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Pork meatball miso soup with bok choy

Gluten Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo

2 Servings, 520 Calories/Serving

45 Minutes

With an ingredient list that includes kombu, miso, mirin, and togarashi, this recipe could serve as a primer for the Japanese pantry. In it, you'll learn how to make dashi, a broth that's a foundation of Japanese cuisine. Trumpet mushrooms and pork add to the rich underpinnings of umami—the savory "fifth taste" that gives this soup an extraordinary depth of flavor.

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Ingredients

  • ½ ounce fresh ginger
  • ½ ounce kombu
  • Fresh cilantro
  • 3 to 4 scallions
  • 2 to 3 king trumpet mushrooms
  • 1 to 2 heads baby bok choy
  • ¾ pound ground pork
  • 2 tablespoons red miso
  • 1¾ tablespoons mirin-sesame sauce
  • 1 teaspoon togarashi

Instructions

1

Make the dashi

  • Peel the ginger and cut half into thick slices.
In a large sauce pot, over high heat, combine the ginger slices with the kombu and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until flavorful, 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove the kombu and cut into thin slices.
While the dashi cooks, prepare the remaining vegetables.

2

Prep the remaining vegetables

  • Finely chop the remaining ginger.
  • Chop the cilantro.
  • Trim the root ends of the scallions and thinly slice the white and green parts.
  • Wipe the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and cut into thin slices.
  • Rinse the bok choy, trim the root end, and cut crosswise into ½-inch-thick pieces.

3

Form the meatballs

In a mixing bowl, combine the pork, chopped ginger, cilantro, half the miso, half the scallions, and 1 teaspoon salt. With wet hands, shape the mixture into 10 to 12 meatballs.

4

Cook the soup

Strain the dashi into a bowl and discard the ginger slices. Whisk ¼ cup dashi with the remaining miso. Return to the pot and, over medium heat, bring to a simmer. Add the meatballs and simmer until firm and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, bok choy, mirin-sesame sauce, and kombu slices to the dashi and cook until the mushrooms and bok choy are tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

5

Serve

Transfer the soup to individual bowls. Garnish with the remaining scallions and togarashi, and serve.

6

Ingredient IQ

Kombu is an edible kelp that can be bought fresh, dried, or frozen. It softens and expands as it cooks and delivers a rich jolt of umami. It’s also loaded with vitamins and minerals, and virtually no calories.

Nutrition per serving: Calories: 520, Protein: 36 g, Total Fat: 34 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 14.5 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6.5 g, Saturated Fat: 10 g, Cholesterol: 115 mg, Carbohydrates: 19 g, Fiber: 6 g, Added Sugar: 4 g, Sodium: 1070 mg

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