Chinese Meat Ball and Cabbage Soup
This is the favorite soup of my third daughter, Rachel. In fact, it's one of the first things she learned to cook on
her own. The Asian flavors are a great change of pace in our generally Ashkenazi or European repertoire of soups. You
can vary the number of mushrooms depending on your taste. It's a good idea to keep either fresh peeled ginger in the
freezer or a jar of fresh, chopped ginger in the refrigerator for this type of dish. The recipe is an adaptation of one in
a small, interesting cookbook, Chinese Cooking for Everyone, by Kyoko Ikeda.
Meat Ball Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 T. cornstarch
- 3 T. water
- 1 T. soy sauce
- 2 tsp. fresh chopped ginger
- 1 T. dry sherry or rice wine
- 1 T. canola oil
Mix all ingredients except oil, and knead well. Form into 1 inch balls. Heat the canola
oil in large pot. Fry meat balls until brown on outside. This frying step can
be eliminated to cut down on time and oil, but the meat balls will not taste as
good, and they won't hold together as well.
Soup Ingredients
- 1/2 head Chinese cabbage (1 pound)
- 1 small onion
- 4 dried mushrooms, soaked, cleaned, and chopped
- 2 T. canola oil
- 2 ounces bean threads (cut into 4 inch pieces with a scissor by
putting the bean threads in a paper bag, cutting, and separating)
- 8-10 cups soup stock (add more if soup is too thick)
- 2-4 T. soy sauce, to taste
- 1 tsp. sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Cut cabbage into large pieces. Chop onion. Heat 2 T. oil in the pot used for
the meat balls (put meat balls on plate to wait). Stir-fry vegetables (cabbage, onion, mushrooms)
until partly browned. Soak bean threads in warm water for 5 minutes. Pour remaining
soup ingredients over vegetables, add meatballs and bean threads. If broth
does
not cover ingredients, add more broth, and heat
for 30 minutes over low flame.
Serve this soup with additional soy sauce, hot pepper sauce, or hoisin sauce on the side.