Pork Tongue Soup with Lettuce

Purpose:

To improve spleen and enhance appetite; to clear heat and remove stagnancy; to pacify liver and lower blood pressure; to remove obstruction in the intestines, and reduce eruption of hemorrhoid.  This soup can be used as food therapy for many problems due to deprivation of sleep or eating too much oil fried or fatty food: red eyes, excessive sleep, headache, excessive phlegm, uncomfortable stomach and intestines, abnormal bowel movement, or bad breath.     

Material:

Pork tongue （猪舌）                               1 piece

Lettuce （生菜）                                      500 g

Fresh ginger （姜）                                   10 g

Salt                                                         some

Note:

Pork tongues are available from Chinese grocery stores.  The mossy layer on the tongue surface needs to be removed before the tongue is cut into slices for cooking.  Lettuce is cooked enough when water starts to boil - do not overcook it.

Procedure:

a.     Rinse clean ginger and lettuce.  Skin ginger and cut to slices.  Cut lettuce leaves to abut 3-4 inches pieces.

b.     Heat enough water to cover the pork tongue.  Put in the tongue when water starts to boil.  Let remain for 5 minutes.  Pour away hot water.  Rinse the tongue with cold water.  The mossy layer on the tongue now turns into a white visible layer.  Scrape the white layer away.  Rinse and cut the tongue into slices of about 1 to 1.5 inches long and about 0.5 cm thick. 

c.     Put the pork tongue and ginger slices into a pot.  Add about 6 cups of water.  Bring to boil with high heat.  Reduce to low heat and cook for about 2 hours.  

d.     Bring the heating back to high.  Add lettuce, and wait until boil.  Add salt to taste.  Ready to serve.

        

Comment:

This is a delicious soup that is simple to prepare.  After cooking, the soup is slightly milky and has a light yellow color; the tongue slices are pink, while the lettuce leaves are light green.  The combination gives the soup a pleasing look, in addition to a clean and fresh smell of a lettuce soup.  The lettuce leaves are crunchy and tasty.  The tongue has a taste of ham; it is as soft, but less fibrous. I highly recommend this soup for its low cost, good taste, and many benefits.

Lettuce （生菜）

Pork tongue （猪舌）