Welcome to issue #011 of our Cookbook Chronicles! Each week, I share lessons and wisdom from our cookbook development, preserving my dad’s 50 years of experience as a Chinese chef.
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Today my dad’s gonna show us one of the most important and traditional techniques in Cantonese cooking - how to make a very simple “lo fo tong” (老火湯), or literally “old fire soup”.
Old Fire Soup (老火湯) is a beloved Cantonese tradition and a staple of home cooking. It’s a slowly-simmered soup with simple ingredients, gently bubbling until every ingredient has given its flavor, nourishment, and warmth to the pot. In our family, this isn’t just soup; it’s comfort, care, and history in a bowl.
Once a daily ritual in many Chinese homes, this practice is slowly fading, but we hope to keep it alive by sharing simple recipes (like this one) in our cookbook.
Pork Radish Soup
Daddy Lau uses a boneless cut of lean pork to demonstrate this recipe. For soups like this, you can use any basic boneless or bone-in cut of lean pork.
Avoid fatty cuts; too much fat can result in a greasy soup that leaves your lips weirdly sticky after each sip.
14 ounces of lean pork
1 large Chinese or daikon radish (about 2 pounds)
2 medium carrots (about 4 ounces)
1 ounce of ginger
2 ounces of dried shiitake mushrooms
1 can of chicken broth (14 ounces)
8 cups of boiling water
2 teaspoons of salt
Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes, or a bit larger. These medium-sized chunks are easier to parboil and are a more suitable size for eating.
Add the pork to a pot. Add enough cold water to cover all the meat. Turn the heat to high to bring everything to a boil.
Cook for 3-4 minutes. You’ll see a lot of scum and foam gathering at the surface of the water. Transfer the meat to a bowl of clean, cold water. Rinse off the scum and foam from the meat, and drain.Snap off the stems from the dried shiitake mushrooms while they’re still dry (or, you can wait until they’re soft, then cut the stems off). Rinse, then rehydrate the mushrooms in warm water. Let them soak while you prepare the vegetables.
Trim the ends off the radish, then peel. Do the same with the carrots. Cut the radish in half lengthwise so you’ll end up with two long pieces, each with a stable base. Halve each piece so you have four long quarters of radish.
From here, you can choose the shape. You can either cut thick slices or use the oblique cut to create medium-sized angular chunks. Similarly, cut the carrots with an oblique cut to create angular chunks.
Smash the ginger with one good smack to open it up.Fill a tall soup pot with boiling water and chicken broth. Add all the
ingredients into it: the radish, the carrot, the ginger, and the pork. Cover the pot with its lid, then boil the soup to a boil over high heat.
Once it comes to a boil, you may see scum begin to float to the surface. Use a ladle or fine-mesh skimmer to remove the scum and foam.
As a reminder, the scum and foam are not harmful in any way, but making the effort to remove it will improve the taste and appearance of your soup.
Cover the pot partially with the lid by setting the lid on a little crooked to leave a small gap. This will help reduce the risk of the soup boiling over and making a mess. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes, until the vegetables have softened and the flavors of all the ingredients have had time to harmonize.
When time is up, uncover the pot and season with salt. Give it a quick stir to help the salt dissolve. Steal a quick taste to check the seasoning; you can adjust with more salt if needed. Serve out of the pot or transfer to a serving bowl.
Enjoy!
With love,
Randy & the Lau family
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