Yam Soup

A soup the yam itself thickens, with no starch and no long boiling.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains pork.

Ingredients

• 500 g Chinese yam, peeled and in 3 cm chunks
• 500 g pork ribs
• 1.4 litres water
• 4 slices ginger
• 1 tablespoon goji berries
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

Method

1. Wear gloves to peel the yam, or hold it under running water while you do. The raw sap itches badly on most people's hands and is the reason this is sold unpeeled.
2. Drop the peeled chunks straight into water with a splash of vinegar or lemon so they do not brown while you deal with the ribs.
3. Blanch the ribs from cold water for 5 minutes, skim, and rinse them.
4. Simmer the ribs in the 1.4 litres of water with the ginger for 30 minutes.
5. Add the yam and simmer 20 minutes more. THE YAM IS THE THICKENER — it breaks down at the edges and gives the broth a faint slipperiness, so nothing starchy is added and this does not need the three hours a bone broth does.
6. Add the goji berries for the last 5 minutes; any longer and they turn to skins.
7. Season with the salt and white pepper at the end.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under China · All recipes