Carrot & Daikon Pork Ribs Soup
This carrot and daikon pork ribs soup is a homely Chinese soup. Usually, carrot and daikon (white radish) play a supporting role in Chinese soups but in this dish they are the stars. And why not, since the duo never fails to lend their natural sweetness to any soup. In addition to a host of vitamins, the daikon and carrot also boost detoxifying properties, making this an ideal soup for cleansing the body.
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This is where I start from. My soup pot consists of blanched pork ribs (mix of spare ribs and prime ribs) at the bottom. The peeled daikon (white radish) and carrots are cut to large chunks. Dried scallops and red dates (just a few to avoid overpowering the soup) are added for more sweetness. The trio of garlic-onion-ginger is optional but I always love to sneak them in my Chinese soups whenever I can, as they are immunity boosters. They also always make the kitchen smell incredible when the soup is simmering away. With this mix of ingredients, the soup is sweet on its own even after only 40 minutes on the stove. It’s ready to serve even if I don’t have time to simmer it for long hours in the thermal pot or slow cooker. So it is really ideal for weekday cooking, where I can buy the ingredients after work and cook it when I reach home. I really love that the ingredients can be roughly chopped which saves a lot of time in the preparation.
Carrot & Daikon Pork Ribs Soup Recipe
This recipe covers two methods of cooking this soup: simmering over the stove-top and using a crock pot slow cooker.
Pork ribs can be substituted with chicken: use one kampong chicken or 6 drumsticks with 1 chicken bone.
Ingredients:
- 500 grams pork spare ribs
- 1200ml water (for stove-top method) OR 900ml for slow-cooker method
- 200g daikon (white radish) peeled and cut into large chunks
- 150g carrots peeled and cut into large chunks
- 4 red dates
- 4 dried scallops
- 1/2 small yellow onion roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic cloves don’t peel or mash them
- 3 slices ginger
- 1 tsp mushroom seasoning powder optional
- salt to taste
Directions:
First, blanch pork ribs in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. Rinse pork pieces with cold water and set aside.
Stove-Top Method
Add blanched pork and all the ingredients except salt into a large soup pot.
Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for another 40-50 minutes. Season to taste with salt. For best results, keep warm in a thermal pot for at least 2 hours before serving.
Slow-Cooker Method
Use 900ml hot boiling water instead of 1200ml as specified in the recipe.
In a crock-pot slow cooker, add blanched pork and all the ingredients except salt. Cook at “High” for 2 hours (starting from the time when the soup starts bubbling), then set to simmer at “Low” until ready to serve. Top up with a small amount of boiling water occasionally only if needed (if the soup in the pot is reduced). Season to taste with salt.