Pork Bone Soup with Soybeans

Purpose:

To improve spleen and enhance appetite.  To remove wet and reduce swelling.  To nourish and strengthen without inducing dryness.  This soup can be used for prevention of rickets of children and bone demineralization of old people.  It can be used as food therapy for weak body constituents, malnutrition, weak feet and legs, low spirit, and exhaustion due to excessive sweating.     

Material:

Pork bones for soup （煲汤骨）                     500 g
Soybeans （黄豆）                                           500 g
Dried and salted mustard root （大头菜）     25 g
Ginger （姜）                                                    10 g 
Salt                                                                  some
        

Note:

Pork bones for soups are available from Chinese grocery stores.  These are bones (neck bones, shoulder bones, or spinal cords) with plenty of meat still attached.  You can ask the butcher to cut them into about 2 to 3 inches pieces if it is not already done.  Check to see if grocery stores other than Chinese ones have this kind of pork bones, as I am not quite aware of them.  There are some varieties of dried mustard roots.  If you read Chinese, this blog is the best source to learn all about it (http://26652839.blog.163.com/blog/static/334793442011015113032170/).  For soups, the dried and salted variety (without further pickling) is the most suitable.

Procedure: 

a.   Soak dried and salted mustard root in water to soften and desalt.  Rub in water to clean soybeans, and then rinse clean.  Stir fry soybeans (without cooking oil) for a while until the beans are dry and hot. 

b.   Boil at high heat about 8 cups of water.  Add pork bones and boil for about 5 minutes.  Remove and rinse clean the bones.  Pour away the water.  Bring to boil at high heat another 8-9 cups of water in a clean pot.  Add bones, soybeans, mustard root, and ginger.  

c.   Bring to boil at high heat and then reduce to cook at medium heat for about 3 hours until soybeans are well cooked. 

d.   Add some salt to taste.  Ready to serve. 

        

Comment:

This is a tasty pork bone soup with an amber color, a light sweet taste, and a pungent flavor of mustard.  The meat is ready to fall off the bones after cooking.  When cooked thoroughly, soybeans are a good treat for taste buds.  You can eat the soup right after cooking, or keep it in the refrigerator and eat later.  If you need to reduce fat intake, remember to leave the soup in the refrigerator for a few hours, and then take it out and see if there is any solid fat that can be removed from the top layer.  From my experience, these bones are usually quite lean, and there is little fat to be removed.  Microwave to warm up before serving.  Meat and bone soups always taste better when they are hot.

Soybeans （黄豆）

Dried and salted mustard roots （大头菜）

Pork bones for soup （煲汤骨）