Bittergourd Soup 肉骨苦瓜汤

Well, this is just a simple home cook recipe that I think most Chinese friends are know how to cook or have been eaten. The cooking method is very simple and only few ingredients are needed.

Bittergourd is known to have benefit of "cooling the body" in Chinese' belief. But due to its bitter taste, not much people like to eat. In herbal medicine, bittergourd is used for controlling certain illness such as diabetes, coughs, skin diseases, anti-cancer, sterility in women and so on.
Well, there are scientific research done to prove the benefit of bitter gourd. Research has show that bitter gourd has the potential effect for reducing inflammatory response (Mariko Manabe et al, 2003) and controlling diabetes mellitus ( Jaipaul Singh et al, 2011).

Serving size: 4

Ingredients:
1. Pork bone/ pork rib         5 pieces
2. Bittergourd                      1/2 pieces
3. Chicken broth                  1 big bowl

Method:
1. Wash the bitter gourd under clean running water. Cut into small pieces ( about 1 inch thick).
2. Cook the pork bone/rib in a pot until it is cooked thouroughly.
3. Add in chicken broth and bittergourd into the cooked pork bone/rib. ( You may pour out the broth that used to cooked the pork bone if the broth is not clear or just leave it to cook with chicken broth.)
4. Cook until the bittergourd is soft enough.
5. Add in salt to taste.

*Tips: For those who does not eat pork, you can replace it with chicken. You may also add in goji berries to  the soup. By pouring out the broth used to cook the pork bone/rib, you may get a clearer soup.

Goji berries