Pork Bone Soup with Chayote, Carrot and Corn 合掌瓜蘿蔔粟米豬骨湯

It's the season of the year, many people seem to either get a cold or a bad cough. A pot of vegetables and pork soup certainly helps relief the dryness of our throats and even skins.

The almond seeds and apricot seeds have great benefit to our body.  They can be easily found in Chinese stores.  These two seeds share a nearly identical apparence, though their flavours are different.  Keep in mind that apricot seeds contains trace of cyanid, we should be caution on the amount of the use.

INGREDIENTS:

8 Pork Bones, rinsed

3 Chayotes, cut into big pieces

2 Carrot, chunked

3 Corn, cut into segment

3 tablespoons Almond Seeds

2 tablespoons Apricot Seeds

2 Chinese Honey Dates

Salt to taste

DIRECTION:

1. In a soup pot, place the pork bone on the bottom.  Then add the rest of the ingredients on top.  Fill the pot with water until the water is enough to cover the ingredients.  Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Skim off the foam on top. 

2. Reduce the heat to medium heat and boil for another 1 hour.  Season the soup with salt to taste.

Watercress, Green Carrot, and Red Carrot Bone Soup

Green carrot is a common root vegetable that can be found in Asian supermarkets.  It is green in colour (needless to say) and it isn't sweet like the orange carrot we eat often.  But in Hong Kong, people often use it to make pork bone soup, particularly to make it with orange carrots and watercress.

I love this soup and I was always excited when my mom made it.  The aroma of the almond seeds in it fills the air during cooking, and the steam from the pot rises and often fogs all the windows.  It is the soup we eat commonly in winter, and this soup reminds me the cozy winter time with my family.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Green Carrot, peeled and cut into big pieces

4 Carrots, peeled and cut into big pieces

2 bundles Watercress, rinsed

2 tablespoons Almond Seeds

2 tablespoons Dried Apricot Kernels

6 pieces Pork Bones, rinsed

3  Chinese Honey Dates

Salt to taste

DIRECTION:

1. In a soup pot, add all the ingredients except the salt.  Fill the pot with water until the ingredients are totally submerged.

2. Bring it to a boil over high heat.  Then reduce the heat to medium and put the lid on.  Continue to boil it for another 1.5 hours.  Season it with salt to taste.