![[Photo-bowl of burdock papaya carrot corn soup]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/6959113884_a74cc311b9.jpg "Burdock Papaya Carrot Corn Soup")
This morning when I was browsing around the produce section of my local supermarket, I found really fresh papaya on sale. They were not too ripe and not too green. They smelled sweet, and they looked just fantastic. So I decided that I should make myself a good papaya soup today.
There are many ways I enjoy papayas. I can use them to make a dessert soup, eat raw as a fruit, or to make savory soups like the White Fungus Papaya Peanuts and Black Eyed Pea Soup. But since the papaya I found today is the larger red-fleshed kind, my preference is to make a soup. This is because more papaya (about 2 lbs) is usually required for making soups. And since this larger type of papaya is generally less sweet and cost half the price of the Hawaiian papaya, I prefer it to be used in soups. I also really like Hawaiian papayas. But since they are sweeter and more expensive, I typically buy them to eat raw as a fruit.
![[Photo-Ingredients for Burdock Papaya Carrot Corn Soup]](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5303/5642195127_5f3958ef72_m.jpg "Ingredients for Burdock Papaya Carrot Corn Soup")
- 1.5 – 2 lbs of lean pork
- 1 medium sized papaya (about 2 lbs)
- 1 large burdock root (about 1 lb)
- 2 ears of fresh corn
- 2 large carrots
- 3 honey dates
- ½″ of ginger, sliced
- 15 cups of water
- a pinch of salt
- Bring a medium pot of water to boil. In the meanwhile, rinse and cube your pork to 3″ pieces. Blanch the pork in the boiling water and set aside.
- Bring 15 cups of water to boil in a large pot. In the meanwhile, peel and slice the burdock to 2″ pieces. Set aside. Rinse the honey dates in cool water and set aside.
- When the large pot is boiling, add the ginger slices, pork cubes, burdock, and honey dates. Cover and boil on high heat until the water is bubbling again. Lower the heat and let simmer for 1 hour. Set the timer.
- In the meanwhile, peel and cut the carrots to 1.5″ slices. Set aside. Prepare the fresh corn by removing the husk and corn silk. Rinse and cut the corn to 3 or 4 sections. Set aside. Prepare the papaya by cutting it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Cut lengthwise again once or twice on each half (depends on how big the papaya is). Then cut the papaya crosswise to 1.5″ chucks. Set aside.
- When the 1 hour of simmering is up, add all remaining ingredients to the pot. Cover and boil on high heat for about 10 minutes. Then lower the heat again and let simmer for 2 hours. Set the timer. When ready, sprinkle a pinch of salt to taste and serve.