Easy Healthy Dinner Idea: Mountain Yam & Pork Rib Soup

We love a healthy dinner recipe that’s packed with nutrients, easy to make with minimal clean up, AND is good for your skin! This recipe is all of that…

The main ingredient to highlight in this recipe is the mountain yam. It’s also called nagaimo or tororo in Japanese and can often be found in all Asian markets in the produce aisle. This root vegetable is chock full of potassium, vitamin C, and minerals. In traditional Chinese medicine, this vegetable has been used for thousands of years for external skincare, nourishing the lungs, and prepping the body for the transition from summer to winter.

My favorite way to have it is in this soup, along with pork rib, lotus seed, chestnut, and goji berries. All you need to do is stew it for two hours and you have a warm, filling, and nutritious soup.

Ingredients:

  • 6 slices of ginger

  • 1 lb of pork spare ribs, washed and cleaned

  • 1 forearm long piece of mountain yam

  • 1/4 cup dried lotus seeds

  • 1/4 cup chestnut

  • 1 tbsp goji berries

  • 1-2 tbsp of salt to taste

  • 7 cups of water or more so that it covers everything in the pot by 1 inch

Instructions:

  • Place pork ribs in a pot with enough water to cover and three slices of ginger

  • Bring the ribs to a boil and skim the foam that rises to the surface

  • Once the foam is gone, remove the ribs from the pot and place to the side for later use

  • Remove the skin from the mountain yam and cut into bite size pieces

  • In a clean pot, add three slices of ginger, lotus seeds, roasted chestnuts, the parboiled ribs, and skinned mountain yam

  • Add enough water to cover everything by 1 inch

  • Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer, and let it cook for 2 hours

  • Remove any scum or foam that come up to the surface

  • Add 1 tbsp of salt and taste — feel free to add a little more salt, one pinch at a time

  • Finally, add in the goji berries and serve