Lotus Leaf Winter Melon Soup

Why people make this soup

In the peak of summer, the old Cantonese saying goes: “Great Heat, Minor Heat — too hot to bother cooking.” But those very days are exactly when the body needs support the most. High temperatures can disrupt fluid balance, leaving people feeling heavy, sluggish, and depleted. This simple soup — built around lotus leaf, winter melon, and a handful of legumes — is something Nourilo’s family has turned to for generations. It is easy to make, wonderfully fragrant, and perfectly suited to the season.

Method

1. Wash and cut the winter melon into large chunks, keeping the skin on.
2. Soak and rinse all the beans and Job’s tears. Drain.
3. Add the beans, Job’s tears, tangerine peel, and winter melon to a pot with 3 L of water.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a medium-low simmer for about 30 minutes.
5. Tear the fresh lotus leaf into large pieces and add to the pot. Simmer for a further 10 minutes.
6. For the savory version: add lean pork at the start with the other ingredients.
7. For the sweet version: stir in rock sugar near the end and allow to dissolve before serving.

Nourilo’s Tips

This soup works beautifully both ways — as a light sweet drink with rock sugar, or as a savory everyday soup with lean pork. The lotus leaf must go in last; putting it in at the beginning can make the soup too bitter. Done right, it gives the soup a lovely, subtle lotus fragrance. For friends with gout who should avoid legumes, you can simply use winter melon and lotus leaf alone — it still does a wonderful job of keeping summer heat at bay.

For a larger batch (6 servings), Nourilo suggests: half a lotus leaf, about 700 g winter melon, and each of the legumes increased to about 38 g, with 2.7 L of water cooked down to 1.8 L.