Lotus roots & Peanuts pork ribs soup

Yesterday was a stay home Saturday for us. He needed the rest.  I needed some (inner) peace after a bad week at work. So how do I destress? Cook and bake! And so I did - both! Told you I had lotsa time!

My husband is no fussy eater. He eats whatever I cook and never complains. Lucky me. So most of the time I just have cook/bake what I like and he eats it.

And since we planned to stay home, I had time on hand. I made a pot of lotus roots & peanuts pork ribs soup, and my idea was to let it simmer for long and get the naturally sweet and flavourful taste. Just pair it with a bowl of plain rice and that settles our lunch.  Thumbs up from my man for the simple yet flavourful lunch. I am a happy woman :)

Dinner was done with slightly more effort, but I shall leave this to the next post!

Lotus Roots & Peanuts Pork Ribs Soup

3 litres of water
400-500g of lotus roots (remove soil, wash & scrub clean if not removing
skin or remove skin with peeler and cut 1cm thick)
250g pork ribs (cut off fatty parts)
150g raw peanuts (soaked overnight, rub peanuts and remove as much skins as possible)
A handful of dried scallops (I used small whole ones)
10-15 red dates (pitted)
2-3 honey dates (optional)
1 dried cuttlefish (optional)
salt to taste

Washing and soaking raw peanuts overnight allows 'shedding' of the skins easily.  Just gently rub the peanuts the next day and more skins will come off. Not necessary to get rid of all skins.

1. In the pot of water, add lotus root, raw peanuts, dried scallops, red dates, honey dates and cuttlefish and put on high heat.

2. In a separate pot, blanch pork ribs in boiling water for about 2 minutes to remove scum and oil.  Drain and wash pork ribs in clean water and add into the main pot.
3. Bring main pot to boil and then put to simmer for the next 1.5 hour to 2 hours.  Turn off fire.
4. If ready to serve, bring soup to boil and add salt to taste.

My idea of comfort food :)