Pork stomach soup with bean curd sheet and ginkgo, with choy sum
Well-cleaned pork stomach simmered with bean curd sheets and ginkgo into a milky, clean-tasting soup, served with a plate of stir-fried choy sum.
- 2 hr 30 min
- Serves 4
- Simmer
- Medium
Why it suits you: A qi-deficient constitution has a weak spleen and stomach, and heavy summer sweating leaves you short of breath and drained. Pork stomach is a traditional tonic for the stomach and for depletion; bean curd sheets and ginkgo make the broth silky, and a little pepper warms without heating. Choy sum on the side keeps it fresh.
Method
Prep 30 min · Cook 120 min- 1Turn the stomach inside out and scrub well with the coarse salt and cornflour. Rinse and repeat to remove all the fat and slime.
- 2Put the stomach in cold water with the ginger, boil for 5 minutes, then scrape off the inner membrane and cut into strips. Soak the ginkgo in hot water, rub off the skins and pick out the bitter cores.
- 3Put the stomach, bean curd sheets, ginkgo, ginger and peppercorns in a pot with the water, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 1 hour 45 minutes and season with salt. Stir-fry the choy sum with the garlic and serve alongside.
Cautions
- Ginkgo is mildly toxic: always core and cook it, and keep to 10 nuts per adult serving, half for children. Skip this soup while you have a cold or fever.
Chef's tips
- Clean the stomach thoroughly to avoid any odour; the bean curd sheets partly melt and turn the soup milky, which is normal.
The TCM view
Pork stomach is sweet and slightly warm, tonifying depletion and strengthening the spleen and stomach. Bean curd sheets are sweet and neutral, nourishing the stomach and boosting qi. Ginkgo is sweet, bitter, astringent and neutral, astringing the lungs and reducing urinary frequency. White pepper is pungent and hot, warming the middle; a little helps the stomach along. Choy sum is neutral to cool. A gentle, non-drying tonic for the spleen and stomach.
