Bitter Melon Soup with Corn and Pork Meatballs
Bitter Melon Soup with Corn and Pork Meatballs
Soup Name:
Bitter Melon with Corn and Pork Meatballs Soup
Traditional Chinese Name:
簡單菜湯 (Jiǎn dān cài tāng)
For videos, visit us on YouTube.
I made this after work one day and managed to pick up fresh veggies and meat from the wet mart on the way home. Sometimes I plan for soup, sometimes I don’t, and this soup is one of those last minute made-up combinations because I felt like having meatballs and bitter melon at the same time!
The pork meatballs are a substitute for the pork bones and I could eat them along with my soup. I also made extra and froze for a rainy day so I could pan fry – no wasted efforts! The bitter melon is also cooling, helps relieve heat in my body, and helps relieve that painful tongue after eating too much fried food.
What’s involved?
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Total time: 40 mins
Serves: 6 bowls
Ingredients
- 2 fresh bitter melons, halved (with skin), de-seeded, and sliced
- 2 fresh corn, quartered
- 20 fresh ginkgo biloba
- 1 pound of fresh ground pork
- half fresh onion, diced
- 1 egg
- your own spices
- 1 tsp of chicken broth powder
- 2 L of water
Cooking Instructions
- Boil your soup water
- Wash and cut the corn and throw into the soup water
- Wash and cut up the bitter melon (de-seed and keep on the skin) and add with the ginkgo biloba to your soup
- in a separate bowl, mix in the diced onions, spices and 1 egg until the pork fat becomes stringy and quite sticky
- Roll into bite-sized meatballs
- When the soup water boils, drop in the meatballs one at a time, ensuring that the water is still boiling (this ensures the meatballs cook immediately when they hit the water and stays together)
- Boil on high for 25 minutes
- Serve and enjoy!
Start with the meatballs base. I mix in ground pork, diced onions, and 1 egg and seasoned with black pepper, salt, and a bit of soy sauce. You can also add paprika, fresh ginger, green onions, even bread crumbs. Then you roll them into little round balls to be dropped into your soup!
Boil your soup water in a pot on medium heat and add in the corn. As this boils, you can prepare the bitter melon. I halve them and scrape out the seeds with a spoon and then cut them quite thinly. The key to quick boil soups is that the ingredients cook fast!
When the water boils, throw in the sliced bitter melon and gingko and 1 tsp of chicken broth powder. When it boils again, drop in your meatballs and leave it to boil for 25 minutes on medium heat.
Garnish with green onions, parsley, or cilantro as you wish. This totally eats like a meal! Serve with rice or noodles.
