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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Chinese Vegetable Noodle Soup with Pork

It's day 18 of Soup Month and we have an incredibly light and versatile Asian soup for you, Chinese Vegetable Noodle Soup with Pork.  I've had a recipe on hand for a couple of years that I wanted to make, but it just didn't seem right.  It sounded bland and didn't have the spicy edge to it that I love in Asian cuisine.  So today was the day to tackle this recipe.

The first time I tried an authentic oriental dish was at the Szechuan House in Chicago.  The food was hot and spicy and incredible!  Since then, I always compare the flavors and spice level in an Asian dish to those I experienced at that restaurant.  Unfortunately, today it's rare that a restaurant will serve truly spicy 'Szechuan' style foods for fear it will be too spicy for their guests.  That's why it's better to make your own at home!

The spice level in this soup can be adjusted to suit your own tastes simply by adding some extra red pepper flakes, and for even more spice, you can add a dash of Sriracha Sauce.  The versatility of this soup comes from the source of protein you choose to use.  We used very thinly sliced pork loin, which was super tender, but you could also substitute chicken breast, shrimp or even thinly sliced beef in place of the pork.  To make this soup vegetarian, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and tofu in place of the meat.  The possibilities are endless and delicious!

This soup is very easy to put together.  Only 15 minutes of prep time to chop the veggies and meat and you're ready to go.  Cook time is only about 15 - 20 minutes.  We served the soup with homemade Shrimp Egg Rolls and everyone gave this meal a thumbs up.  Enjoy!!


1 TB  Sesame Oil
1 lb  Pork Loin, sliced into very thin 1-inch pieces
3  Green Onions, chopped
1 TB  Minced Garlic
1 tsp  Minced Fresh Ginger
6 cups  Chicken Broth
2 cups  Cabbage, thinly sliced
1 small Carrot, shredded
1/4 tsp  Red Pepper Flakes (increase to 1/2 tsp for extra spice)
3 TB  Soy Sauce
1 TB  Rice Vinegar
2 - 3 oz  Dreamfield's Angel Hair Pasta
Julienned Cucumber for Garnish (optional)
Sriracha Sauce for Garnish (optional)

Heat sesame oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add the pork, stir to coat the meat and cook for 3 minutes.  Add the green onions, garlic and ginger and continue to cook until the pork is cooked through, about 4-5 minutes.

Add the broth, cabbage, carrot, red pepper flakes, soy sauce and rice vinegar.  Stir soup and increase heat to high, bring to a boil then add the noodles to the pot.  Boil for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the noodles and cooked through.

Serve with a garnish of fresh julienned cucumber or chopped green onions.  For a spicier version add a bit of Sriracha sauce.

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