Winter Melon Soup

Ingredients

• 2 lb winter melon (peeled and cube)
• 1 lb chicken or pork
• 4 quarts water
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 slices ginger

Instructions

• Bring water to a boil, place meat into pot, and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes.
• Place winter melon into pot and let it simmer until the melon becomes translucent.
• Then add ginger and salt to flavor.

Chou Chou Potstickers

Ingredients

• 1.5lb ground pork
• 6 peeled, chopped water chestnuts
• 2 cups of chopped long chives
• 6 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar
• 1 packet of potsticker skin (50 count)

Instructions

• Blanch long chives to heighten flavor.
• Mix ground pork, water chestnut, chives, soy sauce, salt, and sugar.
• See video how to wrap a potsticker.

• Once dumplings are wrapped, you can either boil or pan-fry them. To boil, just add the potstickers into a pot until they float atop. To pan-fry, coat the pan with oil and flour, and let the bottom of the potstickers brown. Then, add a little bit of water, place a cover, and allow to them to steam until the skin becomes translucent. 
• TIP: cook one potsticker in advance to make sure the filling has enough flavor.

Lotus Root Soup

Yum, more wintry soup!

Ingredients

• 1- 1.5lb lotus root 
• 5-6 red dates
• 1 cup black-eyed peas
• 1 slice of ginger
• 3 quarts of chicken or pork broth

Instructions

• Peel and cube lotus root.
• Bring broth to a boil, then add lotus root. Adjust to medium heat and let it cook for 30 minutes or until lotus root is cooked.
• Add black-eyes peas, red dates, and ginger. 
• Let it cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the black-eyes peas are cooked.
• Add salt to flavor.