Asian Inspired Pork, Mushroom and Spinach Soup

This was a quick dinner made on a rainy night and can be made with any vegetables or greens.  I used what I had on hand from my produce CSA box, and a thawed pork chop and the Chinese cured pork sausages from Costco. If you can’t find the cured sausages then just use 2 pork chops. Bacon might even be a great substitution!

(original post)

Asian Inspired Soup

1 pork chop, diced
2 Chinese cured pork sausages, sliced
1 Tbl grapeseed oil
2 Tbl chopped ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dry sherry
1 quart of pork stock (from 4505 Meats) or chicken stock
2 cups of water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbl fish sauce
1 stalk of lemongrass, crushed
1 bunch of green onions, sliced
2 cups of beech or other mushrooms (sliced if they are large)
1 cup green beans, cut into 1″ lengths
2 bunches of spinach, stems removed
Juice of 1/2 a Meyer lemon
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
1/3 package of rice noodles, cooked in boiling water per the directions, drained and rinsed with cold water
Cilantro for garnish

In a soup pot over medium high heat, heat the oil and brown the pork chop pieces and the Chinese cured pork sausages. Add garlic and ginger and saute for 2 minutes. Pour in sherry and scrape the bottom of the pan and let reduce for 5 minutes. Add pork stock, water, soy and fish sauces, lemongrass and the Sichuan peppercorns and bring to a boil. Toss in the green beans, mushrooms and the white parts of the green onions and turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the spinach and stir, simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Taste for seasoning, my soup needed a bit more salt and I added the lemon juice and the green onion tops right at the end.

To serve, add a heap of the cooked rice noodles to each soup bowl, ladle in the hot soup and top with handfuls of fresh cilantro.

Serves 4, or serves 2 with enviable leftovers for work lunches