It surely sounds alot more like a footnote for shampoo than for food, ain't it?
Truth be told, it is the name for another one of a zillion and one Cantonese soups, 'soup of lean pork and Chinpoleung,' (literally means clean, reinforcing and cool, which in fact is a mixture of Chinese herbs) Chinpoleung Sou Yuk Tong 清補涼瘦肉湯.
Weather in Hong Kong now is swelthering; in Shanghai the weather proves even dealier, reaching record high at 39C. Well, weather like this always calls for a good bowl of Cantonese soup. According to traditional Chinese medicine concept, though we sweat like we're melting down, there is still alot of unhealthy heat and dampness trapped in our body -- what the TCM called 'damp-heat,' or suk yip (濕熱). So at least we always sup something (soup or herb tea or tongshui, the sweet soup) that can improve our well-beings heeding to seasonal need. The chinpoleung, for example, can wipe out the heat and dampness, cool down or even re-energize the body. There're some other merits of it too, like promoting urination (always a good thing to remove away the toxicant from the body) and improve night vision! The formulae of chinpoleung was documented way back in the Tang dynasty. I am quite sure that the French was still eating grass at that point.
Anyway, the reason why I'm sharing the recipe here, apart from its dietal virtues, is that this soup is probably the easiest Cantonese soup to start with.Go to any dried seafood store in town (I reckon you can also find one easily in your local Chinatown) and ask for a bag of pre-packed Chingpoleung. If you ever found one that can't make it available to you, tear down its awning and file a complaint to your local consumer council. The most commonly formulae of chinpoleung is composed of Chinese wild yam (wai sun 淮山), wolfberry fruit (kei chi 杞子), euryale seeds (hin sat 芡實), millet (yi mi 薏米), lotus seed (lin chi 蓮子), soloman's seal (yuk juk 玉竹), longan (yuan yuk 圓玉) -- if you feel these English names of these Chinese herbs look and sound bloody dorky, you're not alone -- I feel exactly the same when I wrote this.
The finest pork to pair with this soup, or most Cantonese soup for that matter, is the shank cut. But my butchers always insist the bony cuts is a cut above the shank portion in terms of flavor. They say the juice from bones can make the soup tastes even sweeter.
Then I also bought some carrots, which isn't common for the classic recipe of this soup. But I love it anyway for it can add, again, sweet flavor to the soup. Their hard fibrous texture fits well for long-boiling too -- all making the soup even harder to resist in a hot summer.
Ingredients:
Pre-packed chinpoleung - one pack
Pork (shank or bony cuts) - 500g
Carrot - 2 lengths
Directions:
Rinse the chinpoleung and drain
Blanch the pork bones for about 2 minutes to wipe out the blood and grease
Pour 8 to 10 bowls (rice bowl size) of water into the pan, add the chinpoleung and pork into pan and cook over high heat to the boil.
Chop the carrots into even pieces and dunk in the pan
Simmer very very gently for 2 to 3 hours (Chinese call such heat the 'fire of gentleman,' man fo文火).
Add salt for flavor and you're ready to go!
