Chinese Six Herbs Pork Rib Soup
Learn how to prepare Chinese six herb/six flavor soup (六味汤), also known as ching po leung (清补涼). Choose between pork ribs soup and dessert soup version.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 2 hr 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 4 pieces (20 gram) Chinese yam (Chinese: 怀(淮)山 - huai shan)
- 4 tablespoon (35 gram) lotus seeds (Chinese: 莲子 - lian zi)
- 4 tablespoon (25 gram) lily bulbs (Chinese: 百合 - bai he)
- 4 tablespoon (40 gram) fox nuts (Chinese: 芡实 - qian shi)
- 4 tablespoon (15 gram) Solomon seal rhizome (Chinese: 玉竹 - yu zhu)
- 4 tablespoon (30 gram) dried longan (Chinese: 桂圓/龙眼 - gui yuan/long yan)
- 450 gram (1 lb.) pork ribs, cut into bite sizes
- 1 1/2 liter (6 cup) water
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 liter (6 cup) water
- 75-100 gram rock sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- 1
Rinse and drain all the dried herbs to remove dust and dirt. Soak each ingredient in separate bowls for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.
- 2
Option 1 (savory soup): Boil a pot of water and blanch pork ribs for about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse the pork ribs with cold running water. This step is optional, but if you do this, your soup will have a clear broth.
- 3
Place all ingredients in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, with the lid on. Remove from heat and serve immediately.
- 4
Option 2 (sweet soup): Boil together all the dried ingredients and water. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, with the lid on.
- 5
Once the dried ingredients are soft and tender to your liking, add rock sugar and stir until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat. The sweet soup version can be served hot, at room temperature, or chilled.