Every ingredient in this pot goes in at a different time, and that staging is the whole recipe. Ribs need an hour, corn and carrot need thirty minutes, yam rather less, and the red dates and goji are there for five minutes at the end. Drop everything in together and the yam dissolves into the broth.
Chinese · Soup
Pork Rib Soup With Yam, Sweet Corn and Red Dates
Ribs are blanched and rinsed before a slow build, thirty minutes alone, then thirty with corn, carrot and yam, and red dates and goji added in the last stretch.
- Prep20 min
- Cook80 min
- Serves4
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 1 | rack pork ribs , about 500 g, cut into short lengths |
| 1 | sweet corn , cut into rounds |
| 1 | carrot , cut into chunks |
| 1 | Chinese yam , about 300 g |
| 1 small handful | dried red dates |
| 1 tbsp | goji berries |
| 1 piece | ginger , sliced |
| 2 tbsp | Shaoxing wine |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| 2000 ml | water |
Method
- Put the ribs in a pot of cold water with the Shaoxing wine, bring it to a boil and let it bubble for 3 minutes, until the foam has all risen. Drain and rinse the ribs under warm water.
- Peel the yam, cut it into chunks and drop them straight into water with a splash of vinegar so they do not oxidise and turn grey.
- Cut the corn and carrot into similar sized pieces, roughly 3 cm, so they cook at the same rate.
- Put 2000 ml of warm water in a heavy pot with the ribs and ginger, bring to a boil, then turn down to a low simmer for 30 minutes with the lid ajar.
- Add the corn, carrot and yam and simmer another 30 minutes, still low, until the yam gives easily under a spoon.
- Add the red dates and cook for 15 minutes.
- Add the goji berries and the salt, simmer 5 minutes more, then turn off the heat and let the pot stand for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- Salt goes in at the end. Added at the start it pulls moisture from the ribs and the meat turns tight and dry.
- Keep the pot at a bare simmer. A rolling boil emulsifies the fat and the soup turns milky instead of clear.
- Peel the yam with gloves on; its sap is itchy on bare skin and the itch lasts longer than the cooking time.
Ratios and technique checked against 林雪小厨房 on Douguo (健脾养胃山药玉米排骨汤). The method here is written by Stellaok; the photograph is the source kitchen's, credited on the image above and linked back to the page it came from. No recipe text is reproduced.