Pork & Rice Noodle Soup

 

Think savory pork, crunchy vegetables, filling noodles and a tangy broth. Completely customizable; feel free to swap out the pork for chicken or beef. The rice noodles will expand as the soup sits or refrigerated so add more stock or water to thin it out to the consistency you desire. I added  a little Sweet Red Chili sauce to spice up.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
• 3 medium carrots, chopped (I added an extra carrot, did not use red bell pepper)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• sweet red chili sauce, to taste
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 pound ground pork
• 8 cups chicken broth (I did not use quite as much)
• 6 ounces flat rice noodles
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.

Add the mushrooms, carrots, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Stir occasionally until vegetables are softened. About 4 minutes.

Add the garlic, ginger and scallions, stirring until softened. About 2 minutes.

Add the pork, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook breaking up the pork, stirring occasionally until pork is no longer pink.

Pour in the broth ( I used less than called for). Bring to a boil and add the soy sauce, vinegar and sweet chili sauce. Adjust salt and pepper.

I think the soup at this point is best to cool and sit in the refrigerator overnite so the flavors meld.

Cook the rice noodles according to package directions. 

Reheat the soup to simmer for 10 minutes until hot.

Place noodles in the bottom of soup bowls and ladle the soup on top.

Garnish with sesame seeds, more chopped scallions and sweet chili sauce to taste.