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Auntie Emilys Kitchen-Diced Winter Melon Soup

Diced Winter Melon Soup 冬瓜粒湯

Besides dicing the winter melon, you may also choose to grate it to give the soup a thicker consistency.
Other ingredients commonly added are shrimp, scallops, straw mushrooms, dried shrimp, abalone, Cantonese BBQ duck, crab, lotus nuts and Jinhua Ham.
I made a separate broth using pork bones as the base broth. You can also use water, but you will need to add some flavour enhancers such as Jinhua ham, chicken powder, abalone sauce, oyster sauce or MSG if you don’t want it to taste watery.
You may also want to thicken it at the end with a corn starch or water chestnut starch slurry. I didn’t add a slurry to keep it as simple as possible.
Approximate cost (CAD) $10
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Appetizer, Soup
Cuisine Cantonese, Chinese
Servings 6 Servings
Calories 126 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1.2 kg Winter melon
  • 300 g Pork loin or chicken breast
  • 8 Shiitake mushrooms (dry ones are more flavourful than fresh ones)
  • 4 Dried scallops
  • 1.5 L Broth
  • 2 tsp Salt

Ingredients for pork or chicken marinade:

  • 1 tsp Light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Sugar
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
  • 2 tsp Cornstarch

Instructions
 

  • On night before, soak shiitake mushrooms and dried scallops
  • Slice off skin and remove seeds (including the inner membrane) from the winter melon.
  • Dice and set aside
    Auntie Emilys Kitchen-Diced Winter Melon Soup-Step3
  • Remove stems of shiitake mushrooms. Dice and set aside. You can add the stems into the soup but remember to remove them before serving. They are very fibrous and difficult to chew
    Auntie Emilys Kitchen-Diced Winter Melon Soup-Step4
  • Dice pork loin or chicken breast I used chicken breast here
  • Marinate pork or chicken with 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, 2 tsp Shaoxing wine and 2 tsp cornstarch. Mix well and set aside
    Auntie Emilys Kitchen-Diced Winter Melon Soup-Step6
  • In a pot, add 1.5 L broth, diced winter melon, diced shiitake mushrooms (with soaking water), dried scallops (with soaking water), bring to a boil using high heat, then turn down to low heat and simmer for 45 minutes with lid
    Auntie Emilys Kitchen-Diced Winter Melon Soup-Step7
  • After 45 minutes, give the diced pork or chicken a mix and add to the soup. Give it a gentle stir to break up the pieces. Don’t stir too much as it will cause the marinade to come off. Simmer for the remaining 15 minutes
    Auntie Emilys Kitchen-Diced Winter Melon Soup-Step8
  • Taste test and add salt.
  • Serve
Keyword Dried Scallops, Pork, Pork Loin, Shiitake Mushroom, Soup, Winter Melon