Watercress with Pork Ribs Soup
Watercress with pork ribs soup 西洋菜汤
The weather in Singapore is perpetually hot and humid. So the best way to cool down in our tropical climate is with a nourishing and cooling bowl of watercress soup. Watercress is packed with anti-oxidants and vitamins. It is said to have detoxifying and cancer-preventing properties as well. Home cooking is all about healthier living so soups like this is a must on my dinner table every now and then. This is a real taste of home-cooked food to me.
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Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 250g pork ribs
- 15 pitted red dates
- 1 tbsp wolfberries, soaked in a small bowl of water till puffy
- 200g watercress, ends trimmed, then roughly cut
- 1300 ml water
- sea saltDirections
1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for about 5 minutes, to remove the scum so that you have clear soup later.
2. In a large soup pot, add water, red dates, blanched pork ribs and watercress. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer (with lid partially closed) for about 40 minutes.
3. Five minutes before you turn off the flame, add the soaked wolfberries. Season with salt and serve with steamed rice.
Similar Recipes
- If you like this recipe, check out my other watercress soup recipe – cooked with chicken (instead of pork) and American short ginseng for a lighter and more herbal taste.
- For soothing irritated throat and coughs, check out my watercress soup with luo han guo recipe
Cooking Note(s)
- You can substitute pork ribs with chicken, or a combination of chicken and pork.
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{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
i like mine with some luo han guo :)
I like it with luo han guo too, it’s my cough/sore throat remedy. I’ll be featuring the recipe :)
ahh… tis is one of the soup tat my mom usually make.. i like tis soup very much since i was a kid :D
Yup, definitely a soup to drink during the hot weather we are getting now. I love eating the watercress and the ribs after it’s been boiled for a couple of hours. So delicious.
This is the soup I most like throughout the year. Watercress is quite expensive here in Australia. Wish I could grow some in my backyard.
This is my favorite soup. Usually take it at my mom’s place. :)
I love this soup, so tasty and refreshing! Too bad watercress is not readily available here, only in Chinatown =(
waaa~ very very healthy…i’ll request sc’s mama to make this (i hardly make my own soup, too lazy heheh)
Definitely a must-have for hot days. But unfortunately if I were to prepare this, I would end up eating it myself. If only you’re my next door neighbour hmmmmm…………..
Oh my gosh….so many of my blogger friends have been making this soup and I have been leaving the same comment everywhere!!! But it truly represents my thought, anyway, here it is again:
I grew up drinking the second soup too! In my house we add in dried cuttlefish (diu phin) and honey dates (mat zhou) to the soup and it gives it the extra richness and smoky flavour! Very yummy!
I just cooked with watercress today…again! Hahaha….that is real home-cooked food! Comfy, homeym and I hardly get tired of eating the same food regularly!
Very soothing soup! My all time favourite!
This is one of my favorite chinese soup, I love watercress!
One of soup of the day that I like to order whenever I visit the Cantonese restaurants. Very soothing and great to drink in the warm days.
This looks so yummy
Not my favorite soup of all, but thanks for posting this recipe, that is the taste of home for me.
My favourite soup too, usually i add scallops too.
Oh! I like this soup…I can almost taste it :-)
What an interesting soup with dates in it! I love them! Never had them in soup. Totally delicious!
I arrived in SG yesterday and this was my first soup I ate at the foodcourt! It is a classic and I’m going to bookmkar this recipe to make this when i get back to Perth!
you’re in Singapore! Hope you have a good vacation :)
Wiffy, I am loving the bowl! You got a matching ladle-style spoon. Beautiful!
Watercress soup is the ultimate home-cooked soup.
Jun, you can buy them when you’re in Singapore ;)
hi, just one question, wiffy. why are the wolfberries added only at the last 5 minutes? I usually boil them with the rest from the beginning. Is that wrong?
hi, I find that if I add them too early, the soup will be filled with the seeds of wolfberries after cooking. By soaking in water first, they will be puffy just like you have boiled them, and by adding in the last 5 minutes, they won’t be overcooked and burst. If you are comfortable with boiling them from the beginning, you can continue doing so, I think it’s personal preference also…
Ah you have the classic rooster bowls! I want! Just that my cupboard has no more space for more bowls!
It looks yummy =) This is one of my all time favorite things to make. So good.
This is one of my favorite soups!
hi there, just my 2-cents worth…
i was told that by placing watercress into non-boiling water, the cooked watercress will have a slightly bitter taste. so it’s always best 2 put in watercress when the water is boiling…
just sharing…
hihi, thanks for sharing your tip! :)
I love this soup, I make it every week!!
I like this soup!
I add dried cuttlefish too, they give the soup more flavour. I cook the soup base (pork ribs, dried cuttlefish, red dates and honey date “mi zao”) for 1-2 hours, so that it’s full of flavour. You can try it next time :)
ohh!!! my favourite… ^0^
Looks good, very healthy food. But I thought u need to boil bones for at least 2 hours for taste?
Thanks for sharing your recipes, they are really helpful for a new cooking mama like me :) Realise that you put all the ingredients in cold water then boil. Will there be any different if I boil the water first then put all ingredients into it? Thanks.
hello this looks delicious! id love to make this however i have a question please: after questioning what wolfberries were and discovering they are simply gojiberries, to me this would seem the soup is going to have a sweet taste! if i like can i leave out the seemingly-to-me sweet dates and the berries and do a simple pork bone and watercress soup? i would flavor with salt only . . if this soup is not sweet at all please tell me and i will go ahead and try anyways!
is this something i could accomplish with tasty results, a simple pork bone and watercress soup? your thoughts please :)