Cantonese Cuisine · FFET10222
Dong gua pai gu tang (winter melon and pork rib soup)
A home soup of blanched pork ribs simmered gently with ginger, with winter melon added late and cooked until translucent, made from late summer into fall.
A deep white porcelain bowl holds clear broth around pale pork ribs and translucent pieces of winter melon, with pale yellow ginger slices visible between them, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
The regional cooking of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, prized for live, fresh ingredients and light flavours.
Winter melon and pork rib soup is a home soup made with pork ribs and winter melon. The ribs are blanched and simmered gently with ginger, and the melon goes in about 15 to 20 minutes before serving and cooks until translucent. Popular from late summer into fall, it is a variation of soups eaten in Hong Kong and in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Hong Kong also has a Cantonese pork-bone and winter melon version. The available material gives no origin or date for the soup; the record in the Guangya of the early 3rd century concerns only winter melon as a vegetable and does not date the dish.
What
Winter melon and pork rib soup is a home soup of pork ribs and winter melon. The ribs are blanched and simmered with ginger over low heat to build the broth, then the melon chunks go in and cook until translucent. In the Hong Kong version, the melon softens and takes up the flavor of the broth.2,3,4
When
This home soup is often made from late summer into fall. The available material gives no date for the soup; winter melon is recorded in China in the Guangya of the early 3rd century, but the relevant entry covers the vegetable without mentioning the soup, so this does not date the dish.1,2,3
Where
This dish is a variation of soups eaten in Hong Kong and in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Hong Kong also has a Cantonese pork-bone and winter melon version. The available material does not tie it to one city.3,4
How
The 2 methods follow similar steps. One soaks the ribs for about 1 hour, blanches them, simmers them with ginger and water for about 90 minutes and cooks the melon 15 minutes more. The other blanches the ribs for about 5 minutes, stir-fries them, boils them in water until the broth turns cloudy, simmers 1 to 1.5 hours and cooks the melon 20 minutes, giving a milky broth. Salt goes in last, and 1 version includes light soy sauce for dipping the ribs.2,3
Why
Winter melon is considered cooling in Chinese medicine, and the soup is often made from late summer into fall. The Compendium of Materia Medica also describes winter melon as cooling.1,2,3
Impact and influence
This is likely the most common use of winter melon in China and a common soup at home.2,3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is my simplified home version of winter melon and pork rib soup. The method follows the first recipe (a food blogger's recipe: soak the ribs, blanch them, simmer gently, add the melon late), and the amounts are scaled down to the second recipe (another food writer's: about 450 g ribs, 450 g melon, 1.4 L water). The simmer of 1 to 1.5 hours and the 15 to 20 minutes for the melon fall within both recipes. The second recipe stir-fries the ribs for a milky broth; I take the clear-broth route. The salt is my own choice: I start with less and taste.
Ingredients
- Pork ribs (cut into short pieces by the butcher) about 450 g
- Winter melon (peeled and seeded) about 450 g
- Water 1,400 ml for the soup; cold water extra for soaking and blanching
- Ginger slices 5 slices
- Salt about 1 teaspoon, added in stages to taste
- White pepper a pinch
- Light soy sauce (for dipping the ribs) 2 tablespoons in a small dish
Steps
- Put the ribs in a large bowl, cover with cold water and soak for about an hour, changing the water once to draw out the blood (the water change is my own habit).
- Put the ribs in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil and cook about 5 minutes. Lift them out and rinse off the foam with warm water.
- Rinse the pot, then add the ribs, ginger and 1,400 ml water. Bring to a boil over high heat, turn to the lowest heat, cover, and keep the water barely bubbling for 1 to 1.5 hours. The ribs are done when the meat is soft enough to pull from the bone and the thickest piece has no pink when cut open.
- Cut the winter melon into pieces about 0.6 cm thick and add them to the soup. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes, until the melon is translucent and a chopstick goes through it easily.
- Add the salt and white pepper, a little first, and taste before adding more.
- Ladle into bowls. Pour the soy sauce into a small dish and dip the ribs as you eat them.
Tips
- When I simmer soup I keep the heat as low as it goes, with the water barely bubbling, so the broth stays clear; the first recipe also says Cantonese-style soups need low heat to stay clear.
- For a milky broth, follow the second recipe: stir-fry the blanched ribs in 1 tablespoon of oil with the ginger, add water and boil until the broth turns cloudy, then turn the heat down and simmer.
Allergens: soy, wheat