Winter melon and Job's tears duck soup
Skin-on winter melon, Job's tears and tangerine peel slow-simmered with skinless duck — a light summer soup that clears damp and lightens you up.
- 2 hr 5 min
- Serves 3
- Simmer
- Easy
Why it suits you: Phlegm-Dampness means a heavy body, tiredness and a thick tongue coating, and Minor Heat's steamy mix of heat and humidity is the hardest stretch. Winter melon and Job's tears drain damp, and skinless duck is clean rather than greasy, so you feel lighter afterwards.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 105 min- 1Rinse the Job's tears and soak for 1 hour. Soak the tangerine peel until soft and scrape off the pith.
- 2Strip the skin and fat off the duck and chop into large pieces. Start in cold water, boil for 5 minutes, then drain and rinse.
- 3Wash the winter melon and cut into large chunks, keeping the skin and seeds — they help drain damp.
- 4Bring the water to the boil, add all the soup ingredients, boil hard for 10 minutes, then simmer for 1½ hours. Skim off the fat and salt just before serving.
- 5Blanch the choy sum and serve with rice; lift out the duck and dip it in a little soy sauce — soup and a dish, done.
Cautions
- Avoid Job's tears in pregnancy. If your digestion runs cold or loose, use only toasted Job's tears.
Chef's tips
- Herbal shops sell ready-toasted Job's tears, or dry-fry raw ones in a wok over low heat until lightly golden.
The TCM view
Winter melon is sweet, bland and slightly cold and clears heat and drains water; Job's tears are sweet, bland and cool and drain damp, and toasting makes them gentler; duck is sweet, salty and slightly cool and drains water; tangerine peel is pungent, bitter and warm and dries damp; ginger protects the stomach. Light and draining without harming yang.
