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Niche Topics (Food and Drinks) offers a large collection of delicious food and drink recipes to help you decide what to cook, whether it’s a family dinner, lunchbox for the kids, or entertaining friends at home. Each recipe promises a completely different taste experience, and all are really easy-to-make.

Nutritious Chinese Soup Recipes! Bitter Gourd Spareribs Soup

By Justina Lee

Bitter gourd, not everyone's favorite vegetable. But did you know this zucchini-like veggie with a bumpy surface is really good for you? Bitter gourd has twice the calcium of spinach, two times the beta carotene of broccoli and double the potassium you get in bananas. And, if you want to control blood sugar levels or you're dying to have that flat sexy abs, don't shy away from bitter gourds!

Many people want to know how to make bitter gourd taste less bitter; there're several ways to achieve that but I usually stick to this – salt the bitter gourd slices with a teaspoon of salt and leave in a colander for half to one hour. Then rinse under running water to remove excess salt. Alternatively, you can also soak the slices in salted hour for some time before cooking.

Here's an easy, healthy and extra delicious bitter gourd soup recipe to make for the whole family. The spareribs are tender and the soup doesn't taste bitter at all. Trust me, even the kids love it!

Bitter Gourd Spareribs Soup Recipe

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

500g pork spareribs*

1 bitter gourd, about 600 grams

6 to 8 dried oysters

10 dried Chinese red dates

salt, to taste

4 cups water

How to cook:

Wash dried oysters in two changes of water; leave to soak for 1 hour. Rinse and drain. Likewise for the red dates.

Cut bitter gourd in half, remove seeds and pulp. Then, slice the bitter gourd into 5 cm sections.

Place water in a large pot; bring to a boil. Add spareribs, oyster and dates.

Bring to the boil over high heat and reduce heat to medium. Cover the pot and allow it to boil for 30 minutes.

Add bitter gourd sections; season with salt and let boil for another 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot.

* Scald spareribs with boiling water for 3 minutes; rinse and drain. You can also cook soup in a slow cooker on high setting for about 4 hours.

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bitter gourd spareribs soup recipe