Ingredients
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500 g MeatCan be duck, chicken, pork or just vegetables (for vegetarian dish)
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2 Carcasses Whole ChickenOptional can be substitute with 1 chicken stock
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1 Medium Old Cucumber
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1 Dried CuttlefishNot for vegans
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3 tbsp Chinese Peanuts with skins on
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8 pieces Red Datesmay use honey dates too
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2 tbsp Wolfberries
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2.5 litres Water
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pinch Saltto taste
Directions
Old Cucumber Soup (老黄瓜汤) is a mainstay in many Cantonese families, and in a very simple words – everyone can cook this dish but the tastes might be differ from one an another.
This soup is very popular due to its many touted health benefits, particularly its cooling properties to lower ‘heatiness’ in the body, and some even say it has anti-ageing benefits as well!
The trade to cook this is is simple, as you may need to do – is to prepare all the ingredients, toss it into the pot (except for red dates and wolf berries, which you add later), and let the soup simmer for 2 hours. Easy as pie!
What shall i do if – the soup too oily ?
Well, there are a few methods to remove the oil.
1. The traditional method is that you can leave it in the fridge until the fat coagulates on top, then remove the fat layer. But do bear in mind this requires you to cook the soup 1 day before.
2. I use my oil separator (also known as a fat separator) to remove the oil. Its a large beaker with a long spout that allows you to pour the soup out from the spout, leaving a floating layer of oil behind.
Steps
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1
Done
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PreparationBlanche the meat and chicken bones in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Discard the water. Wash the bones and remove all the visible blood clots. |
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2
Done
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Blanch the cuttlefish in boiling water for 1 minute to soften it. Then remove the center soft bone, mouth and eye of the cuttlefish, and cut into 1-inch lengths. |
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3
Done
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Wash the old cucumber. Then cut the old cucumber into half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds with a metal spoon. |
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4
Done
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Cut the old cucumber into 2-inch cross-sections. |
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5
Done
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Remove the seeds from the red dates and rinse. Rinse the wolf berries and drain dry. Wash the peanuts and set aside. |
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6
Done
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CookingAdd the 2.5 litres of water into a pot and bring to a boil over high fire. |
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7
Done
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Add in the meats, chicken bones, cuttlefish, old cucumber, and peanuts. |
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8
Done
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When it is boiling, turn the heat to medium and continue to simmer for 2 hours. |
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9
Done
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Add in the wolf berries and red dates, and simmer for another 15 minutes. |
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10
Done
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Add salt (a pinch, or to taste). Try the soup first before adding salt, because the soup may already be tasty enough. |
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11
Done
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Dish out the Old Cucumber Soup into individual bowls, and it is ready to be served! |
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12
Done
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Notes / TipsMake sure the water is boiling hot when you add more water into the soup so that the temperature will not drop suddenly, affecting the cooking time. To get rid of the excess oil in the soup, you can either leave it in the fridge until the fat coagulates on top to remove the fat layer (this requires you to cook the soup 1 day before) use an oil separator / fat separator which is a large beaker with a long spout that allows you to pour out the soup from the spout, leaving the floating oil layer behind. |
