![[photo-ginseng pork quail recipes]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7024/6850508569_58c5358468.jpg "Ginseng Pork and Quail Soup")
Although the name of this Chinese soup sounds fancy and exotic, it is actually really REALLY easy to make. And it taste so good that it will excite your family and friends. They’ll also think you slaved away in the kitchen for hours when in fact, all of the ingredients for this soup require little or no preparation.
This soup recipe uses four ingredients, but it is really the American ginseng and quail that are the stars of this recipe. The pork is added to the soup for more flavor, and the ginger is to remove the muskiness from the meat.
The whole ginseng roots in this recipe require no preparation other than a quick rinse under cool water. The quail – well, they are really easy to cook with too. You can buy de-feathered and gutted quails, frozen or fresh, in Asian or specialty supermarkets, or online. You put the four ingredients into a soup pot, cook, and you end up with a light, clean, refreshing, and delectable soup with a distinct ginseng flavor.
The best part about this soup for me is eating the ginseng. I love the cooling menthol-like sensation that ginseng leaves in your mouth after chewing on them. I love eating them with the soup. And if you want a stronger ginseng flavor in the soup, you can cut the ginseng in half lengthwise to get more flavor out. Just use a tong to pick the ginseng out of the cooking soup pot at the last 30 minutes of cooking. Cut them with a pair of scissors and put the ginseng back into the soup to cook further. Enjoy!
![[photo-ingredients for ginseng pork quail recipes]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6850540055_92721aa60d.jpg "Ginseng Quail and Pork Soup Ingredients")
- 1 oz of American ginseng (about 4, index-finger sized)
- 2 small quail
- ½ lb of lean pork
- 2 slices of ginger
- 10 cups of water
- ¼ tsp salt
- Boil a small pot of water for blanching while cutting the lean pork to 2-inch chunks. Rinse the quail under cold water and wash the inside.
- When the water boils, blanch the pork first, then the quail with the same pot of water. Set the meats aside.
- In a large pot, boil 10 cups of water. Meanwhile, rinse the ginseng under cold water and set aside.
- When the soup water boils, add all ingredients to the pot. Cover and cook on high heat until the water boils. Reduce the heat to Low and simmer for 2 hours.*
- Add salt as desired and serve.
Check out our Asian food ingredient dictionary in the Common Ingredients section heading.
yum. this recipe looks good! thanks for sharing this!
yeah, the soup looks really good, and I’m surprised that it’s so easy to make. gotta give a try!