Duncan Lu’s Vietnamese choko soup (canh su su)

There’s nothing like enjoying a clear broth soup at the dinner table in a Vietnamese household. As a kid, most nights Mum would cook a soup, stir-fry and condiment dishes to pair with jasmine rice. The soups were almost always a variation of pork or chicken, with different vegetables adding flavour, nutrition and fibre. Mum loves to stir-fry choko, so it was rare for her to add it to soups, but that was not the case for my good friend and champion of Vietnamese home cooking, Duncan Lu, who grew up eating choko soup. Given he still eats it regularly, I asked Duncan for his recipe and thoughts on choko in clear bone broth. He replied: ’The natural sweetness and texture of choko when simmered until tender, but still firm, is what makes it the perfect fruit for this soup. My variation of choko soup combines chokos and carrots to create a sweet and savoury umami flavour.’