Homemade Pork Bones Soup

One of the side dishes that we would always have on the table growing up was soup. Being it pork, chicken or beef soup. On several occasions, mom would cook somewhat exotic soups that are considered good for asthma.

Soup is one of the essential foods in Hakka cuisine. The soup is flavored with the basic ingredients like carrots, potatoes, preserved mustard, dates, ginger and onion. During Chinese New Year, we’ll put some dried oyster which symbolises good things to come. Not to mention adding extra flavors to the soup.

I recommend getting your pork bones at your local butcher. We usually get ours at the butcher shop in Rhodes Waterside at A$5.49/kg. For cheaper option, we’ll get it at Eastwood for about A$2.99/kg (if we happen to go there). Then add in potatoes, carrots, onions, ginger, dried honey dates, sweetcorn, preserved mustard and dried squid for extra flavors. The sweetness of the soup comes from the carrots, onions, dried honey dates and sweetcorn. Whereas the saltiness comes from the preserved mustard.

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This recipe is a one pot meal and very easy to make. Put all ingredients into the pot then let it boil for about 2 to 3 hours until the meat is tender and fall right off the bones. Don’t boil it for longer than 4 hours as the potatoes and carrots will become very mushy and you won’t be able to enjoy the vegetables. Refrigerate once cooled.

You can cook this soup on Sunday and keep it for the rest of the week. Just keep it into separate containers for easy reheating. You’ll have your weekday dinner meal in just 5 mins in the microwave or on the stove.

What type of homemade soup do you usually make? Share it with us in the comment box below.

Tips:

1. I recommend peeling the skin off for the carrots and potatoes or else you’ll end up with a toothsome texture and earthy flavor. This is however my personal preference.
2. When you boil the meat, you will see a layer of “scum” on the surface of the soup. Slowly skim it off with a ladle. Some articles suggests that you boil the meat first to remove any impurities, give the meat a quick rinse then add fresh water back to the pot. I don’t do that for soup because the initial boil of the soup has the most flavors. That’s also my personal preference.
3. Because you are cooking the soup for at least 3 hours, you need to make sure that you cut the potatoes slightly chunkier, about 4cm.
4. You can get most of the ingredients at Asian grocery shops.

Baking Equipment:

• Cook Pot (Mine is a 25.5cm x 11cm cast iron casserole as it is perfect for slow cooking and retaining heat)
• Vegetable Peeler (optional)

Recipe Note:

1. This is very much dependent on the size of your pot. Mine is a 25.5cm x 11cm cast iron casserole.
2. Preserved mustard is covered in salt and is very salty if not washed. Wash off all the salt on the preserved mustard and cut in chunks.
3. The soup usually have enough salt from the preserved mustard. You can add more salt if you find the soup is a bit bland.

Nutrition Per Serving (Based on 6 servings without green spring onions):

NUTRITION INFORMATION	AVE QUANTITY PER SERVING
Calories	277kcal
Protein	27.8g
Fat (total)	9.2g
– Saturated Fat	3.2g
Carbohydrate	16.8g
Sugars	7.6g
Sodium	347mg

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