Pork Tenderloin Soup with Dried Scallops

Purpose:

To nourish yin and supplement kidney.     

Material:

Pork tenderloin （里脊肉）                      200 g 

Dried scallops （干贝）                            30 g

Green onion （葱）                                   some
Cooking oil                                             1 tbs

Salt                                                         some

Note:

Dried scallops are available from many Chinese grocers; some of the best quality ones are sold in Chinese nutrition supplement stores.  Depending on the size and quality, dried scallops are priced at from $10-20/lb to more than $500/lb.  For this soup, dried scallops at about $75-100/lb are good enough.  Refer to footnotes in a previous post for an explanation of yin and footnotes in another previous post for the concept of kidney in traditional Chinese medicine.

Procedure:

a.     Rinse clean dried scallops.  Soak in cold water for about 0.5 hour.  Clean and cut pork tenderloin to bite-size slices.  Rinse clean and cut green onion into small pieces.

b.    Put cooking oil into a pot.  Heat the oil and add about 5 cups of water.  Add soaked dried scallops.  Bring to boil at high heat, then cook at medium heat for about 0.5 hour.  Break up the scallops when they become loose.  At this point, the soup has a slightly milky color.  You can cook for a little longer if you like the scallops soft.   

c.     Add pork slices.  Bring to boil at high heat.  Remove white foam and scum if there is any.  Let cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the meat is cooked. 

d.     Sprinkle green onion onto the soup.  Add salt to taste.  Ready to serve.

Comment:

This is a very delicious soup that is simple to prepare.  After cooking, the soup is slightly milky with a light yellow color.  The green onion add a fresh smell and a decorative green color to the soup.  The soup is good to go with a meal or to eat along as a snack.

Dried scallops （干贝）

Pork tenderloin （里脊肉）