Old Cucumber Pork Bones Soup
With cooling properties, old cucumber pork bones soup helps to lower body ‘heatiness’ and has anti-aging benefits! I always crave for a good warm bowl of old cucumber pork bones soup whenever I’m sick, especially when I have a blocked nose that comes together with sore throat. Soups are easy to put together and always turns out perfectly tasty.
Old cucumber tastes mild on its own, with the addition of Chinese almonds and red dates makes it a naturally sweet. Dried scallops and cuttlefish for umami and rich flavored soup. Pork bones provides a meaty taste as a flavor enhancer.
Old Cucumber
- It is not necessary to remove the skin, it is needed to hold the flesh together. Otherwise the flesh will disintegrate easily into the soup.
- As the skin is not peeled off, gently clean the old cucumber before cutting for hygiene reasons.
- Cucumbers contain cucurbitacin, a substance that contributes to the bitter taste cucumbers may sometimes have. Rubbing the sliced end against the cucumber until it no longer release cucurbitacin; a white, foamy substance.
Pork bones
- Parboil pork bones to get rid of blood impurities, removes the porky smell and ensure that the soup will not have a scum layer on top when cooked.
- Adding ginger and cooking wine while parboiling, eliminates the unpleasant flavor of the raw pork bones without adding too much extra flavor.
- If you do not like pork, you can use chicken bones instead.
- For vegetarians, replace with sweet corn.
Chinese almonds
- Chinese almonds are actually apricot kernels, namely two types; Bitter North Almond (北杏) and Sweet South Almond (南杏)
- Sweet South Almond (南杏) – slightly sweet. Nourishes lungs, skin and soothes cough, cold and asthma. Can be eaten raw, usually used for soups.
- Bitter North Almond (北杏) – slightly bitter. Also good for coughs, colds and asthma, on top of that it helps with constipation and phlegm. Contains toxins if not cooked. Usually used for medicinal purposes. You can add a tablespoon of Bitter North Almond if needed.
- Some people may not like the strong almond fragrance, you can try soaking it in water before use to remove some of the fragrance.
Dried scallops and cuttlefish
- Do not soak the dried seafood, otherwise all sweetness and fragrance will be released into the water, leaving it tasteless.
Cooking
- I always use the pressure cooker to make soup, as it is faster and I don’t have to watch the fire. 30 mins will be enough but I prefer to pressure cook it for an hour as it will be thicker and more flavorful.
- You can also boil on the stove, of course it will take much longer, for around 2 hours. Simmer for 3 hours for a more flavorful soup.
Learn how to make this soup yourself to ‘cool’ down when the weather is hot and humid.
Old Cucumber Pork Bones Soup
With cooling properties, old cucumber pork bone soup helps to lower body 'heatiness' and has anti-aging benefits!
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Soup Pot
- Stove
Ingredients
- 800 g old cucumber deseed, quartered and cut into 2 to 3cm pieces
- 500 g pork bones
- 2 – 3 tbsp Chinese almonds
- 10 red dates
- 25 g dried scallops or 1 dried cuttlefish
- 1.5 litres water for pressure cooker 2.5 litres for stovetop
- salt for seasoning
Instructions
- Gently scrub the skin of the old cucumber clean. Cut both ends and rub ends with cucumber in circular motion to remove bitterness. Cut it in half, length-wise and scrape out the seeds with a metal spoon. Cut old cucumber with skin intact (prevent the flesh from turning mushy after cooking) into 2 – 3 cm chunks and set aside.
- Blanch the pork ribs in boiling water for a 5 minutes to remove scum. Rinse the pork ribs and drain well, set aside.
- Rinse the dry ingredients and drain well, set aside.
- Place pork bones, old cucumber, Chinese almonds, red dates, dried scallops and water in soup pot. Cook for 30 mins with pressure cooker. 2 hours on stovetop.
- Season with salt to taste after boiling when it's still hot. Serve.
Video
Notes
- It is not necessary to remove the skin, it is needed to hold the flesh together. Otherwise the flesh will disintegrate easily into the soup.
- Some people may not like the strong almond fragrance, you can try soaking it in water before use to remove some of the fragrance.
- Do not soak the dried seafood, otherwise all sweetness and fragrance will be released into the water, leaving it tasteless.
Did you make this recipe?
Snap a photo and show me what you’ve made. 😉
Simply tag me @laabicook on Instagram and I’ll definitely stop by to take a peek!
