This is a really lovely soup and very quick to make too (well, after the meatballs have chilled for half an hour in the fridge!). Very clean tasting broth with lime and ginger, and great textures with the soup, meatballs and noodles - and then fresh spring onions and chillies layer the flavour even more.
Especially quick if you are using up left over pork and prawn mixture after making sesame toasts. And also if, like me, you're using a ready mixed pack of stir fry veg and 'straight to wok' type noodles.
I'm not really sure about quantities here as I used up leftovers, but you'll need to make the full amount anyway as it uses a whole egg. The mixture freezes really well though so if you don't use it all at once, it will freeze for another day, or you could make some pork and prawn sesame toasts.
Here's how to make the paste:
400g total weight of pork tenderloin and prawns (I used half and half but it doesn't have to be precise)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon each salt and white pepper
small handful of coriander leaves, chopped
2 teaspoons soy sauce
one egg, beaten
Whizz the pork first in a food processor to mince, then add the prawns and just pulse as it will come together very quickly. Add the garlic, salt and pepper and coriander leaves and pulse again.
Add the soy sauce and beaten egg and mix by hand to combine.
This is the mixture for the sesame toasts so if you have that already you now need to add a few other things. I had probably a quarter of this quantity left and added the following:
1 red chilli, chopped
1 spring onion, chopped
a good pinch of sugar
a tiny splash of fish sauce
Mix all the ingredients together, then make little balls and put on a plate in the fridge to chill for around 30 minutes. The mixture is quite wet so I didn't make balls as such, just sort of little blobs.
For the soup itself - and again these aren't precise quantities so just add to taste and adjust as necessary - I used the following for two portions
a bit less than half a litre water
about half a Knorr chicken stock cube
a piece of ginger, perhaps 2 cm or so, sliced
juice of half a lime (it was a really juicy one so you might need more)
a good splash of fish sauce, perhaps half a tablespoon
about half a teaspoon of sugar, perhaps a little more
a big handful of veg from a packet of stir fry veg (or use a mixture of cabbage, book choy, bean sprouts or whatever you like)
rice noodles
to serve: coriander and mint if you have them, sliced red chilli and spring onions
Bring the water to the boil in the pan and add the stock cube then the ginger, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and simmer for three or four minutes.
Drop in the meatballs / blobs and simmer for another five minutes.
Add the vegetables and rice noodles and simmer for a further two to three minutes.
Ladle into bowls and top with the fresh herbs, if using, and the sliced chillies and spring onions. Add another squeeze of lime if needed.
This is so delicious I really hope you try it. Let me know what you think!
