Old Cucumber Soup with Pork Ribs

Before I got married, I used to eat dinner at home almost everyday. Chinese soup was a staple and Mom's specialties included old cucumber soup, ABC soup and lotus root soup.

Fast forward to today. Hubby and I eat out almost everyday because we are too lazy/tired to cook. We usually give in to unhealthy food cravings like satay and fried chicken. Whilst we try to make up for it by eating more fruit and vegetables, it is an uphill challenge.

Recently I stumbled upon an old cucumber soup recipe from this website. It looked easy peasy so I decided to prepare an adapted version of it. The results exceeded my expectations. Looks like this will be one healthy and nourishing soup dish which I will be making more often in future!

PS: Goes well with home made char siew rice.

Ingredients:
One medium size Chinese old cucumber, cut lengthwise into small pieces, with seeds scooped out
1.5 litres of water
10 red dates
3 honey dates
10 dried scallops
400g pork ribs
1 sweet corn, cut to small pieces
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut

1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Throw away the water and set ribs aside.
2. In a separate pot, add 1.5l fresh water, throw in the blanched ribs as well as all the other ingredients and bring to a boil for 10 mins.
3. Transfer items from (2) above into a slow cooker and simmer for at least 2 hours. Season with salt before serving.