Vietnamese Kabocha Squash Soup with Pork (Canh Bi Do Nau Suon Heo)

It is currently 18 ° C. I do not like the cold. I complain when the temperature is around 60 ° F. Dying when it dives below 50 ° F.

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To warm up, I slip between my children and release their body heat (because I have two children). And eat a lot, a lot of soups. Fortunately, Vietnamese Home Cooking always has a vegetable soup side (canh), so I'm ready at any time to prepare something delicious to warm the belly.

During the colder months, Kabocha Soup or Canh Bi Do is one of my favorite soups. Kabocha squash is abundant and begins in early fall. You can find them in Asian and American supermarkets. They look like pumpkins, but instead of a bright orange skin, it is dark green. Some may have bumpy pimples on the surface, and the center of the squash is hollow and filled with large seeds. The flesh is bright yellow / orange and hard as a rock. Once cooked,old hanoi restaurant it softens and has a sweet taste, making it perfect for soups and stews. If you can not find a Kabocha squash, replace it with the pumpkin.

For the Vietnamese soup of Kabocha (Canh Bi Do), I start with a pork belly made with pork bones. I carefully clean the bones by blanching them for a few minutes in boiling salted water. Blanching bones is something very Vietnamese, Home Cook. Bleaching bones for actions has three goals. 1. It kills all surface bacteria. 2. It eliminates any nauseating odor. 3, and most importantly, it keeps the stock clear.
Once the bones are bleached. I reject the water by pouring the contents of the pot into the colander inside the sink. The bone receives a massage and rinses under running cold water and then in a saucepan filled with boiling water. Simmer for about 30 minutes, then add Kabocha squash. Some people take old hanoi restaurant off the skin of Kabbalah squash and use mostly flesh, but taking off hard skin is not an easy task. Many times, I have to use a mallet to hammer the back of my knife to cut through the skin. I recently discovered that you can just leave the skin intact and add it directly to the soup.

Once the kabocha squash is tender, season with salt, sugar and broth powder (in the recipe below, I used mushroom powder). Just before serving, add chopped green onions and a pinch of black pepper and you're done!

During the colder months, I spend a lot of time snuggling between my kids and very little in the kitchen. So when it comes to cooking, I need a recipe that fills me up a long time, does not take more than an hour and has a delicious taste. Kabocha squash soup is perfect. Enjoy the recipe below =)

Vietnamese Pork Rib Soup with Kabocha / Pumpkin (Canh Suon Nau Bi Do)
Makes 4-6

INGREDIENTS
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 lb. pork bone or ribs cut into pieces (blanch in boiling water with 1 teaspoon salt for 5 minutes, then rinse)

2 liters of water

1-1 / 2 lb. kabocha squash meat cut into bite-size pieces (with or without skin)

2-1 / 2 teaspoon of salt

4 teaspoons white granulated sugar

3 teaspoons of chicken broth powder / mushroom / pork

Pinch of black pepper (1/8 teaspoon)

2-3 green onions (remove the stems, cut into 1 inch segments)
INSTRUCTIONS
Add vegetable oil to the bottom of a small pot. Heat over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Stir until fragrant (about 15 seconds).

Add pork bones / ribs. Mix the pork bones until they are well coated with garlic.

Add water. Bring the kettle to a boil and lower the heat to a minimum. Simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the foam from time to time as needed.

Add the Kabocha. Bake 5-10 minutes until the squash can be pierced with a sturdy knife (we do not want a pasty squash).

Season with salt, sugar, stock broth and black pepper.

Turn off the heat and garnish with green onions. Serve as is or with steamed rice for a complete meal.