Name: Winter Melon Soup
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 600 g pork ribs, chopped into pieces; 1 kg winter melon, peeled, seeded and in 3 cm chunks; 2 litres water; 30 g dried shrimp, rinsed; 4 dried scallops, rinsed, optional; 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and halved; 30 g ginger, sliced; 2 strips dried tangerine peel; 20 g goji berries, optional; 1 ½ tsp fine sea salt; ½ tsp white pepper; 3 spring onions, sliced; 2 tbsp coriander, chopped

Winter Melon Soup

Winter melon simmered with pork ribs and dried shrimp until it turns translucent and takes on everything around it. The clear soup Cantonese families make all summer.

1 hr 20 min total Serves 6 servings Easy

Blanch the pork ribs and then wash the pot before starting properly. Cantonese soups are judged on clarity and the scum released in the first few minutes will cloud the whole thing if it is simmered back in. Add the winter melon in the last twenty minutes only: it is more than ninety-five per cent water, cooks to translucency very quickly, and melon added at the start dissolves entirely and leaves nothing to eat.

The Method for Winter Melon Soup

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Put the ribs in cold water, bring to the boil and blanch 5 minutes. Drain, rinse the ribs and wash out the pot.
Return the ribs to the clean pot with the 2 litres of water, the dried shrimp, scallops, shiitake, ginger and tangerine peel.
Bring to a simmer, skim once, then cook gently, half covered, 40 minutes.
Add the winter melon and the goji berries and simmer 20 minutes more, until the melon is translucent and yields to a spoon.
Season with the salt and white pepper.
Ladle into bowls with a piece of rib and some melon in each, and scatter with spring onion and coriander.

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Worth Getting Right

Blanch the ribs and wash the pot. Clarity is the point.
Melon in for the last twenty minutes only.
Season at the end — the dried seafood brings its own salt.

Swaps and Variations

Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.

Pairs Well With

Steamed rice · A stir-fried green · Steamed fish

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Chinese Steamed Eggs, Di San Xian, Garlic Noodles.

Keeping and Reheating

Refrigerated for 3 days. Freezes 2 months, though the melon softens.

What's in a Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

Dairy-Free No Added Sugar