Anna Lowe’s (Kinda) Chinese Pork Bone Soup

Image description: A glistening bowl of Chinese pork bone soup sits in a white bowl with a thick glass noodle being pulled out by chopsticks. Photograph: Anna Lowe.

Recipe and photograph by Anna Lowe.

We know that times are tough with inflation, climate change and the pandemic. Rising food prices mean we’re all trying to cut costs where possible, so we asked some people in the industry to provide us with their inspiration for affordable scratch meals.

This is the first recipe in our Scratch Meals series.

This isn’t aUtHenTic, there are so many variations of Chinese pork bone soup and it’s super customisable so this is how I have it!

You could use beef bones (with celery, parsley and carrot), chicken bones or a mix and honestly add in any hearty vegetables! You could also add in shiitake mushrooms and black fungus. 

Also, the soup tastes best the next day.

Serves 6-8 people.

Ingredients –

1kg pork bones*

3-4 carrots 

500g dong gua or 1 large daikon**

Handful of goji berries***

3L water 

Knob of ginger, sliced

Salt to taste****

MSG to taste****

To serve: 

Noodles (I like thick glass noodles the best) 

Any leafy green (bok choy is the one I used but you could use wombok, gai lan etc) 

Optional add-ins (but highly recommended!):

Generous handful of apricot seeds

Generous handful of peony root 

Tips –

* Pork bones are highly affordable. You can get them for about $2 per kilo at the market.

** You can substitute the dong gua or daikon with potatoes or any hearty root vegetable.

*** You can replace the goji berries with 3-5 dried jujubes instead. 

**** Start off by seasoning with a teaspoon of salt, then a teaspoon of MSG and adjust according to taste.

Method –

The soup 

1. Boil pork bones and rinse under cold water to get rid of impurities. 

2. Add bones back into a pot with ginger, MSG and salt. 

3. Bring to a boil then simmer with a lid on for 30 to 45 minutes. 

4. Chop up carrots and dong gua or daikon (or substituted vegetable).

5. Add them to the soup alongside the goji berries and apricot seeds and peony root (if using).

6. Bring to a boil then simmer on the lowest heat for two to three hours. 

When you’re ready to eat 

1. Bring water to boil in a separate pot. 

2. Boil the noodles first.

3. Boil the bok choy afterwards.

4. Place the noodles and bok choy into a bowl and ladle soup over the top! Add more salt if desired. 

5. Enjoy xx