Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Pork Soup with Hairy Gourd and Peanuts (Chinese Soup #2)



[ts]
Yes, another day of "convenience" food.

This time, I chose a more conventional mix of ingredients.

"Pork Soup w/ Hairy Gourd & Peanuts"


[ts]
This "simpler" soup just has hairy gourd, pork and pork backbone, honey dates, peanuts and cowpeas (black-eyed peas).

It's nourishing and helps skin stay moisturized!

(Again, this doesn't cool the "hot" (yang) from the body! I think I have too much yang! Perhaps next time I'll get those cooling-the-yang packs.)



Honey dates, peanuts and black-eyed peas on the left. Pork, porkbone and hairy gourd on the right. (Hairy gourd is just some cucumber-like/squash-like vegetable, but I like the name.) Then it's your basic dump-into-a-pot-and-add-water operation.




[ts]
This was definitely better than the sharkbone version. I'm still unsure whether the peanuts are supposed to be really soft or not. The meat got tender faster than the peanuts! Next time I'll wait until the peanuts are soft; I think I'll like that even more. Of course, the hairy gourd was very nice, similar to cooked cucumbers, which I like. (First discovered making Hainan Chicken and testified to in Watermelon Cucumber Curry.)

I'm not too big a fan of pork broth, so I think I'll try some other packs with different proteins.



Kelly (CSC's university-mate) has made this comment regarding these "convenience packs":

I made that soup too [pork with sharkbone] and it did smelled fishy. My favourite is the watercress one. It is brewing as we speak.

Then it's the one with melon and carrots for its sweetness. I also just like eating the pork bones with soy sauce.

The chicken feet one was gelatinous and fatty. I plan on trying the black chicken one some day. My parents ended up buying a bunch of funky Chinese stuff for me and then combined them in zip loc bags. I just need to add pork bones. I have enough to be set for life. ;)


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Pork Soup with Shark Bone and Seaweed (Chinese Soup #1)
Pork Soup with Hairy Gourd and Peanuts (Chinese Soup #2)

15 comments:

  1. We love Chinese soups so I am following your chinese soups series more closely. Would you believe I have to google about the hairy gourd? Because I do not know what it is exactly, and if we have that kind of gourd here... :)

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  2. It's kundol pala! :) Yup! This soup is yummy.

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  3. You mean your convenience pack came with the hairy gourd and pork ? I love hairy gourd soup! It's my slow-cooker fail-proof soup :)

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  4. these are just crazy sounding to me though I'd love to try one sometime

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  5. Interesting.
    I'm still getting over the "hairy" part... but, that's purely psychological. Looks scrumptious!

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  6. I love the stuff you make and I love the photos even more!

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  7. Oh..I just need to chime in! The first time my husband heard the phrase 'hairy gourd' - the shock he has on his face was priceless!! Now though, he happily chows it down. :D

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  8. Ning:
    Don't worry, I'm all confused by the "Chinese"/Asian vegetables as well. Haha. We always see the same ones at the supermarket and always wonder, "What do they use them for?"

    tigerfish:
    Yup! Everything was included in the pack. All we needed to add was water and salt. =)

    kat:
    Basically they're just pork-brothy... with a hint of sweetness (like, pork-sweetness and gourd-sweetness). Mild and subtle. =)

    lo / CECIL:
    Haha, I think they should stick with "FUZZY" instead of "hairy."

    joe:
    Thanks! And good luck on the second location and your to-do list! =)

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  9. You are brave, brave souls :-) I haven't seen soup packs like this locally. The type we have here are all dried ingredients that you can mix with your own meat. Joe bought me one that you mix with pork bones that is supposed to have some sort of health benefits ... it tasted like dirt. Yuck. I'm still getting used to chinese soups like this and appreciate watching you explore them for me!

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  10. The name 'Hairy Gourd' cracks me up for some reason! hehehe. I had that soup a few times and it was really good. It looked exactly the same too. You can quiz me, i know my Chinese food. :-)

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  11. i love convenient packs...i wish they have convenient pack version of everything hehe

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  12. I love how intriguing this sounds and I'd definitely be willing to try this!

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  13. Allen:
    Oh, you probably bought a pack of "medicinal herbs" or whatnot. I still haven't developed a taste for those either! (Coz, well, they taste like MEDICINE to me!) I think I'll stick to these "sweet" things (peanuts, legumes, honey dates). =)


    Zen Chef:
    See, it's all in the "marketing"... I don't think fuzzy would get the same reaction. Hehe.

    Mochachocolata Rita:
    I wished everything could be delivered to one's doorstep like in Indonesia! =D

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  14. Hairy gourd - snicker. I'm a sucker for rudely named or shaped fruits and vegetables...! Soup looks terrific though - no laughing matter!

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  15. Jeanne:
    It's turned rainy here now. Good time for such a soup.

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