Skip to main content

Wai San Soup with Pork Ribs

I've written about using fresh wai san in porridge, thanks to the recipe passed on to me by my regular vegetable-seller in the Lip Sin wet market.

A couple of weeks ago, I chanced upon fresh wai san again in the market and bought it for cooking porridge. But the wai san was huge, so I used up only half. The vegetable-seller told me I could keep the other half of the wai san in the fridge for a week or so, provided I wrapped it up in newspaper.

One of those days while rummaging through my fridge for something to cook, I saw the wai san again and this time decided to try it in a soup. I had read somewhere (forgotten where now...tsk tsk, must be old age) that it is good as a soup too.

The recipe is simple (ah, I am a big proponent of simple recipes, ya) and just needs 3 major ingredients: freshly peeled and sliced wai san, 4-6 de-seeded dried red dates and about 400 gm of pork ribs, blanched.

As usual, bring a pot of water to boil. Put all 3 ingredients into pot; bring to a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Lower fire, cover pot and simmer for 2 hours. Season with salt and serve hot.

The best part about this soup is that it's clear and sweet! There's something utterly unadulterated about fresh wai san - we Cantonese call it 'cheng theem' or clear sweet. It's a taste that's a bit tough to describe - like love, you need to experience it to know what it really is!

Wai san isn't expensive at all. The next time you are in the wet market, look out for this unsightly root vegetable. It resembles a long, brownish stick!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi!

I bought wai san for the first time yesterday and it was all slimy when I sliced it. Had a little itch on my hand after that. I'll wear gloves when handling it next time! The slim was totally unexpected but the soup tasted great!
Krista Goon said…
Hi there
Glad you enjoyed the soup. Yes, it tends to be VERY slimy once you peel it. It's like trying to hold an eel!
Anonymous said…
Thank you for sharing so many recipes. I am trying out Wai Shan soup tonight. Substitute with chicken. : ) I also saved some of the TCM books you recommended.

I am from Malaysia too, currently residing in California, USA.

Nice to meet you.

Sheau
Anonymous said…
Hi

Just discoverd Wan San today from an 81 years old lady. We met at a hawker centre and started to talk. When I mentioned that my husband has just been diagnosed for borderline diabetes, she recommended Wai San soup. Also mentioned that I can boil the dried wai san with corn husk and corn beard for a drink which can be sipped throughout the day.

Have you come across such claims?

Is Wai San also known as Green Burdock?

Popular posts from this blog

Astralagus Tea (Huang Qi) For Liver, Kidneys and Immunity

I recently bought a small container of wild astralagus slices when I was back home in Banting to visit my dad. There's really nothing much to do in Banting except spend time with my dad or take him out for breakfast of bak kut teh or nasi lemak.  The nearest and most interesting place is Tanjung Sepat which is a seaside village that has become rather prosperous due to the influx of local tourists from other parts of Selangor or even other states.  Many come to Tanjung Sepat for its fresh seafood and fish and the seafood restaurants are a big attraction. There's also a scenic spot called the Lovers' Bridge which in the 1990s was a rickety, almost falling down wooden bridge jutting out to sea.  This is where the fishing sampan or fishing boats would moor and have their catch hauled up to the shore. I am not sure if this bridge was demolished but the bridge is no longer there. A little further down is now a man-made cement bridge that juts out to sea. Tourists can walk out to

24 Herb Tea - Bitter, Foul-Tasting But Oh So Good For You!

Was out running a couple of errands this entire afternoon and ended up buying groceries at the nearby supermarket. If I had a choice I wouldn't go into this decade-old supermarket because it's small, cramped and you tend to knock into other shoppers with your trolley (yes, the aisles are that narrow). Nic and I figured that we might as well buy our groceries since we were in this vicinity and he did need some coffee. Finally we ended up with a trolley full of cheese, butter, coffee and noodles. Anyway, I was getting thirsty after all the errands and shopping. We decided to stop and have a drink at this stall which sells Chinese herbal tea. This uncle who mans it is actually a Hong Kong native who has been living in Malaysia for a long time. He drives a little white van which he parks at the corner of a junction and opens up for business. You see, he sells hot and cold Chinese herbal teas of all types - the kind that is slowly boiled and brewed. It's common to see Mal

Have You Seen Curry Leaf Berries?

Ripe berries or fruits from my 9 foot curry leaf tree.  This is a photo of the ripe fruits from my 9 foot curry leaf tree or known scientifically as  Murraya koenigii   . Yes, most curry leaf plants are about human height.  Mine is a bit special because when it was still a young sapling, I used a lot of my own homemade compost . It had so much of nutrients that it started growing taller and taller.  Right now, it is shading the compost pots!  Which means I am cooler when I stand under this tree to do my daily composting. You see how wonderful it all works out to be?  Because these berries attract the Asian koel (black birds with fiery red eyes which make the annoying loud "ku-yo, ku-yo" sounds), the curry leaf seeds get propagated everywhere.  Yet some drop right under the tree and start growing. I have a curry leaf sapling attack haha. I keep pulling the saplings up as there's just too many.  Besides throwing them into my curries (my most