Bone broth is really big in the Paleo/ traditional foods circle and there are probably countless blogs out there detailing the hows and whys and benefits of bone broth. When I first heard of bone broth, my first thought was: Isn’t this how soup is made? It is remarkably similar to Chinese-style soups that most Chinese households would prepare on a regular basis (not to be confused with soups such as egg-drop soup, wonton soup or hot and sour soup commonly served in Chinese restaurants in Western countries). Growing up, we would have a Chinese-style soup almost every day for dinner. My mother would prepare the ingredients in the morning and let the slow cooker work its magic during the day. Purists would insist on slow cooking the soup for hours over a charcoal brazier as the soup would have a superior taste that no electrical stove/cooker could impart (kind of like comparing charcoal barbeques vs propane barbeques!). Returning from school, I would eagerly sniff upon entering the house to discern the ‘soup of the day’. Lotus root soup is one of my all-time favourites and catching a whiff of its lovely scent meant ‘welcome home’ to me.
When I was a teenager I despaired never mastering the culinary skills of my parents, especially that of brewing Chinese-style soups. My parents never refer to recipes when cooking, everything is based on ‘a little bit of this and that, according to taste’. My mother has a huge collection of Chinese herbs in the fridge (they could probably occupy a mini-fridge of their own) and I used to wonder what was what. Granted, she is no Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbalist, but she knows the basics (like any other Chinese mother, I would expect) and can cook a mean feast. When I got married and started a family of my own, I began cooking Chinese-style soups for my family. Google is your friend! There are heaps of resources out there on the various herbs used and their properties, plus recipes. I personally believe there is no one way of making a soup, that it’s all up to one’s taste and preference.
When I make Chinese-style soups, I like to break it up into 2 major components. The base of the soup and the add-ins. The soup base would include meat and vegetables. My mother would often use small quantities of boneless cuts such as pork loin, to be discarded after brewing as all the flavour would have transferred to the soup. This soup would be drunk alongside with several side dishes of meats, vegetables and rice (a typical Chinese meal). In order to make my soups hearty enough to constitute a meal without additional side dishes, I would use a larger quantity of meaty bones such as pork ribs or chicken drumsticks. For added goodness, feel free to use the ‘odd bits’ such as chicken claws or pork legs. These yield plenty of good gelatin and give the soups a luxuriously velvety mouthfeel. Pork or chicken are most commonly used as they impart the mildest, neutral flavour to the soup. When preparing the soup, I make sure to blanch the meats in boiling water for 3 minutes before discarding the water and refilling the pot to proceed with making the soup. I find that this helps get rid of of the ‘scum’ of coagulated surface proteins, resulting in a clearer and cleaner-tasting soup.
For the vegetable, lotus root is used in today’s recipe. Other commonly used vegetables include carrots, daikon, burdock root, gourds, watercress, etc.
Lotus root is a rhizome commonly used in Asian cooking. It has a crunchy texture, somewhat akin to celery root/ water chestnut, but starchier. Even after a whole day of cooking, it holds its shape and relative crunchiness.
The ends need to be sliced off and discarded, and the root peeled.
My mother says that a good lotus root that would impart plenty of flavour to a soup is one with plenty of visible ‘hairs’. Some interesting tidbit on these ‘hairs’ can be read here.
As I can’t get very nice and fresh lotus roots where I live, I like to stock up when I visit the nearby big city’s Chinatown. I discovered that they freeze well, so I prep them, slice them up and store them in freezer bags in the freezer. This makes it a great time-saver and the added bonus of freezing the lotus roots is that it helps soften them slightly, making them more palatable.
With the add-ins, I make sure that I have a good mix of 3 components: Chinese herbs, sweetness and umami-ness. Chinese herbs help to give the soup a nutritional boost, the best analogy I can think of are the add-ins such as wheatgrass, protein powder or maca in a smoothie. If unavailable, you can simply omit them. Here’s a photo of a typical blend of add-ins.
For sweetness, dried fruits are added sparingly. Commonly used dried fruits include jujubes (Chinese/ Korean dates), dates (such as medjool), figs, honey figs, longans, lychees, and wolfberries/ goji berries (This is a nightshade, so omit if AIP). Alternatively, fresh fruits such as apples or Asian pears can be used too. For umami-ness, I like to add dried seafood such as scallops or cuttlefish. Not absolutely crucial, but it gives a pleasant mouth-feel and overall taste to the soup. An alternative would be to use more meats in your broth. Most of these dried add-ins can be found as an Asian grocer or supermarket, either in plastic packets or in bulk bins. Pre-packaged herbal blends are also sold for added convenience.
Lotus root soup (bone broth-based)
Ingredients (Serves 4)
The basics:
- 2 lotus root segments (about 10 – 12 inches/ 25 – 30 cm in total length)
- One rack pork ribs/ 2 hocks (Feel free to increase the amount)
- Salt to taste
- Water
Add-ins:
- 1 tbsp dried scallops
- 2 sticks astragalus root (huang qi)
- 2 pieces Solomon’s seal rhizome (yu zhu)
- 4 – 5 dried longans
- 3 dried figs
Method (Stove top)
- Peel and slice lotus roots into 1 cm thick slices.
- If using pork ribs, cut into individual rib portions.
- Rinse add-ins and strain.
- Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the meats. Bring to boil. Add meats and allow to boil for 3 minutes. Strain meats and discard water, cleaning out any additional scum on the sides of the pot.
- Return the meats to the pot and add in lotus roots slices and add ins.
- Top up with sufficient water to cover everything. Bring to boil, lower heat to a bare simmer and allow to simmer covered for about 3 hours.
- Strain liquid fat and any remaining scum. Add salt to the soup to taste and serve hot.
- Leftovers can be frozen for a month or refrigerated for about 3 days.
Method (Slow cooker)
- Peel and slice lotus roots into 1 cm thick slices.
- If using pork ribs, cut into individual rib portions.
- Rinse add-ins and strain.
- Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the meats. Bring to boil. Add meats and allow to boil for 3 minutes. Strain meats and discard water, cleaning out any additional scum on the sides of the pot.
- Return the meats to the pot and add in lotus roots slices and add ins.
- Top up with sufficient water to cover everything. Bring to boil, then turn off heat. (Alternatively, place blanched meats, lotus roots slices and add ins into the slow cooker pot, top up with sufficient water to cover everything and cook on low setting for 8 hours or high setting for 4 hours.
- Transfer everything to slow cooker pot and cook on low setting for 8 hours or high setting for 4 hours.
- Strain liquid fat and any remaining scum. Add salt to the soup to taste and serve hot.
- Leftovers can be frozen for a month or refrigerated for about 3 days.
