Lotus Root & Pork Soup (Lian Ou Tang)
Wuhan's beloved soup: lotus root turns starchy-silky and slightly threads like cheese when you pull it apart.
The story
In Hubei this is the taste of home — lotus root simmered with pork until the vegetable goes from crisp to creamy and pulls starchy threads. It looks exotic in Western supermarkets but cooks like a potato with better manners.
Ingredients (4 + pantry staples)
- Lotus root — 1 lb / 450 g, chunked
- Pork (loin or shoulder), chunked — 10 oz / 300 g
- Scallions — 1, sliced
- Goji berries (optional) — 1 tbsp
Pantry staples used (don't count toward the 6): salt. Not stocked yet? See the pantry page.
Steps
- Pork + lotus root + 6 cups / 1.4 L cold water; simmer, skim, 25 minutes at a low bubble.
- Salt generously, scallions and goji on top.
- Soup first; then eat the pork and lotus root with soy sauce dip.
Swaps
Frozen lotus root works perfectly (it is usually pre-peeled and cut). Potato + a pinch of extra salt is the honest backup.
More 30-minute dishes
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The soup this whole site was built around: a whole chunk of pork and a daikon, half an hour, then celery and salt. That is the recipe.
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The sweetest soup in the Chinese canon — corn does all the flavor work while you do nothing.