Potato with Tomato Pork Bone Soup (土豆番茄排骨汤 Tu Dou Fan Qie Pai Gu Tang)
 June 20, 2020  Print
As you know from my soup base post, I like to make a variety of different pork bone soups for my family. But this potato with tomato pork bone soup is actually the very first soup recipe I learned. It’s a Cantonese-style soup I learned from my mom’s friend (Crystal) many years ago. Cantonese people are known in China for their soup making skills. I became intrigued by the many delicious soups I drank while visiting Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong when I was 12 years old. However, my family is from Northern China, and although my parents love the Cantonese style soups, they don’t know how to make them. Crystal initially taught me the basics of how to make the soup base, and what ingredients go well together.
For Cantonese, drinking soup is a daily necessity. It’s deeply ingrained in their life. I’ve learned that this habit was partly due to the geographic location of Canton and its surrounding areas, where summer is hot, long, and extremely humid. It is believed by many Cantonese that drinking soups help clear the heat and wetness from inside one’s body, and in addition, helps boost physical health and nourish beauty.
But to many Cantonese, drinking soup is what makes them whole. It’s like if you grow up eating something every day, it becomes part of you and it’s something you cannot simply go without.
For me, I like Cantonese style soup not because I grew up drinking them, but because they taste delicious! The soup usually takes several hours from start to finish and requires a combination of proteins, vegetables and herbs. Some of the common proteins used are pork, chicken, and duck. Many of the herbs have medicinal purposes. Some of the herbs are hard to come by outside of Asia, so I tend to make the ones with fresh vegetables that are available no matter where you are.
This recipe is another soup using pork bones. I promise I will include some recipes that are poultry based in the near future. I was really happy to see that H-E-B carries pork neck bones. And there is practically an H-E-B in every residential area in Texas. This soup only requires two types of vegetables in addition to the soup stock. The soup is refreshing and has a hint of sweetness after simmering with potatoes and tomatoes. It’s the perfect soup to drink in a hot summer day.
I posted the recipe for pork bone stock in a previous post. In this recipe. I’m using half of the broth made from that recipe which is enough for 4 to 6 people.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes 1
Active Time: 30 minutes1
Total Time: 3 hours1
Serving: 4 -6 people
Ingredients:
- 2-2 ½ quarts of pork bone stock along with 4 to 5 pieces of pork neck bones (see previous post)
- 1 large or 2 medium-sized potatoes2
- 1 medium tomato
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
Preparation:
- Pour the pork bone broth along with the bones into a medium saucepan and close the lid. Set the heat to medium-high.
- While waiting for the stock and bones to heat up, peel the tomato’s skin. Follow the details in step 2 in my previous post on how to make tomato fish fillet tofu stew. Cut the peeled tomatoes into small wedges.
- Wash, peel, and cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Wash the green onion and chop the green part into small pieces.
- When the broth begins to boil, add the potato cubes and tomato wedges. When it boils again, lower the heat to low or medium-low to produce a low rolling boil.3 Cover and let cook for about 20-30 minutes until the potatoes become soft.
- Turn off the heat and add the 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1 tablespoon sugar, mixing well.
Bon Appétit
Notes:
- Includes preparation, active, and total time used to make pork bone broth.
- I used yellow potatoes for this soup. All-purpose potatoes such as Yukon Gold potatoes, or yellow potatoes are best for this soup. The high-starch kinds, such as russets tend to fall apart.
- Low rolling boil is one notch below boil, but much higher than simmer.