Conch, Lotus Root, and Pork Bone Soup | 螺頭年藕排骨湯

Last time when my parents came visit, they brought us a bag of dried conche from Hong Kong.  Compared to fresh conches, dried conches have a stronger umami flavour, and they are saltier and chewier.  People generally use them only to flavour soups.  Fresh conches are much tender and sweeter, so people like to add them to the soup along with the dried conches to boost the flavour.

In this recipe, I didn't use fresh conch.  However, I added pork bones and extra carrots to bring up the richness.

I try to keep up with making soup at least once a week for my family, and this soup is the best choice for this bitterly cold Sunday. 

INGREDIERNTS:

6 Conches, dried

1  Lotus Root, about 200 gram

4 Carrots

6 Pork Bone

4 Dates

2 tablespoons Apricot Kernels

7 cups Water

Salt to taste

材料：

6 隻  乾螺頭

1 節  年藕，約200克

4 條  甘筍

6 塊  豬骨

4 粒  蜜棗

2 湯匙  南北杏

7 杯  水

鹽  調味

DIRECTIONS:

1. Rinse the pork bones under running water to remove the small bone pieces; drain.

2. Peel off the skin of the lotus root and cut the root until bite size.

3. Rinse apricot kernels and conches.

4. In a pot, add all ingredients except salt.  Fill the pot with enough water to cover all ingredients; about 7 cups.  Add more water if needed.

5. Bring the water to a boil, and then continuously boil it over medium-high heat for 45 minutes.  Turn off the heat.  Season the soup with salt to taste.

步驟：

1. 洗淨豬骨。

2. 年藕去皮，切小件。

3. 南北杏和乾螺頭沖水。

4. 除卻鹽，將所有材料放進湯窩。 把水用大火燒滾後轉中大火，再繼續煲45分鐘。關火，下鹽調味。