Chinese Papaya Soup (木瓜湯)

Growing up with a Dad who is a Chinese Fine Dining Chef from Hongkong often means that my meals were always made from scratch and very festive - and that on a daily basis. No matter what it was and how many dishes were involved, it always included a brothy, rich and nutritious Chinese-style soup (老火湯). The soups my dad created were to suit our current needs based on weather (winter/summer), our state of health, and also to balance the meal in terms of flavour and heatiness.

So it is not surprising that I would do the same for my husband and boys when cooking Chinese meals. I became very interested in learning more about Chinese soups, what they were good for and how to make them myself. My soups are all natural and healthy. I strive for ingredients from its purest form. With some time and patience, you got yourself a homemade, ready-to-serve soup.

Most of the Chinese Soups are cooked for several hours on low heat. Since I am a busy mom and wife, I refuse to waste my time by spending hours and hours by the stove watching my Chinese Soup simmer, your best friend for this task would be your crock pot or in my case, a purple clay soup pot. Purple clay is a natural mineral resource, rich in many kinds of micro-elements needed in a human body. It contains no harmful substances and it is only available in China forming in the deep stratum of hillside.

Today, I would like to introduce you to my Chinese-style papaya soup. A very simple, mild, high sources of Vitamin C, helps digestion/constipation. It is ideal for little children, pregnant/breast feeding woman and adults. It takes minimal time to prepare, is very sweet in taste and the contents are edible.

Chinese Papaya Soup

4 skinless chicken drumsticks

2 fresh corns

2 Chinese carrots or 4-5 regular carrots

1 large fresh papaya - preferably yellow flesh and not quite ripe

1 small fresh green papaya, available in Chinese supermarkets

1 small dried white snow fungus (雪耳), available in Chinese herbal stores or Chinese supermarkets

4 dried honey dates (蜜枣), available in Chinese herbal store or Chinese supermarkets

2 small thin slices of fresh, peeled ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Step:

Soak your dried white snow fungus in a small bowl of warm water for 30 minutes or run it under warm water for 5 minutes. After the white snow fungus has doubled up in size, remove the "heart" and cut into big chunks. Then rinse your dried honey dates.

2. Step:

Blanch your chicken drumsticks in a separate pot of boiling water for several minutes, then rinse with warm water.

3. Step:

Peel and cut all your carrots and both papayas into big chunks.

4. Step:

Brake each of your corns into two pieces.

5. Step:

Enter all your ingredients into your crock pot, fill it 3/4 way up with cold water and cook for 3-4 hours at medium-low heat setting.

A very important note I learned from my dad is, that you must never ever add additional water once your soup is in the cooking process. Your soup broth will get very concentrated by the slow cooking technique and you will see that the amount of soup will go down as you cook it longer. Basically the longer you cook the better is will taste !

6. Step:

Remove collected oil on the top of your soup, add salt for taste and serve.

Enjoy !

* If you don't have a crock pot, it's ok, just cook it the old fashion way. Use a stock pot, boil it for 30 minutes then reduce to simmering for 2 - 3 hours. *