Gold-and-Silver Cabbage Almond Pig Lung Soup

Why people make this soup

In traditional Chinese seasonality, the brief window between “Start of Autumn” (li qiu) and “End of Heat” (chu shu) is called “fighting over autumn” — summer refuses to leave, but you can feel the faint first breath of autumn in the early mornings and evenings. During this seasonal transition, the body is especially prone to dryness and lung-related discomfort. The remedy in Cantonese kitchens is a soup called “gold and silver cabbage” — gold being the sun-dried cabbage (which, through the process of drying, becomes especially good at clearing heat and soothing cough), and silver being the fresh, white cabbage. Together with almonds and pig lung, this soup has been a seasonal go-to for generations. Traditional Chinese food therapy uses the principle of “like nourishes like” — eating lung to support the lungs.

Method

1. Soak the dried napa cabbage in cold water for 20–30 minutes to rehydrate; drain and rinse.
2. Clean the pig lung (see tips). Cut into large pieces, then dry-fry in a clean wok with no oil, pressing to expel the water. Rinse again to clean.
3. Blanch the pork ribs in boiling water for 2 minutes; drain.
4. Place the pork ribs and pig lung pieces in a large pot with 3 L of water. Bring to a vigorous boil.
5. Add the fresh cabbage and dried cabbage. Mix the almond powder with 300 ml of water to form a thin paste; pour into the soup.
6. Reduce to a medium-low simmer and cook for 2 hours, until reduced to about 1.5–1.8 L.
7. Serve together — drink the soup and eat the solid ingredients as a dish.

Nourilo’s Tips

Many butchers and Asian grocery stores now sell pig lung pre-cleaned and flushed with water. If yours is not pre-cleaned: rinse it under the tap, rub with a little cornstarch and salt, rinse again, then cut into pieces and stir-fry in a dry wok (no oil) over medium heat — this forces out the liquid and impurities trapped inside. Once cooked, the pig lung in this soup is actually very tasty and can be enjoyed as a side dish. If you cannot find almond powder, use 40 g (about 38 g) of mixed sweet and bitter apricot kernels (nan bei xing) instead — add them at the start and they will soften during cooking.