Asian Shrimp and Pork Meatball Noodle Soup

This soup noodles recipe tastes a bit like pho, but has a more homey tone to it. Perhaps due to the handmade shrimp and pork meatballs, the rugged edge somehow spells quality and all-natural in my mind compared to the perfectly round machine-made meatballs.

Asian shrimp and pork meatball noodle soup - 

Ingredients (about 4 to 5 portions)?

• 4 to 5 portions Asian glass noodles (wider kind)
• 10 cups chicken stock
• 1 stalk scallion
• 1 chunk ginger
• 1 pack or two big handful bean sprouts
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• 1 lime 
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• Some salt (optional)
• 1 to 2 medium red chilies (optional)

Meatballs (about 16 meatballs):

• 400 grams ground pork 
• 300 grams shrimps
• 1 stalk scallion
• 2 medium garlic cloves
• 1 lime (need the zest only)
• 2 teaspoons potato starch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

How?

Bring out a big pot and pour in 10 cups of chicken stock. You can use some water if there's not enough chicken stock, but the final flavor will be on the lighter side as a result.

Scrape then slice the ginger, we will need 4 ginger slices, about 1mm thickness each. Destem one stalk of scallion and try to tie into a bit knot.

Add the ginger and scallion to the stock and bring to a boil. Keep it boiling for two more minutes. After that, lower the heat and keep the stock at a small to medium bubbling stage. Cook for 15 more minutes.

When time's up, pick out the ginger and scallion. Zest one lime and add to the stock, then squeeze in half of the lime juice to brighten up the flavor. As for the remaining lime, you can slice into wedges and serve with the noodle soup in the end. 

Taste the soup and season with fish sauce instead of using salt. I added 1 tablespoon of fish sauce here.

To make the meatballs, peel and devein the shrimps first then give the shrimps a few rough chops. Mix that with ground pork along with destem and chopped one stalk of scallion, zest of one lime, 2 peeled and chopped garlic cloves, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, and 2 teaspoons of potato starch. Mix till evenly blended.

Use two spoons to help forming the mixture into oval-shaped meatballs. Make one first and drop that to the soup. One by one, repeat till using up all the shrimp and pork mixture. Meanwhile remember to keep the stock at a gentle boil, and continue to simmer till all the meatballs have been fully cooked through. Scoop out any foamy bits if there's any floating on top.

Have another medium pot of water ready. Bring to a boil and add in bean sprouts. I actually picked out some of the threads on the tips before using. Not necessary but it'll give you a cleaner bite later on. Cook for couple minutes. Drain and set the cooked bean sprouts aside.

Still using the same pot, add more water again. This time cook the wide glass noodles according to package instruction or your preference. Once done, drain and transfer to serving bowls.

Scoop in some of the soup and meatballs. Garnish with bean sprouts. Chop some cilantro and add to the bowl too. If you can take some heat, destem and slice the red chilies into rings, add that to the noodles.

I also have one or two more lime wedges ready. Personally, I think for such pho-like noodles, more lime always sounds like a great and delicious idea. If the final noodle soup is not salty enough, you can choose to add more fish sauce or simply add some last minute salt flakes will do. 

What if you're only making the soup noodles for one or just two people? No problem. You can prepare the soup and all the ingredients as it is, but only cook enough noodles with smaller portion. 

Simple store the soup and the sides in the fridge. All you have to do is to cook the noodles again later on, and just heat up the soup with a bit assembling work to make a complete meal next time.

That's what I did actually. Since it's only me and Mister most of the time, there's no way we can finish everything in one single meal. Don't worry about the taste difference after a day or two though. Mister was actually super happy with the pho-like comforting food two days after. Especially with freshly squeezed lime juice, it has that magic to make overnight ingredients tastes like fresh off the stove again.   

Other Asian soup noodles recipes:

• Braised noodles with luffa gourd and chicken meatballs 絲瓜貢丸雞湯煨麵
• Pork and Chinese chives glass noodles 豆瓣韭菜豬肉粉絲