![[Photo-cilantro tofu and preserved egg soup]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/6954403872_473fd3f418.jpg "Cilantro Tofu and Preserved Egg Soup")
If you are looking for an easy soup recipe that doesn’t cost your wallet a fortune, here is a delicious budget soup I love. The inexpensive but healthy main ingredients are cilantro, tofu, preserved egg, and pork. All of the ingredients can be bought at a local Asian grocery store. And if you want more savory umami taste, add a few dried oysters to the soup.
This soup is known to release excess heat in Chinese medicine terms. Cilantro, preserved eggs, and dried oysters are foods known to have a cooling nature. Cilantro is also known to have detoxifying effects. Hence, this soup is excellent for those who are heaty. Some physical signs of excess heat in the body include: sore throat, nosebleeds, constipation, mucus and phlegm that are thick, yellow, or green. (Yeah, disgusting! So relieve yourself with this Cilantro Tofu and Preserved Egg Soup.)
- 12 cups of water
- 1.5 lbs of pork meat, marinaded with only salt for an hour and cubed to small pieces
- 1 bunch of cilantro, washed
- 1 lb of soft tofu, cubed
- 1 preserved egg, halved then cut into quarter slices
- 1″ of ginger, sliced
- 3 dried oysters (optional for additional flavor)
- Boil the water in a large pot. Add ginger, marinaded pork cubes, and dried oysters.
- Bring the pot back to a boil, then turn the heat low. Set the timer for 1 hour of boiling.
- Add the preserved egg slices. Boil on low heat for 25 minutes.
- Add the cilantro and boil on high heat until the soup bubbles. Lower the heat and boil for another 15 minutes.
- Add the soft tofu and boil the soup for 5 more minutes, or until the soup is bubbling again. Turn off heat. Serve.
Thanks for sharing all these yummy recipes! I was just looking through this recipe, and I had a quick question about making the pork. Do I just rub the pork with salt and leave it sitting out? Should it be sitting in the fridge or can it be outside? Can’t wait to try some of your soup recipes!
Hi Lorin,
Thank you very much for your visit and question! To marinate the pork, I usually first cut the pork into smaller pieces, about 2″ cubes. Then I rub the pork cubes with salt and let it marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
When I get free time on weekends, I sometimes cut the pork and marinate them with salt in advance. Then I divide them to 1.5 lb portions in ziploc bags and freeze them. When I need to use them in soups, I just defrost the marinated meat in the refrigerator a day before.
I hope these tips help. And I would love to hear how your soup turns out!
Sharon | Chinese Soup Pot
I’m very glad to have found your website. I am currently making this soup and realized that in your other recipes it says to blanch the pork, but doesn’t say to do so in this recipe. I’ve already added the pork… was it supposed to be blanched first?
Thanks Sharon. I look forward to making more of your soups!