I came across half of a recipe for a garlic and ginger soup with (I think) ginger and scallion meatballs; but I couldn’t find the meatball recipe.
I mean, I could’ve researched it a bit more, but, it was a gray, lazy day and I didn’t have all of the ingredients called for on hand anyway, and I had a perfectly nice bag of meatballs in the freezer, so…
I came up with this pretty simple, but very tasty soup, in about two hours.
INGREDIENTS
•2 tbsp olive oil
•2 cups shredded cabbage (coleslaw mix)
•1/2 cup diced celery
•1/2 cup diced onion
•A good handful of chopped fresh parsley
•2 shallots, diced
•4 garlic cloves, minced
•3 tsp minced ginger
•1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
•1 tsp black pepper
•1/4 tsp dried lemongrass
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
•4 cups low sodium chicken stock
•1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
•1-1/2 cup water
•1 tbsp sherry vinegar
•1 tsp Gochujang
•1 tsp fish sauce
•1 tsp Sambal Oelek
•2 tbsp lime juice
•12 oz bag frozen meatballs, thawed
•1 bag baby spinach
•1 bundle bean threads
•Sliced scallions – for garnish
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium high heat.
Add the cabbage, celery, onion, shallot, and parsley and cook, stirring often, until the veggies are tender, eight to ten minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook for another minute or so, just until you can smell them both.
Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the chicken stock, coconut milk, water and remaining seasonings (but not the meatballs or the baby spinach yet).
Cook, stirring, for about an hour, tasting the soup and correcting the seasonings, if you feel it needs it.
Add the meatballs and continue to cook until heated through.
Stir in the baby spinach and continue to cook just until wilted.
Pour boiling water over the bean threads in a bowl and let sit for 20 minutes to soften; then drain the bean threads and add to the soup.
Serve with chopped scallions on top and fresh lime wedges.