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Old Cucumber Soup (Lou Wong Kwa) with Red Dates

I love my soups and soups always make a useful addition to a meal or can even form a meal in itself. Besides many Chinese soups have health benefits too like the old cucumber. The old cucumber or old yellow cucumber (Lou Wong Kwa - cantonese) is said to be “cooling” and beneficial for health. It is a large cucumber that is left to age until the skin turns a golden yellow ochre.

I like having this soup sometimes when I don’t feel like cooking dinner or have no time to cook. I use a crockpot (slow cooker) to boil this soup when I’m away at work, but you can similarly boil it on a stove if you have time.

I’m sure almost anyone will be able to boil this traditional clear soup but if you don’t, then here’s my easy recipe for Old Cucumber Soup with Pork Ribs and Red Dates.

You need:

• 1 Medium sized Old Cucumber
• 300g meaty pork ribs
• About 15 dried red dates (Chinese Jujube)
• A handful of wolfberries (kei chi) (optional)
• 3-4 rice bowls of water - approx 700ml
• 1 Crockpot or slow cooker (optional)

Serves : 2 persons if a meal by itself or serves up to 4-5 persons as part of a dinner menu

How to:

1. Cut the old cucumber lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. If you leave the seeds in the soup can taste bitter. Then cut into thick chunks. Place inside pot.
2. Boil up some water and pour over the pork ribs to remove scum, then throw away the water. Place the pork ribs into the pot. Rinsing with boiling water helps the soup remain clear instead of murky with scum.
3. Add in the dried red dates and the water. If using the crockpot, you can boil the water up first to ensure it cooks at an optimum temperature. If the water doesn’t cover the ingredients add a little more to ensure everythings covered.
4. Cover and turn the setting to low and leave it to cook. Return after work, and your soup is ready!

If you are boiling the soup in a pot over a stove, place everything in the pot, then bring to a boil. When boiling, turn down the fire to allow the soup to simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours. I don’t use salt in my soups, but if you find it lacking in taste, you can add a pinch of salt to taste as it boils.

Some people like to add dried cuttlefish into the soup as it adds a nice seafood flavour. If you like you can also use roast pork ribs which gives the soup a lovely smokey taste. Serve the soup as is, as part of a meal, or have it by itself with mee suah (vermicelli). I like it as a light dinner on days when I’m just too tired to cook and find myself coming home after work to a lovely bowl of hot soup. Bliss!

Related posts:

1. Steamed pork ribs with red dates and dong kwai
2. Steamed Healthy Soups at Pudu, Kuala Lumpur
3. Nutritous Burdock and Carrot Herbal Soup
4. Somen noodles in miso soup with seaweed
5. Soya Noodles Soup with Pork slices

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