Traditional Soup - My Comfort Food

Still recovering from my recent bout of flu, I decided this evening to cook my favourite soup comprising soft-boned pork ribs, carrots, corn on the cob and dried scallops (for that extra oomph). Traditional Chinese-styled simmered and double-boiled soups are my comfort food especially when the body is in need of some replenishment in one area or another. After two hours of simmering on low heat, all the goodness of the ingredients will have been incorporated into the soup for easy digestion and absorption by the body. To make the meal a little bit more substantial, I added in mee-sua (thin wheat noodles) as shown in the picture.


Nutritional ingredients of this particular soup:

• pork ribs - rich in protein, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin B - helps in the development and strengthening of bones and muscles
  
• dried scallops (conpoy) (kong-yee-chi, in Cantonese) - are generally used for flavoring, imparting a unique sweet flavor to the soup - rich in amino acids, and minerals such as calcium and zinc
• carrots and corn on the cob - apart from their obvious nutritional value, these two vegetables add sweetness to the soup
• by the way, apparently carrots are more nutritious eaten cooked than when eaten raw (except when they are juiced) - because of their tough cellular walls, it is more difficult for the body to convert its beta carotene into vitamin A unless the cellular cell membranes are partially broken up by cooking (food for thought when munching the next carrot-stick in another attempt to diet)