Winter Melon and Pork Rib Soup

Contributor Clarissa Wei makes up this pork rib soup in large batches, then thaws it out and adds the winter melon for a quick cook when she's in the mood for soup. 

While winter melon soup with pork ribs (dōng guā páigǔ tāng, 冬瓜排骨汤) is relatively easy to make, Clarissa reminds us that "there is a lot of technique involved in making a clean yet deeply flavorful Chinese soup. It’s not just throwing ingredients in a pot, smothering them with water, simmering everything together and calling it a day. In the Chinese-speaking world, soup making is at the very least a two-step process....

"The beauty of this dish is that it can be both a highbrow and a lowbrow dish, depending on how much effort you want to put into it. Most often, it’s a rustic family soup, ladled straight from the pot. This is the version I’m focusing on with the recipe below. The winter melon cooks until it is soft and translucent, releasing its mild sweetness, while the meat from simmered pork ribs provides structure and depth. The melon absorbs the broth, rather than competing with it, resulting in a soup that is clean and gently savory."

See the recipe for Clarissa's tips on how to get a restaurant-style milky broth and how to work with those behemoth winter melons. 

Fujianese Oyster Tofu Soup

Contributors Jess Eng and Allen Cao are researching a book on the foods of Fujian, a coastal province that makes good use of local seafood, especially oysters. In fact, they say oysters are the backbone for many traditional Fujianese dishes. Here they share one of their favorites:

"When we visited Fuzhou last May, the weather was diabolically hot—but that didn’t stop us from drinking warm soup every day. Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, has a strong culture of soups, so, naturally, every meal we had was accompanied with a piping serving of broth. (Besides, it’s pretty typical in China to enjoy hot soup or water when it’s sweltering outside, since it helps you feel cooler when you sweat.)... But even with all these options, we had a clear favorite: Fuzhou’s famed oyster tofu soup (hǎilì dòufu tāng, 海蛎豆腐汤), a comforting bowl of cooked oysters, silky tofu and aromatic seasonings. It is light and refreshing—and extraordinarily healthy, too....

"Every year, Allen's non-profit organization, Fuzhou America, hosts a Chinese New Year banquet dinner at Yung Sun, a beloved restaurant on [Manhattan's] East Broadway. As one of the event’s main organizers, he’s versed in ordering the perfect spread of Fujianese dishes for more than 100 hungry guests. Along with  the staples—sauteed water spinach (kōngxīncài, 空心菜), drunken spareribs with taro (zuì páigǔ, 醉排骨) and red koji with pork belly (hóngzāo ròu, 红糟肉), among many others—he also often orders this crowd-pleasing, homestyle oyster and tofu soup. Mildly briny and extra savory, the soup doesn’t overpower any of the dishes. In fact, it’s the perfect thing to bring the whole meal together. And, fortunately, it’s simple enough that you can make it at home."

After conferring with the Fujianese community and testing the recipe several times, Jess and Allen settled on freshly shucked oysters, barely poached, as the winning approach for a pleasingly briny but not overly fishy taste. They then crowned the whole thing with freshly fried pork cracklings, "placed atop the soup like golden croutons."