these days, with rising prices of many food items, one has to scout for cheaper ingredients to reduce the cost of cooking at home. for fresh food, there is no house brand, so you have to look for cheaper alternatives.
i came across this recipe in hochiak asian food website and decided to give it a try, with slight modifications. whenever i prepare soup at home for two persons, i normally use either the old cucumber of winter melon. each of these items will cost slightly more than a dollar. with white radish, i need to pay half the price only.however, i have also been advised not to eat too much white radish because it is believed by the chinese that eating it will render western medication ineffective (kwei yeok).
i use the some of the ingredients - white radish, dried dates and cuttlefish but i substitute the dry oysters with dried scallop (one piece only). i also drop a piece of rock sugar into the water, something i do when preparing the other soups.
when the soup starts to boil, i will turn down the fire to let it simmer for about an hour or so. the other day when i prepared winter melon soup, i extended the simmering time and ended up with a dry pot.
