I had earlier confessed that one of my 2013 resolutions (I rarely made them in my life so when I made it for this year, I'm trying to stick by it!) is to learn to cook for the family and also shared a recipe I tried out, the Szechuan Vegetable soup. For this post, I am sharing my second soup recipe which is taught by my dear hubby (yes! You read it right!) and one of my favorite soup since my childhood which my late mum used to make, the Lotus Root Soup!
I remembered I used to love putting this soup in my plate of rice and just plain eat my rice and drink the soup as it is. Oh, that and lots of peanuts of course! Used to fight with my elder brother for as many peanuts as we could find in the soup hahahah...
Ingredients:
1. Lotus root (skinned and sliced - thickness depends on your preferance)
2. Dried scallops (optional)
3. Ground peanuts (boiled and removed skins after) (optional)
4. Salted/preserved vegetable (called 'Tai Thou Choi' in Cantonese)
5. Pork bones (boiled for about few minutes)
6. Red dates (big sized about 12-14 pieces, deseeded)
7. Soup beans (it looks like Pinto beans) (optional)
Methods:
* Clean the pork by blanching in boiling water for few minutes, then drain off the water.
* Rinsed lotus roots, red dates and soup beans.
* Boiled ground nuts for a few seconds and remove the skin layer (my own preferance to have white smooth peanuts).
* Add all ingredients into slow cooker, add enough water to cover the ingredients with about an inch more.
* Put on high for half hour, before switching to low settings for about 6-7 hours.
(Note: If you use gas stove to boil this soup, you can simmer for 1 or more hours until the pork is tender.
Picture below with ingredients just before adding hot water into slow cooker.
Outcome:
Hubby said he likes how the soup turns out muddy looking as I told him I preferred clear looking soup similar to the one my late mum used to make. Hubby also commented that I need to reduce some more water because I'm using slow cooker instead of gas stove to boil this soup (I actually put in a lot of water, almost about 80% full in the slow cooker).
Nevertheless, hubby whacked 3 big bowls of the soup and Ben had a bowl of the soup the next day when I made noodle soup with it so I guess it's good, just need to reduce water next time. Overall, I'm very happy with this attempt!
To view my other recipes, feel free to hop over to my Recipe Library page for more info!
