Buddha’s Palm Soup (合掌瓜 / chayote melon)

2013-09-25 17.33.22 2013-09-25 17.47.28 2013-09-25 19.50.37

Ingredients:

  • 2.5lb pork scapula (sai see gwut)
  • 2 big Buddha’s palm melons, peeled and chopped into big wedges
  • 1 octopus, tentacles only
  • 2 tbsp apricot kernels (南北㕻 – lam but hun)
  • 1 handful peanuts
  • 2 dried figs (無花果 – mo fa gor) or sweetened dried date (蜜棗 – mut jo)
  • 3 slices ginger

Directions:

  • Boil a kettle of hot water.
  • Pre-boil the pork, dump everything into the sink, plug the drain, and rinse twice. Transfer to a plate, drain, and transfer to the pressure cooker.
  • Wash the octopus tentacles.
  • In a pan, heat up some oil, and fry the ginger. Add in the squid and fry. Transfer the squid and ginger to the pressure cooker.
  • Add in the melon, apricot kernels, peanuts, and dried figs into the pot.
  • Fill to maximum with water, including the hot water from the kettle. Turn on the pressure cooker to “soup” and “plus” time. It will take ~1.5hrs to cook then ~30min to decompress.