Hairy gourd, black-eyed pea and peanut soup with chicken feet

Ingredientsone pot, serves 4

Method

1. Soak and wash the 眉豆 (black-eyed peas) and peanuts. Scrape the skin off the 節瓜 (hairy gourd) and cut into lengths.
2. Trim the nails off the chicken feet and blanch them with the pork bones (飛水, a quick boil to clean off blood and scum).
3. Bring 2.5 litres of water to a rolling boil over high heat, then add everything.
4. Once it returns to the boil, turn the heat low and simmer for 2 hours.
5. Season with salt and it is ready.

Who it suits

• suits old and young alike
• weak digestion with heavy damp
• older people
• women after childbirth

Who should take care

• gout sufferers should drink only a little
• long-boiled meat soups are high in purines, people with high uric acid should drink only a little (general warning across this collection)

Soup stories

節瓜 is milder in nature than 冬瓜, so this is said to suit even older people and women after childbirth. It is an everyday soup for any time of year. [common practice, verify]

From the same family

Five-finger fig root (hairy fig) and carrot soup with pork ribsWinter melon, Job's tears and lotus leaf soup with pork ribsBlack-eyed pea and tangerine peel soup with common carp

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.