Quick Asian Pork Soup

For day 9 of Soup Month 2014 we made a Quick Asian Pork Soup that has the most amazing flavor! This soup is so easy to make it would make a great weeknight meal, and you won't spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  The leftovers will even make a delicious lunch for you to take to work.

With hints of flavor from ginger, garlic, and a bit of red pepper flakes, the real flavor booster for this soup is the fish sauce.  Although generally used for fish soups and seafood entrees, especially in Thai cuisine, fish sauce can be added to so many foods that need just a touch of saltiness and an added savory touch.  Fish sauce is a great ingredient to experiment with and it's definitely not just for Asian foods.

To add a bit of heartiness to the soup we used savoy cabbage, which is a bit sweeter than regular green cabbage, sliced mushrooms for an earthy taste, and lean pork loin cut into thin strips.

As I mentioned, this soup is very quick to make, with preparation time at just about 30 minutes start to finish.  The soup is a hearty meal by itself or can be served with Homemade Egg Rolls on the side.  Enjoy!!

1 TB  Peanut Oil
1-1/4 lb  Boneless Pork Loin, cut into thin bite-sized strips
8 oz  Button Mushrooms, cleaned and cut into thick slices
1 TB  Minced Garlic
1 tsp  Minced Ginger
1/2 tsp  Salt
1/4 tsp  White Pepper
1/4 tsp  Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
2 cups  Shredded Savoy Cabbage
2  Green Onions, thinly sliced
5 cups  Chicken Broth
2 tsp  Fish Sauce

In a medium soup pot, heat the peanut oil over medium heat, add the pork and cook 3 - 4 minutes, or until most of  the pink color is gone.  Remove the pork from the pan and set aside.

Add the mushrooms, garlic, ginger, salt, white pepper and red pepper flakes to the pan and saute until the mushrooms are tender, about 3 - 4 minutes.

Add the pork back to the pan, then add the cabbage, green onions, chicken broth and fish sauce.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the cabbage is tender, about 8 - 10 minutes.  Makes 4 - 6 servings.