watercress and pork bone soup

Give the dried scallop, dried duck kidney, dried dates, and the north and south dried almonds a good rinse. Put them in a bowl with 2 cups of warm water, and cover to let rehydrate.

Soak the dried tangerine peel in a separate bowl.

Wash and soak watercress in large bowl of water. If there are white roots or debris, remove them.

Peel and slice the carrots into 1 inch pieces (I like the roll-cut or oblique cut for this).

After 5-10 minutes, the tangerine peel should be soft. Scrape off the pith (the white fibrous part) with a spoon. The pith is bitter, so removing this will prevent your soup from becoming bitter.

Boil the pork bones in a pot of boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Drain, then give the pork bones and pot a good rinse to remove any scum.

Break apart the rehydrated scallop with your fingers.

Slice the dried duck kidney into smaller, bite-sized pieces.

Bring the pork bones and 10 cups of water to boil with ginger, mandarin peel, candied / dried dates, scallop, duck kidney, north and south dried almond, and the water they were rehydrating in.

Remove any scum that floats to the surface.

Once it starts boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer for about 2 hours.

Add the carrots and watercress. Simmer for another 1 hour, covered.

Skim off any excess oil on the surface of the soup.

Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!