Assorted Vegetables Soup with Pork Ribs aka Chinese ABC Soup

“It’s the Home cooked ABC Soup!”

Soup is water which boiled together with other ingredients such as vegetables, meat and melons, until the flavour is extracted. Soup offers high nutrition values enriched by the ingredients we have added in the soup.

Besides pork ribs, I used a variety of vegetables in this recipe. I think this is one of my successful soup recipes, much likeable by my family. This soup gives off aromatic smell while boiling it, and most importantly, this soup has its natural sweetness. It has very pleasant aroma and taste to your palate.

Nutrition experts said it is best to consume 3 or more colours of vegetables and fruits in a day in order to suffice the intake of nutrients which required by our body. A balance dietary soup where Vitamin A (mainly from carrot), Carotene and Anti-oxidant (from tomato), Iron and Magnesium (Corn), Potassium (mainly from potato) and other minerals (calcium, selenium, copper) and vitamins (Vitamin C and B6), are found in these colourful vegetables. That’s the reason it is called as ABC soup, meaning it has all the Vitamins A, B and C!

This soup benefits not just the dieting adult, but the children, too. Children need extra Vitamin A to grow strong as well as for better skin and eyes (about 2000 – 3500 IU per day for aged 3 – 10). Most children wouldn’t mind eating the carrots from soup since they are tender and taste with natural sweetness. So as the soup, too.

All soups can be served as 1-dish meal, in fact. Most of the time, the soup has both meat and vegetables in it. Just serve with a bowl of steamed rice, and you will have a light and nutritious meal as dinner/ lunch. I like to have the soup as beverage replacement during meal instead.

Have this soup cooked with 1-2-3 steps, in 1 hour time!

Ingredients
6 pieces of leaned meaty pork ribs, blanched
2 regular carrots, cut into medium pieces lengthwise, and halves each piece if too thick, especially the beginning part.
2 ear of sweet corn, chopped into 8 pieces lengthwise (about 4cm each)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into big pieces
1 large onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 fresh tomato, halves
1 cup of whole button mushroom
Pinch of salt to taste
1 teaspoon of sesame oil (or vegetables oil)
1 big pot of water (about 1500ml), 50% filled

Method
1) Heat up a pot, add oil. Sauté onion till fragrant. Quickly pour in water and bring to a boil over high heat.

2) Add blanched pork ribs, mushrooms and all vegetables, except for tomato.

3) Reduce heat to low fire. Covered with lid. Simmer for 1 hour, or longer, if desired. Add tomato and sprinkle salt to taste, 5 min before heat off. Serve hot.

It’s relatively low calories, too. This soup counts 170 kcal for a large bowl.

Tips: If you do soak your carrot and corn in water to clean, do not soak for too long, maximum 15 min.
*Add fresh tomato to your soup gives you a refreshing taste. It has high anti-oxidant properties, too.