Dinner Tonight: Hot and Sour Soup with Pork and Noodles

5/30/2014

"Low in calories but really filling," write Julian Metcalfe and Blanche Vaughan in Itsu: The Cookbook, "this is a great soup to take into the office and reheat for lunch."

 

Hot and Sour Soup with Pork and Noodles

Slightly adapted from Julian Metcalfe's and Blanche Vaughan's Itsu: The Cookbook, published by Mitchell Beazley.

Broth:

6-1/3 cups chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 hot red Thai chile, sliced in half lengthwise

1 teaspoon brown sugar

juice of 1 lime

1 lemon grass stalk, finely chopped

2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce

Soup:

3-1/2 ounces mixed mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, or enoki work well)

3-1/2 ounces thin cellophane noodles, soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drained

3-12 ounces ground pork

2 scallions, sliced

a small handful of cilantro, chopped

lime wedges (optional)

First make the broth. Bring the stock to a boil, then add all the other broth ingredients and simmer for a few minutes to steep. Add the mushrooms, noodles, and pork, stirring well to break up the meat, and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Serve with the scallions and cilantro sprinkled on top and, if you desire, with a wedge of lime on the side.

Serves 4.