Another great find from my oldest Thai cookbook — Kaeng Jeut Wun Sen Muu Sap, or vermicelli soup with minced pork. No complicated ingredients or fancy techniques. Regular mushrooms can easily stand in place of black fungus and spaghettini or angel hair in place of bean threads.
It seems that key ingredients to the flavor here are good chicken broth and garlic oil with garlic chips. Soy sauce of course is what makes it Asian. And white pepper in meatballs is a game changer for the entire dish.
The soup comes together effortlessly making it a convenient weeknight meal. The time when fungus and bean threads are soaking, garlic is steeping in oil, and stock is heating up is enough to mix the pork with salt, pepper, and cilantro. I did not roll the balls, I scooped and shaped the mix with two teaspoons dropping the pieces into a simmering broth right away.
Besides, after seeing everywhere in China people eating soup for breakfast, I can now openly admit my dislike of cereal. “Dry feed,” as my son called it, makes me sad and leaves me hungry. I like food for breakfast. And this soup is perfect.
WHAT WENT IN
— a handful of dried black fungus
— 7 oz mung bean threads
— 6 Tbsp vegetable oil
— 8 garlic cloves, sliced
— 1 lb ground pork
— 3 Tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
— 1/2 tsp salt
— 1 tsp ground white pepper
— 8 cups chicken stock
— 6 Tbsp light soy sauce
— 3 Tbsp preserved radish, chopped
— chopped cilantro for serving
THE PROCES
1. Soak mushrooms in hot water for 5 minus. Drain and cut into bite size pieces
2. Soak vermicelli in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain and cut with scissors into spoonable pieces.
3. Cook garlic in oil low and slow until it turns blond. Drain on papers towels.
4. Mix pork with cilantro, salt, and peppers. Roll it into 1/2” balls.
5. In a saucepan, bring the stock to a boil. Add soy sauce and radish.
6. Cook the pork ball in the stock for 2 minutes.
7. Add noodles and mushrooms to the stock and cook them for another two minutes.
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