Winter melon, kelp and spare rib soup with stir-fried long beans
Winter melon with its skin, kelp knots and spare ribs simmered into a clear soup, served with garlicky long beans — light, damp-draining and never heavy.
- 1 hr 20 min
- Serves 3
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Phlegm-damp types feel heavy and sluggish, put on weight easily and have a thick tongue coating, and Hong Kong's humid Liqiu heat calls for a light dinner that resolves damp. Winter melon with its skin drains water, kelp resolves phlegm, tangerine peel moves qi, and long beans strengthen the spleen. Quick-fried with little oil and served with brown rice, it fills you without adding damp.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 65 min- 1Put the ribs in cold water, bring to the boil and blanch for 3 minutes, then rinse. Soak the kelp knots for 10 minutes and wash off any grit. Scrub the winter melon and cut into large chunks, skin on.
- 2Bring the water to the boil with the ginger and tangerine peel. Add the ribs, winter melon and kelp, boil hard for 10 minutes, then simmer over a low heat for 50 minutes and season with salt.
- 3While the soup simmers, trim the long beans and cut into lengths, blanch for 1 minute and drain. Heat the oil, fry the garlic until fragrant and stir-fry the beans for 3 minutes until cooked through, seasoning with a pinch of salt.
- 4Serve the soup with the beans and brown rice. Discard the melon skin if you like; the melon flesh and kelp are good to eat.
Cautions
- Always cook long beans right through until they lose their raw taste, as undercooked beans can cause food poisoning; kelp is high in iodine, so cut back if you have thyroid problems.
Chef's tips
- Cooking winter melon with its skin on drains damp more effectively, so scrub it well; soak the kelp knots before washing to remove excess salt and grit.
The TCM view
Winter melon is sweet, bland and slightly cold, draining water and resolving phlegm, and its skin drains water even more strongly. Kelp is salty and cold, resolving phlegm, softening hardness and reducing swelling; pork ribs are sweet and neutral and sweeten the soup; long beans are sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen and kidneys; tangerine peel dries damp and ginger warms the middle, tempering the coldness.
