Lotus Root Soup

Ingredients:  (To serve  6-8 people)
1kg pork ribs
2 sections of lotus root (about 450g)
1 big arrowroot (粉葛) (about 400g)
1/2 cup peanuts, washed and soaked overnight
6 red dates
1 dried squid, cut into small pieces
salt & pepper, to taste
2.5 L water

• Wash and scrape off the skin from the lotus root.  Cut into slices.  
• Peel the skin off the arrowroot and cut into pieces.
• Boil a large pot of water, add in pork ribs and blanch for about 5 minutes.  Rinse the pork ribs and set aside.
• Place 2.5L water into the pot and bring to the boil.  Add in all the ingredients except salt and pepper.  Bring to the boil again over high heat.  Then lower the heat and simmer the soup for about 3 hours.
• Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Radish and Carrot Soup

I am sure this soup is quite common in many Chinese households.  This is one of our family's favourite soup which is easy to make. Most of the time we don't really need a recipe for soup; just put in your favourite ingredients and some meat or bones, and viola, you'll have a bowl of tasty soup!  I usually cook my soup for at least 2-3 hours because the longer you cooked it, the more flavoursome the soup becomes. If you have leftover soup, keep it in the refrigerator.  It tastes even better the next day as the flavour continues to develop.

Ingredients:

1 medium sized radish (Chinese daikon) about 500g
1 carrot (about 300g)
1 kg pork bones (or chicken)
4 dried scallops, washed
10 red dates, washed
a thumb-sized ginger, smashed
1/2 tbsp white peppercorns, washed and crushed
about 4 litre water
salt, to taste

• Peel radish and carrot; cut into chunks.
• Bring a large pot of water to the boil; put in pork bones and blanched for about 5 minutes (to remove the impurities).  Drain and discard water. Wash the bones and set aside.
• Fill the pot with 4 litre of water and bring to the boil.
• Add in all the ingredients except salt.  Bring back the water to a rapid boil and cook for 10 minutes over high heat. Then reduce to low heat and let it simmer for about 3 hours.
• Season with salt and serve hot.

Lamb and Vegetables Soup

There is nothing better than having a steaming hot bowl of homemade wholesome soup on a cold day, it warms you from the inside out! Throw in some cooked macaroni and it makes a perfect meal and it's an easy lunch or dinner to put together.

Ingredients:

1 kg lamb forequarter chops, trim all excess fat
2 big brown onion, cubed
6 tomatoes, halved
3 large carrots, cubed
3 large potatoes, cubed
3 stalks celery, cut to chunks
a thumb-size piece of ginger, smashed
1/2 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed
4.5 litre water
salt & pepper, to taste
coriander leaves, to garnish

• Blanch lamb chops in boiling water for about 5 minutes, drained and rinsed with cold water.  Set aside.
• Fill a large soup pot with water and bring to the boil.  Add in blanched lamb chops and all the ingredients (except salt & pepper) and bring back to the boil.  Simmer for 2 - 3 hours under low fire until meat is tender.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves before serving.

Shark's Fin Melon Soup (鱼翅瓜汤)

Fancy having a bowl of steaming and flavoursome shark fin's (melon) soup without having to kill any sharks?   After an hour or so of slow cooking, the flesh of this melon will disintegrate into fine 'noodle-like' strands which resemble shark-fin. 

Ingredients:


Stock:

3 litres water
1.5 kg pork bones, blanched
4 chicken carcasses, blanched
1 knob of giner
2 scallions

• Fill a stock pot with 3 litres of water and bring to the boil.  Put in chicken carcasses and pork bones which have been blanched.  Add in ginger and scallions.
• Bring it back to the boil and let simmer for about 2 hours or more.  
• Strain stock.

Note:  Stock can be stored in individual containers and freeze.  Convenient way for impromptu cooking - be it noodle soup or any other kind of soup.  

Shark Fin's Melon Soup:

1.5 lit stock
about 170g shark fin's melon
20g dried squid, washed and soaked
15g goji berries (or wolfberries)
20g dried shiitake mushroom, washed and soaked to soften
25g dried honey dates (蜜枣） or red dates
2-3 dried scallops, washed and soaked to soften
2 small carrots, cut into chunks
salt and pepper to taste

• Cut melon into big chunks (without skin) and discard the seeds.
• Bring the stock to the boil and put in all the ingredients.  
• Simmer soup for about 60 - 90 mins.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve hot.