Asian Pork & Lotus Root Soup

Asian Pork and Lotus Root soup

If you’ve never eaten or cooked lotus root, this is a fun, starchy vegetable.  It is the wagon-wheel shaped item in the picture.  The stem of the lotus pond plant has hollow channels so that when peeled and sliced crosswise, it produces this interesting result.  It’s texture is somewhat similar to water chestnut, but when cooked, a bit softer and mimics firm pieces of potato in oriental soups, in my opinion.  It will still retains some of its crunchiness, however, even after considerable simmering in liquid.  Sliced jicama, or daikon would be a good substitute in this soup recipe, and will drop the carb count a carb or two.  I actually prefer to chop the lotus root into 4-5 pieces when just serving to family, but will  leave the attractive slices whole when serving company.  Lotus root is available in most Asian and high end grocery stores in fresh produce, in cans, and packed in water in plastic bags frozen.  I’m not as fond of the canned as the raw packed as it is pressure cooked, is greyer in color and often too soft for some uses.   Lotus root has around 1.4 carbs per slice and .4g fiber, or 1 NC per slice. so I use it sparingly.  But I only used 60 grams (which was 6 slices) in my whole pot of soup, so each serving only gets 1-2 slices.  I would think this soup would be considered Induction friendly, though I can’t actually find lotus root discussed in ANY of my Atkins books.  If you’re in doubt, you can wait until the starchy vegetable rung of the OWL ladder to eat lotus root, you could use substitute water chestnuts, jicama or daikon and be certain it is OK for Induction.  My husband and I both really like this soup.  I made a half recipe (3 bowls) and HE liked it so much he dipped up a second and had it consumed before I realized there was no extra ladle full for me when my bowl was empty. 😦  He said he was helping we watch my portions.  LOL  So I’m doubling next time and posting the recipe for 6 servings below.  🙂

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INGREDIENTS:

4 c. chicken broth (I make my own. If using canned, use three 10.5-oz. cans)

3 c. water

1/3 c. rice vinegar (no other vinegar will do here)

2 T. tamari (or soy sauce, low sodium)

1 tsp. chile paste (I use Sambal Oelek available in most grocery stores with oriental foods)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 slice ginger root, peeled and minced

2 tsp. sesame oil

2 oz. onion, sliced

2 oz. red bell pepper, slivered

5 dried shitake mushrooms, (rehydrated in the 3 c. of water cited above, then sliced.  DO NOT DISCARD WATER as it goes in the soup)

60 g. (6 slices) lotus root

8 oz. cooked pork, sliced thin

1 c. raw spinach, kale or bok choy leaves, chopped (kale is pictured)

DIRECTIONS:   Soak the shitake mushrooms about 30 minutes to rehydrate.  Lift out of water, saving the mushroom water  for the soup pot.  Slice the mushrooms, removing the stem bit if it is tough (they usually are, but not always).  Add all remaining ingredients except the red bell pepper and greens.  Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer for about 20 minutes.  Add greens and red pepper and simmer just until they are both tender (about 15 more minutes).

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 6 large bowls (about 1½ c. each).  1/6 of the recipe contains:

200 calories

10.75 g  fat

9.33 g carbs, 1.93 g fiber, 7.4 g  NET CARBS

16.9 g  protein

447 mg sodium