Pork ribs with winter melon soup（冬瓜排骨汤） is a traditional Chinese soup that is very popular in China. The winter melon’s Chinese name is Dong Gua (冬瓜). The soup is made with pork ribs, winter melon, and a variety of other ingredients. Winter melon has a very mild sweet flavor, and this tasty soup pairs the natural sweetness of the winter melon and the rich flavor of rib broth. Chinese winter melon soup is super-easy to prepare and tastes particularly satisfying.
Chinese people believe that winter melon can reduce heat and swelling. One thing that I like about pork ribs soup is how easy it is, by using only a few simple ingredients.
With almost all soups, you will only need to throw the ingredients into the pot and let it cook on the stovetop for an hour or so.
What you Need
In the pot, simmer together blanched pork short ribs, water, and winter melons. In addition to the necessary pork ribs (I used spareribs) and winter melon, I also like adding some red dates, and goji berries. Besides adding a garnish to the soup, both Chinese red dates and dried goji berries offer several health benefits. Adding them to the soup also adds a sweetness boost to the rich, nutritious broth from the pork bones, complimenting the pork and other ingredients well.
It is a good practice to boil your pork bones beforehand to remove any impurities to prevent the soup from becoming cloudy. Once all these items are prepped, it is time to parboil your pork bones to get rid of all impurities. If using bones, pass your broth through a wire mesh strainer to get rid of any bones and dregs, and then stir in your remaining ingredients to your cleaned broth.
A Comfort Food
You will be surprised by how easy it is to make this soup. The soup result is simple and lightweight. Winter melon is cooked in aromatic broth until it is soft and has a melt-in-your-mouth consistency.
While making this soup does indeed take a good chunk of time, it is absolutely worth the effort, since you can freeze it for later. Usually, once a large batch of soup is cooked, I keep the remaining stock frozen in my freezer for quick-fix meals later.
Give it a try, you will love this incredible soup:)
P/S: You can also use a slow cooker or pressure cooking to speed up the cooking. The amount of time all depends on the number of ingredients you have. You can add additional time according to the softness of the winter melon and the ribs. Keep in mind the older winter melon may need a longer cook time.
Chinese Winter Melon Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound of pork ribs
- 1 medium-size winter melon
- 4 slices fresh ginger sliced
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- Green onion sliced, for garnish
- Goji berry for garnish
- Red date for garnish
- Water fill it enough to submerge the pork ribs and the winter melon chunks
Instructions
- Wash the winter melon and cut off the rough part of the root, remove the seeds and pulp, peel the rind off, and then cut them into small chunks. Set aside.
- Put pork ribs in boiling water for 2 minutes to remove impurities, rinse and drain.
- Place the pork ribs, ginger slices, winter melon chunks, and water into a cooking pot, bring water to boil, and then simmer on medium-low heat until everything is to the desired softness/tenderness.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
- Add a few red dates and goji berries for garnish. Don’t forget to add them in at last 5-10 min so, so they are not overcooked or change color.
- Serve hot with steamed rice, enjoy!
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