Monthly Archives: January, 2008

Papaya, Peanuts and Dates Soup with Spare Ribs

Papaya, Peanuts and Date soup with spare ribs

I’m not very fond of using peanuts for soups. I have a hunch that my kid is allergic to peanuts. Just that i dont know which type he’s allergic to. There was once he went to my mom’s place and had some food there. It was just a coincidence that she boiled some vegetable soup with peanuts. He came home and had a bad rash for the whole night. I cannot be too sure whether he got it from the peanuts or not. It may not be peanuts. It may be the mixed nuts contained in the chocolate that he ate at my mom’s place.

I made this Papaya, Peanuts and Dates Soup with Spare Ribs last week and i also gave him some to test if he’s allergic to peanuts or not. Fortunately, he’s not. This soup is very nourishing and sweet.  All the ingredients are already in the title and you can substitute spare ribs with any meat of your choice or  do without it altogether.  Just remember to soak  the peanuts overnight for at least 10 hours and remove the skin. If not, the skin will turn your soup too cloudy. Less than 10 hours and the peanuts will be too hard to chew on. Try it.

Watercress soup

Watercress soup

I may not be the best cook, but i love to make soup for my kids. It’s the easiest way to ensure they get sufficient fluid in their system and tastes good. Soups are nutritious and and time saving too. Watercress can be bought at the market. Wash it properly as it may contain a lot of sand. Shake off excess water and cut it up into smaller stalks. Add a few dates and some spare ribs or chicken, and you’ll end up with a good pot of nutritious soup for the whole family.

A tip for preparing the meat. Rub it with salt and leave for a few minutes. Rinse off and blanch with hot water to get rid of the weird raw taste. I hate that taste.  You dont need to add salt when making soup as the meat would have absorbed the salt you rubbed it with earlier. Watercress soup is a very sweet soup and cooling too. Do eat the green as it’s high in fibre and helps relief constipation. And dont forget to remove the seed from the dates, ya. And yes, eat those too.