Lotus root soup with pork ribs, red dates and beans

I'm feeling a little under the weather so I decided to make a soup.  The Chinese always believe that drinking certain soup will nourish the body.  Well, I was rummaging through the vegetables compartment in the fridge last night and found the unused lotus roots which I bought last week.  So it'll be lotus root soup today.  In this recipe the soup is double-boiled but you can also boil it using normal pot on top of the stove (see footnote).

Ingredients (for 2-3 persons):
2 small sections of lotus root (about 300-400g) - washed, skin peeled and cut into pieces
300g pork ribs - scalded
10-12 red dates
1 handful of beans - washed. People normally use peanuts but I don't have it in my kitchen so I used white lablab/hyacinth beans instead
2-3 dried oysters - optional
1 honey dates - optional
5 cups boiling water
salt to taste

clockwise from left: lotus root, pork ribs, lablab beans, red dates, honey dates
center: dried oysters

Method:
1. Put boiling water in the slow cooker enough to cover 3/4 of the double-boiler.  Set the slow cooker to high.
2. Put in all ingredients except salt into the double boiler.

I use a medium big size porcelain double-boiler

3. Pour in the 5 cups of boiling water.

4. Put the double-boiler into the slow cooker, cover the lid and boil it for 2-3 hours under "High" setting.

be careful of the hot lid of the slow cooker.

5. Just before the end of boiling time, add a little salt (about half teaspoon) to the soup or to taste.

6. Ladle out the soup and serve hot/warm.

Note:

If boiling using normal pot over the stove, use about 10 cups of water instead of 5 cups.  Boil using medium fire for 1 and half hours.  

Download the recipe in pdf here.