1/2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cooking wine
Directions for the Stove Top
Cut ribs into pieces. Parboil in water for about 3 minutes. Drain and trim away any fats or dirt
Soak the lotus seeds with cold water till soft.You can cut the lotus seeds in half if you want
Wash, peel and cut the carrots into small chunks (slightly smaller than the pork ribs)
Bring the water to a boil in a large soup pot, add the pork ribs, lotus seeds, carrots and ginger
Bring the Chinese pork soup to a boil again and lower the heat to a simmer
Simmer for 1 hour
Add salt and cooking wine before serving
Directions for the Slow Cooker
Prepare the ingredients as per step 1 to 3
In the slow cooker, place the pork ribs, lotus seeds, carrots and ginger and add hot water
Use high heat to bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer
Add the cooking wine
Simmer for 1.5 to 2 hour
Add salt before serving
3. Lean pork soup with American ginseng and red dates
This is a great summer soup tonic.
Ingredients
20g american ginseng
300g lean pork
3 candied dates
6 cups of water
Candied dates gives extra sweetness to the clear broth.
The recipe here uses the thermal cooker but you can use the slow cooker too. Use a normal soup pot for the first 20 minutes and shorten the cooking time by about 1 hour.
Directions
Cut the lean pork into medium-sized chunks
Parboil the pork for about 5 minutes
Crush the american ginseng slightly with the side of your knife
Bring the water to a boil in the inner pot of the thermal pot and add all the ingredients
Bring the water back to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes
Remove inner pot from heat and transfer to the outer pot, cover and let it cook for 2 hours
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