Pork Bone and White Radish Soup

Luobo Dun Paigu Tang (萝卜炖排骨汤)

Fall-off-the-bone succulent pork is boiled with tender bites of Asian white radish in this simple but hearty soup that is accompanied by a bowl of spicy, robust dipping sauce.

My wife introduced me to this soup years ago as one of the few soups she knew how to make. It's simple but rich with flavor from the pork bone broth, and like most Sichuan soups, it's paired with a spicy dipping sauce for the meat and veggies.

Within the Chinese name for this Soup is the word Pai Gu (排骨), which often translates to Ribs or Spareribs. However, Sichuan people use this word, not only for Ribs, but for any large bones (primarily from the torso) covered with meat. Therefore, while Ribs could be easily used for this recipe, our preference is Back Bone (背骨) covered with meat. The meat is important as this isn't purely a bone broth, but a Soup containing Pork. The bones from the Pork enhance the broth, but it is the meat that is eaten.

Asian White Radish, also known as Daikon, is a delicious root vegetable whose spicy radish bite mellows with stewing. It can handle high heat and long cooking times making it the perfect addition to this Soup. Other root vegetables such as Carrot could be used in this type of Soup along with or in place of White Radish. The flavor, however, is better by using only one type of root vegetable at a time.

With every great Sichuan soup is a great dipping sauce. The flavor of the soup is quite simple, so it is the dipping sauce that provides extra zest. Dipping sauces are highly customizable, but for ideas check out my Ultimate Guide to Sichuan Dipping Sauces.

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3.1 hours

Serving: 4 people

Ingredients

1 kg Pork Back Bones with Meat

1 – 2 Asian White Radishes (about 1 kg)

Aromatics
2 stalks of Scallion
1 4-inch block of Ginger
2 tsp. Green Sichuan Peppercorns

1/4 cup Shaoxing Rice Wine

Seasonings
1 Tbsp. Salt (Plus More to Taste)
2 tsp. Chicken Bouillon Powder (Optional)

Directions

1.) Wash the Pork bones, set in a large pot, and fill the pot with water. Allow the bones to soak while preparing the other ingredients.

2.) Wash and peel the White Radish. Cut off both ends and discard them. Place the Radish on a cutting board and cut off wedges by chopping across the radish at a 45-degree angle, rotating cut-side up, cutting again at a 45-degree angle, and repeating all the way down the length of the Radish.

3.) Wash the Scallion stalks, tie them in a knot and place in a bowl for Aromatics. Smash the Ginger and add to this bowl along with the Sichuan pepper.

4.) Drain the water in the pot of Pork Bones, refill the pot with water, and add the Rice Wine and Salt. Bring the water to a boil and skim away any scum that rises to the surface. (This step is extremely important, so be thorough!)

5.) When the soup in the pot is clear, add the bowl of Aromatics, reduce the heat to a medium low, and simmer for 2 hours. Add water as necessary to maintain the desired amount.

6.) Remove the Aromatics after this time and add the Radish. Continue to cook the soup for another 1 hour. Add water as necessary to maintain the desired amount.

7.) When the soup is nearly finished, prepare the bowls of dipping sauce. Recipes for various Dipping Sauces can be found at the following link: Ultimate Guide to Sichuan Dipping Sauces.

8.) Season the soup with Chicken Bouillon and Salt to taste. With the soup completed, follow the Serving Instructions and enjoy.

Serving Instructions:

Bring the soup to the table with a ladle and set in the center (preferably alongside other dishes). Give each guest their own soup bowl, small bowl of dipping sauce, a small bowl of rice, a soup spoon, and a pair of chopsticks.

Guests can help themselves to the soup, ladling it into their own soup bowl. They can use their chopsticks to pull meat from the soup and dip it into the sauce. Before eating, they can place the sauce covered pork onto their rice, slowly flavoring the rice with both the soup and the dipping sauce. (The pork will be extremely tender, so it will be easy to pull the meat off the bones. The bones can, of course, be discarded).

The soup itself is usually drunk after the meat is finished or intermittently toward the end of the meal to quench the heat of the other dishes and the dipping sauce. The soup broth can also be poured into the rice bowl to make a soupy rice.

This recipe will make a lot of soup which can and should be refrigerated. In this way, the soup can be reheated and served along with other dishes at multiple meals.

 

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