Breasts and papaya soup?

Papaya soup gets its own separate posts since there are some myths surrounding this soup and therefore it should be treated separately from the other soups. While I'm sure there are myths surrounding other soups, I only know of the papaya soup myth and so will only focus on papaya soup.
Papaya, a.k.a Pawpaw, is a fruit and is generally a staple in the grocery stores. In some cultures, there are myths surrounding this fruit. The myths are mainly about its effects on the body - both men and women. I found this article that discussed some of these myths: http://leytesamardaily.net/2010/08/pamper-papaya-myths.
The myth that I know and I think most people are familiar with, is the one that claims that papaya soup increases the size of womens' breasts. Now, I have no idea whether this is true or not since I first heard of the myth in a movie! Anyway, some also say that papaya soup can help with milk production after giving birth. If you're a food scientist and you study papayas, maybe you could shed some light on these myths. What is not a myth, is that papaya soup is a tasty soup. You can make papaya soup either sweet or salty/sweet.
In my quest to find a recipe for papaya soup, I ended coming up with an experimental recipe. It's a recipe for a soup that is salty but has a sweetness to it. So here is my experimental papaya soup recipe: hope you like it.

Ingredients (for a small pot of soup)

Papaya - I use a portion of the unripened Maradol papaya (really big ones and red meat)   
1-2 tbs of dried black eyed beans (rinsed and drained)
1 chopped carrot
2-3 Dried red dates
1 Honey date
1 Dried snow fungus
Pork riblets or pork bones (Chicken bones can be substituted for pork)
Salt

Directions
Boil a pot of water (leaving approximately 2-3 inches of space between water and the top of the pot).
Wash papaya and cut into cubes that approximately 2 inches in size. Some people like to peel the papaya skin off first, but I don't think it really matters if you leave it on or off. Wash the dried red and honey dates. For the snow fungus, wash and let it sit in water for approximately 10 minutes. Then rinse and take off the black parts (if any).
Add the chopped carrot and black-eyed beans to the pot of water.
Add all of the above to the pot water.
Parboil the pork riblets/bones in a separate pot before adding to the pot of water.
For those of you who are lazy and don't want to parboil the meat, you can skim the foam when the water boils and then add the other ingredients.
Boil for approximately 2-3minutes and then reduce to a simmer. Let the soup simmer for about 3 hours and add salt to taste. If you notice that your water level is getting low, you can always add water to it and then add more salt.
Enjoy!

The sweet version of the soup does not have the meat, salt and honey dates. It has rock sugar and dried wolfberries in it. I have yet to make this version of papaya soup and don't recall trying it. Thus, I can't really comment on how it tastes.


 

Chinese Soups

When I lived at home, my grandma would often make big pots of soup. At one point, I used to think that the soups required a lot of ingredients and that they would be hard or complicated to make. However, after making some of the soups that grandma used to make (successfully!), I realized that they are not that complicated. Getting the ingredients are more complicated, especially when you don't live near a big city with asian markets! Many of the soups do require at least 1 hour of cooking, so if you do decide to make Chinese soups, make sure you have at least 1 hr of free time. I suppose it's possible to cook these soups with a slow cooker, which would make it easier for those of you who have busy schedules.
I believe that many of the recipes for Chinese soups were past down from generation to generation and so you would have to know someone who made soups to get the recipes for them. Nowadays, you can purchase a soup 'ingredient packet' (not exactly sure if that's what you would call it) where the ingredients are all there for you!
All in all, making Chinese soups are not complicated at all! More importantly, they're healthy and delicious :).

Here's a list of some of the soups, along with the ingredients, that my grandma used to make for us:

Watercress Soup (西洋菜雞湯) - 1 to 2 bundles of watercress, 3 to 4 honey dates, pork bones, 1-2 chopped red carrot, 1 tbsp apricot kernel (white color), salt to taste
Lotus Root Soup (莲藕烫) - 1 to 2 lotus roots, several dried mushrooms, 1-2 chopped red carrots, 3-4 honey dates, dried bean curd (this is not really suppose to be in the soup but I like to add it), salt to taste, pork bones
Winter Melon Soup (冬瓜排骨湯) - actually I this is one that my aunt likes to make, rather than my grandma, Chopped winter melon, seaweed, dried shrimp, dried mushrooms, black pepper and salt to taste
Dried Bok Choi Soup (菜乾湯) - 1 package of dried bok choi, 3-4 honey dates, 1-2 chopped red carrots, pork bones, salt to taste
Red Carrot and Green Radish Soup (青红萝卜湯) - 3 to 4 red carrots, 2 to 3 green radishes, 3 to 4 honey dates, pork bones, just be prepared for the strong smell that this soup gives when it's cooked

The amounts for each ingredient is for 1 big pot of soup. I generally use a 10 qt stock pot with water (filled to about 2 inches  from the top) to make my soups. If you use pork bones, you want to parboil the bones to before putting it into the soup. Add the ingredients and bring to a boil. Then let it simmer for 2 to 3 hours. For the winter melon soup, you can simmer for about an hour or until the melon is tender.


 Enjoy!

Tomato & Egg

This is one of the simplest dishes I've ever learned. As a college student living away from home (where I was always well-fed by grandma :P), I would often make this dish. Although I think my tomato/egg dishes come out decent, I still find my grandma's (and grandpa's) tomato/egg dish more tasty! Either way, it's still a dish worth making, especially since it is simple to make.

Ingredients

4 tomatoes, chopped (I use either roma and/or hot house tomatoes, but if you can find really red ones, they'll make your dish more colorful)
2-3 eggs, beaten
1 stalk of green onion chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
salt and sugar (amount depends on personal taste)

Steps

1. Heat oil in wok (or skillet) and add ginger, garlic and half of the green onions. Fry for several seconds.
2. Add tomatoes and fry for 1-2 minutes, add water such that the water nearly covers the tomatoes.
3. Reduce heat to a medium and allow tomatoes to simmer until they are soft and somewhat mushy
4. While tomatoes are cooking, fry the eggs in a separate pan - basically make scrambled eggs
5. Add salt and sugar to tomatoes (adjust based on your taste)
6. Add eggs and the rest of the green onions to the tomatoes, which should be soft and somewhat mushy, cook for 1 minute or so
7. Take out and eat!