Monday, August 21, 2006

Cucumber and Spare Ribs Soup


This is one of my favourite, cucumber soup cooked with ribs. The cucumber, known also as 'Low Wong Kwa' by the Cantonese, is a cooling vegetable-fruit. This is not the green variety which you use for sandwiches but the yellow type. It can be purchased at the markets. This soup is believed to be good during hot seasons and contains lots of minerals for your body.

There is no recipe here in that you just buy a couple of cucumbers and slice them up to fit your soup saucepan. For the sake of measurement, use two large bowlfuls of water for each cucumber. If you like, you may add some spareribs. Just boil it like you do for any soup. The longer you boil it, the better it is because by then, the cucumber will be soft and jelly-like. It can be eaten with rice or just plain.

Note: If you like, you can add in some boxthorn berries (keichee) in the soup. This concoction is believe to aid circulation and improve vision.