Black Bean, Lotus Root & Sparerib Soup

Every now and then I will make this soup when I see lotus root selling at the Chinese grocery store. Alexander likes the black beans in the soup. Ethan will take some lotus root slices besides the beans. We don’t have soup everyday in our house so whenever I make it I will make extra to last for another meal. Since we eat the soup ingredients so I use pork spareribs instead of lean pork which is too chewy.

Black Bean, Spareribs & Lotus Root Soup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb spareribs– cut into chunks

1 cup dry black bean– soaked at least 30 minutes, rinse

1 lb lotus root– peeled, trim off both ends and slice into 1/2 inch thickness

3 gallons water

salt to taste

Method:

1. Boil 3 gallons of water in a big pot. In the meanwhile, fill a medium pot with enough water then bring to a boil. Add spareribs to blanch. Remove from heat. Rinse blanched spareribs under water to get rid of any bloody impurities, drain.
2. Rinse soaked black beans a couple of time to get rid of the dark water, drain.
3. When water in big pot is boiling, add spareribs, soaked black beans and lotus roots. Be sure there is lots of water covers the ingredients (the ingredients will have room to flow freely in the water when you stir it). Cover and cook on high heat for 30 minutes. Turn heat down to medium and cook for another 2.5 hours, until the black beans are soft to bite. By this time the soup should be cloudy looking. Add salt to taste before serving.

Note:

• For making soup, choose lotus root that are mature– they usually feel heavy and have pinkish/brownish flesh.