Peanut Soup 花生汤

Peanut soup is one of my favorite dishes. To prepare one is an easy task, but to make is as good as mom’s is a bit difficult. I guess the secret lies on the quality/quantity/combination of ingredients and duration of simmering the mixture.

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Anyway, this is my ongrizinal recipe :

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I like to use lean pork meat - net edible portion, no bones, no waste – be it a round, chuck, sirloin or tenderloin. A little bit of skin and fat ( 三层肉 ) will add some additional umph !!! Moms often use the boney part ( 肉骨 ), eg. rib, it make the best soup. Well, some 150g of pork is enough… cut the meat intake.

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Add some 300g of peanut into 2 liter water.

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Some dried squid ( 吊片/ 干魷魚), for the savory aroma. Alternatively, dried scallop ( 干贝 ) or dried oyster ( 蠔豉 ) will do. Dried scallop is too expensive for that. Dried oyster is totally out of my consideration as I dislike the taste of it, and the feel of it in my mouth.

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Put the entire ingredient in a pot. Some will simmer it for a long period of time… till the peanut softened. But I like to use pressure cooker. It’s fast to cook – save time, save energy, save water. 15 minutes will do the job !

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Lastly, a little bit of salt to taste. ...... and a bit of flavour enhancer too.

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It’s done ! A soup enough for 4 - 5 pax.