Soothing Chinese Apple Soup
蘋果豬骨湯
My friend asked me to make her a soup that is soothing and not too hot or cool (in terms of traditional Chinese medicine ) for helping with her dry skin and throat. I have a few favorites but soothing apple soup is my go to for this time of the year. It is super tasty and it is suitable for everyone to drink as it is considered a very neutral soup. Though the apples are sweet, it doesn’t make this savoury soup overly sweet. Instead it balances out the flavour out very well, creating a soup that reminds me of a autumn harvest.
I like to use large Fuji apples.
As most Chinese soups are usually bone based, it is very nutritious and easily digestable. I prefer to use pork humerus bone which has a lot of soft tissue such cartilage and gelatin. I find that marrow inside produces a richer broth when cooked slowly compare to other bones cuts. Humerus bones are not easy to cut, so if you get them from the butcher, ask them to cut it smaller so the marrow is exposed and the bones can fit into the soup pot.
You can leave the peel on or off for this soup.
Use a large pot for making soup. I use a 5 liters pot. You want to leave some room on top so it won’t boil over.
Soothing Apple Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
1 kg of pork humerus bone
1 piece of ginger, size of your thumb
1 piece of dry snow fungus. Rehydrate over night or for 3 hours in water.
2 extra large apples or 3 medium size apples. Wash and cut.
3 large red dates or 6 small ones.
5 dried passion fruit
1 cup of dried sea conch or dried octopus
12 pieces of Chinese almonds (optional )
Water
Salt
Cooking Method
1. Place bones in a large pot and add in sliced ginger. Fill it with cold water and place it over high heat and wait for it to boil. Let it boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. Rinse the bones under cold water to remove any scum.
2. Place the blanched bones in a fresh pot of water and boil over high heat for 15 minutes. Then set to medium heat for 45 minutes.
Dry snow fungus.
3. Place the rest of the ingredients into the pot with the bones. Cook for an hour or more to your liking.
I love these soft red dates. Look how big they are.
Figs are a very popular ingredient for Chinese soups.
4. Add salt and serve.
This collagen rich soup is smooth and silky with a slight sticky finish
Try my Eggs with Pan Fried Wild Scallops and Chives recipe.