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Photo: Bitter Melon Soup - Dragon Boat BBQ King - complimentary by avlxyz, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped and resized.
Slow-boiled soup 老火湯
Bitter melon and soybean rib soup
苦瓜黃豆排骨湯fu2 gwaa1 wong4 dau6 paai4 gwat1 tong1
Traditionally eaten to clear heat. Best in hot, dry or "heaty" spells. Bitter melon is cold; soybeans are neutral.
Good for traditionally believed to clear summer heat and cool a fiery temper.
- 20 minprep
- 2 hcook
- 6servings
- One potSummer
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Ingredients
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- 2¾ quarts2.5 LWater
2 pantry items with a checked Amazon match. Buy the fresh bitter melon and pork spare ribs locally or on Weee!.
Method
- Soak the soybeans overnight.
- Halve the bitter melon, scoop out the seeds and white pith, and cut in thick pieces.
- Put the meat in cold water, bring to a boil and let it bubble for 3 minutes. Drain and rinse off the scum.
- Boil the water with the ribs, soybeans and date for 1 hour on low.
- Add the bitter melon and simmer 40 minutes more.
- Skim off any fat and season with salt just before serving.
Who should go easy
Not for people who run cold. Traditionally avoided in early pregnancy.
Traditional Chinese food therapy, not medical advice. Ask your doctor if you are pregnant, on medication or unwell.
Ingredient natures from Hong Kong Department of Health, Chinese Medicine Regulatory Office, "中醫飲食養生 - 五穀與蔬果", Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society, "中醫食療——食物種類分析" (Dr Lam To-yee, registered Chinese medicine practitioner, 2022). How we judge a soup’s nature.
Watch someone make it
Home cooks on YouTube. Opens right here.
