watercress soup

Our earliest memory of watercress soup involves the somewhat clandestine harvesting of the watercress itself. The details are hazy, but as a young family we used to drive all the way to a relatively rural area of Christchurch to pluck huge bunches of wild watercress from a shallow stream. You can just imagine Dad’s delight when he recently discovered there was watercress thriving near the stream where he and Mum go for their daily walks-now they can save the drive and have watercress soup whenever they like.

Serves 350g pork ribs 2 fat carrots, cut into large chunks 3 slices ginger 2 dried dates tbsp vegetable oil 300g watercress (stalks and leaves) salt light soy sauce, to serve 1 Rinse the ribs thoroughly under cold running water, giving them a squeeze to coax the blood out of the bones.

2 Half-fill a large pan with hot water and bring to the boil. Add the ribs and boil rapidly for a few min-utes. Discard the cloudy water, then pour in 2 litres hot water and bring to the boil. Add the carrots, ginger and dates. Return the stock to a rapid boil, then add the oil and watercress. Adding the oil with the watercress when the water is at its hottest will prevent the watercress from becoming hai (a rough mouthfeel) as it cooks.

3 Reduce the heat, cover and boh(cook on a rolling boil for a long period of time)the soup for at least 21/2 hours.

4 When the soup is ready, season with salt to taste. We find that about 1/2 tablespoon salt works well for this volume. To serve, ladle the broth and a bit of everything else into each bowl. The meat should fall off the bones, and it is delicious dipped in light soy sauce.

qingquang

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