Tag: main course
Mexican Meatball Soup
Mexican Meatball Soup
There are many different ways and variations to making meatball soup. This particular recipe uses beef meatballs. 85% lean ground beef works the best. It’s not too lean and not too fatty. You can also use half beef/half pork, or all pork. You can add in a variety of vegetables to this in addition to potatoes. Carrots, roasted corn, zucchini, and squash are all suitable. Serve with a side of steamed rice.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 slice bread
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 4 garlic cloves
- salt and pepper to taste
Meatball Soup
- 1 lb tomatoes
- 1/4 medium white onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 lb potatoes peeled and cut into small cubes.
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
Garnish
- green onion chopped
- queso fresco
Instructions
- Mix all of the meatball ingredients together.
- Roll the meat into balls a little smaller than golf ball sized. Set aside.
- Dry roast the tomatoes, onions, and garlic in a large pot. This will take 4-5 minutes.
- Add them to a blender or food processor.
- Purée.
- In the same pot, heat up vegetable oil over medium high heat. Pour in the tomato purée. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Drop in the meatballs. Add in the potatoes.
- Simmer for 15 minutes. The meatballs will float to the top.
- Turn off the heat. Add in the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.
Swimming Rama
Swimming Rama
Swimming Rama is a Thai peanut curry sauce ladled over a bed of steamed rice, spinach, and either pork or chicken. For being a simple dish, it kind of has a lot of steps. The process of marinating the meat in the cornstarch, water, and oil is called ”velveting.” The meat absorbs all of the marinade, making it extra moist. It is then blanched for a minute or two. This technique is used in most Asian restaurants. It allows the chef to have large quantity of meat ready to go, cutting back on cooking time. If you’ve ever eaten at a Chinese buffet, most of the meat in various dishes is prepared this way.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs pork loin sliced 1/8” thick
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp red curry paste
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
- 2 tbsp palm sugar
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp tamarind concentrate
- 1/3 cup roasted peanuts
- 1 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 lb spinach
Instructions
- Mix together the fish sauce, vegetable oil, water, and cornstarch. Add in the pork, making sure that all of the slices are evenly coated. Let marinate for 30 minutes.
- In a pot over medium heat, mix together the coconut milk and curry paste. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add in the fish sauce, palm sugar, and tamarind concentrate. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- In a spice grinder, add the peanuts and sesame seeds.
- Coarsley grind.
- Add the peanut mixture to the curry sauce. Simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes, making sure to stir occasionally.
- The sauce should be fairly thick.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch the spinach for 20 seconds. Drain.
- In the same pot of water, blanch the pork for 1 minute.
- Assembly time!
- Place a serving of the spinach on a plate. Top the spinach with the pork. Ladle over the peanut curry sauce. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.
Silkie Chicken Soup
Silkie Chicken Soup
I’ve been wanting to make this soup for a very long time. The wait is now over. Silkie chickens are a breed from China with white fluffy feathers and black skin and meat. They’ve been and for thousands of years; eaten and also raised as pets. You can find these chickens at any Asian market, usually in the frozen section. They will come with the feet and head attached, weighing about 1 1/2lbs. ‘Silkie chicken soup is very popular in China, eaten typically for it‘s health benefits. Ginger is naturally an anti-inflammatory. Jujubes, also known as red dates, regulate blood pressure, are good for the digestive system, and are high in vitamin C. Goji berries are full of antioxidants and nutrients, help regulate blood sugar, and are said to promote fertility. Shiitake mushrooms are good for cardiovascular health, helping boost immunity and are high in vitamin D. This soup is extremely easy to make. Throw all of the ingredients into a pot, bring to a boil, and simmer on medium low for 2 hours. You will know the chicken is done when you can easily pull a whole leg from the body. One of the whole chickens is enough for 2 large servings. The broth that the chicken makes is darker than your typical chicken broth. It is very rich and is honestly the best chicken broth that I’ve ever eaten. Once the broth and it’s contents are portion out into bowls, give it a taste. Add salt to your liking. Then add the chicken to the bowl, followed by another ladle of stock.
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 1 Silkie chicken left whole
- 8 shiitake mushrooms stems removed, left whole
- 2 ears corn cut into 4
- 1/3 cup jujubes
- 1 tbsp goji berries
- 1 thumb ginger sliced
- 6-8 cups water
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash the silkie chicken.
- Add all of the ingredients except the salt to a large Dutch oven.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer for 2 hours.
- You will know when the chicken is done when you can easily pull the leg from the body.
- Ladle out 4 pieces of corn, shiitake mushrooms, jujubes, and broth into a bowl. Taste the broth and season with salt to your liking. Place 1/2 of the chicken into a bowl and ladle on another scoop of 2 of broth.
