Pork ball, noodle, and watercress soup
10
10
10
SmartPoints® value per serving
Total Time
43 min
Prep
17 min
Cook
26 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Easy
This favorite Chinese soup can be served in smaller portions as an appetizer, or as one hearty main-dish bowlful to satisfy the hungriest. It features ground pork, egg, ginger, garlic, and dried shiitake mushrooms. Since it’s often cheaper to buy dried shiitake mushrooms in bulk than it is to buy them fresh—and dried mushrooms keep well for months—substitute 5 to 6 dried whole shiitake mushrooms for the fresh, if you like. Before using dried mushrooms, simply soak them in 1/2 cup boiling water for about 15 minutes; drain, then discard the tough stems. Also, to save time, you can buy watercress in a 4-ounce bag, already trimmed and cleaned, from the produce section of your supermarket.
Ingredients
Uncooked ground pork
1 pound(s), (10% or less fat)
Egg(s)
1 large egg(s), lightly beaten
Ginger root
1 Tbsp, fresh, peeled and grated
Cornstarch
2 tsp
Garlic clove(s)
2 medium clove(s), minced
Table salt
½ tsp
Black pepper
¼ tsp, freshly ground
Reduced-sodium chicken broth
6 cup(s)
Low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp
Packaged chow mein noodles
4 oz, or any Chinese noodle or thin spaghetti, broken in half
Dried shiitake mushroom(s)
¼ pound(s), fresh, stems discarded, caps thinly sliced
Uncooked scallion(s)
4 medium, thinly sliced (white and light green portions only)
Dark sesame oil
1 tsp, Asian