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Ching Po Leung Cantonese Herb Pork Bone Soup

This Cantonese Herb Pork Bone Soup, (Ching Po Leung in Cantonese or Qing Bu Liang in Mandarin - 清补凉猪骨汤), is my favorite Chinese soup. We make it quite often in our family, especially during the cold winter months.

Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
4 hrs
Total Time
5 hrs
Servings: 8
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

  • 1½ pounds pork bones (try to find bones with more meat on them)
  • 4 slices fresh ginger (cut ⅛-inch thick)
  • 45 grams dried Chinese yam (huai shan, 淮山 or shan yao, 山药)
  • 60 grams Chinese pearl barley (da mai, 大麦 or yi mi, 薏米 or yi ren, 薏仁)
  • 25 grams dried lotus seeds (lian zi, 莲子)
  • 20 grams fox nut barley (qian shi, 芡实)
  • 10 grams dried Goji berries (gou ji, 枸杞)
  • 15 grams polygonatum odoratum (not sure if there’s a better English translation for this; yu zhu, 玉竹)
  • 10 grams dried Longan (gui yuan rou, 桂圆肉)
  • 2 dried honey dates (mi zao, 蜜枣)
  • 1 large piece of dried seafood (such as dried squid, dried abalone, and/or dried scallop, optional)
  • 3 quarts cold water
  • salt (to taste)

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Soak the pork bones in cold water for an hour. Rinse thoroughly and drain. The soaking process helps to get rid of any impurities or blood, to keep the soup clear.
  2. In a large stock pot, add the pork bones, and fill with enough cold water to fully submerge the pork bones. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Next, turn off the heat, dump everything into a colander, and rinse the pork bones clean. Wash the soup pot as well. This process will help to get rid of any remaining impurities in the pork bones to ensure a clear soup.
  3. Now put the pork bones back in the pot, and add the ginger, all of the dried ingredients, and three quarts of cold water. Bring everything to a boil, and then immediately turn the heat down to simmer. Let the soup simmer for 3 to 4 hours.
  4. Before serving, skim off any fat from the surface of the soup. Salt to taste, and serve hot, along with some soy sauce on the table for dipping your pork into.