October 17, 2009

Pork,Sweet Potato,and Mung Bean Soup

Coughing..sneezing...sore throat..headache..

This post is starting to sound like the beginning of a Pepto or Nyquil commercial.

I hate being sick. I hate being sick so much that I've avoided being sick for years. (seriously) The most I've ever had was an irritation in my throat for like 5 minutes. I actually started to believe that I had some sort of ancient blood that allowed me to stay immune to the common cold and flu.

Whenever someone is sick, what are the top suggestions we give? Drink lots of water! Get plenty of fluids! Eat Soup! I hear eat soup all the time, but we forget that when we're sick, we really can't taste anything. So the soup that we're eating has a pretty interesting texture with barely a hint of flavor.

But alas, there is a cure. If you're going to eat soup, then go for a soup with different textures and different flavors. This soup has flavors from ginger and garlic and different textures from spinach, sweet potatoes and mung beans.


Pork,Sweet Potato, and Mung Bean Soup
Makes 6-8 servings

2 lbs. country style pork ribs
4 cups chicken stock*
6 cups water
1 leek ( washed and split in half)**
1 inch piece fresh ginger (peeled)
2 cloves garlic(peeled)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 cup mung beans
2 cups sweet potato ( Peeled and diced into bite size pieces)
5 cups fresh spinach (Washed)
juice of 1 lemon
To taste-salt and pepper


Rinse the pork ribs in water until the water runs clear. This rinses away the blood taste in the meat. In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, place the pork ribs, stock, water, leek, garlic, ginger, fish sauce,and soy sauce. Let it come up to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Let simmer for an hour or until the meat is tender.

Halfway through simmering the pork meat, place the mung beans in a bowl of water to wash off tiny pebbles or dirt. In a medium pot over medium-high heat, place the mung beans and 7 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 30-45 minutes, or until beans are soft. Add the diced sweet potato and boil until soft. Drain mung beans and sweet potato in a colander. I prefer to cook the mung beans separate because the water gets cloudy when boiling them.

Add the mung beans and sweet potato to the pork. Add the juice of the lemon. Add the rinsed fresh spinach to the pot and cover until it is wilted.

Adjust with salt and pepper to taste and serve alone or with steamed rice.

* I prefer the taste of the chicken stock compared to pork stock. It balances well with the taste of the pork.
**I prefer to use only the white and light green part of the leek. The green part can be used to make stock.

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4 comments:

Jenn said...

Feel better soon. Soup is definitely the choice of meal. Looks tasty.

Christo Gonzales said...

you must be psychic - this soup sounds perfect and I have forgotten all about mung beans so thanks for the little reminder!

Anonymous said...

This soup sounds like a perfect cure. Feel better!

Alex said...

I've been keeping an eye out for a mung bean recipe that didn't taste too "health-foodie"...perfect! Thanks for this post.

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