dried bok choy soup 菜干汤 (choi gon tong)

Dried bok choy soup, also known as 菜干汤 (choi gon tong), is one of the nourishing pork bone-based soups my family would make most often at home. It’s savory from the pork and dried scallops, and balanced by natural sweetness from the dried bok choy, carrots, and Chinese dried dates.

Not to mention, this soup is incredibly nutrient-packed and is believed to be good for your lungs and for coughs. It’s a soup my mom makes when I’ve eaten more junk or inflammatory foods than I should have (yeet hay)!

It’s simple enough so that anyone can make this at home. The hardest part may be getting to know the ingredients, so I wrote a breakdown of each below.

What ingredients do I need to make dried bok choy soup 菜干汤 (choi gon tong)?

dried bok choy

The main ingredient in this soup is dried bok choy. It’s bok choy that’s been blanched, then sun-dried until it’s completely dehydrated. From this process, it develops a more concentrated, deeper flavor compared to fresh bok choy.

Before using this ingredient, it must be submerged in water for a few hours until it’s fully rehydrated.

After it’s rehydrated, it must be washed thoroughly, as the inner stems of the bok choy attract dirt easily.

You can usually find dried bok choy sold in bundles (above) like this in Chinatown, or in packaged bags like the one below:

pork meat and bones

Many of the soups we make in our household are pork-bone based. For the most affordable option, you can use pork neck bones or other soup bones. You can also try asking your butcher if they have any leftover bones (ideally with meat on them).

My mom’s favorite is to use pork ribs, because after simmering in the soup for over an hour, they become fall-apart tender. They’re pricier, but much tastier!

Whichever you choose, make sure to parboil them first to remove impurities and any unpleasant smells.

ginger

Whenever we use pork in soup, it’s always paired with ginger. Ginger combats the sometimes unpleasant pork smells and adds flavor and nutrients to the soup.

dried scallops

One of the ingredients that I always have in my pantry for Chinese soup is dried scallops. They’re quite a pricey ingredient, so we try to use them sparingly, but they add a specific seafood fragrance and texture that you can’t quite get from fresh seafood or dried shrimp.

I’ve seen them range in size from as small as the tip of my pinky finger to as large as a nickel! My family uses both (and maybe slightly prefers the larger ones if both are available). They’re found in most Chinese supermarkets, and many Chinese herbal medicine stores.

Chinese dried almonds (apricot kernels)

Although these are commonly labeled as “almonds”, these are actually apricot kernels.

The dried north apricot kernels are bitter, and are used in very small amounts due to their potential toxicity (from their amygdalin which can convert to cyanide in large amounts)

The dried south apricot kernels are sweetier and nuttier, and is safe to be used in larger amounts. They’re also often in dessert soups.

Both are believed in traditional Chinese medicine to be good for your lungs and for coughs, so they’re often used in our savory soups together.

You can find these at most Chinese supermarkets that carry herbal or soup ingredients.

Chinese dried dates

Chinese dried dates are used to add natural sweetness to the soup. It’s the balance of the savoriness from the pork and seafood with the natural sweetness from these dates, the carrots, and the bok choy that make this soup so tasty!

If you can’t find Chinese dried dates, you can substitute with dried Chinese red dates (jujubes), which should be available at most Chinese supermarkets.

carrots

I love the carrots in this soup for the vitamins and natural sweetness they add! They can also withstand the long simmering of the soup and soften to a pleasant texture.

optional add-ons

My mom likes to add a few more optional ingredients to this soup for taste and nutrients: dried oysters and duck gizzard.

I added these as optional because they can be tougher to find. We can typically get them in Chinatown, but personally, I think the soup is really delicious without them as well!