It was not planned. I was not going to do two soup recipes in a row but then I made this and well, the decision was out of my hands. Okay, okay, not really, I do have free will, but it is SO damn good, I just had to share.
However! I needs must leave a warning though. Unless you have no qualms about getting a runny nose and needing to blow it, at least twice while eating this fiery concoction, maybe not make it for a first date. That said, if you want to test just how much that other person digs you and doesn’t mind your sniffling (especially since they are in the same predicament), then hey, by all means, give them a heads up and dig in!
When Chef shared her post, she titled it: For the Lava Eaters – with good reason! Do please go and visit her site so you can get the back story. And can I just say that I sent a picture to my son, whose heat tolerance level is way higher than mine, he was intrigued. I promised him he would not have to add extra fire since this one supplied more than enough (doesn’t mean he’s not nuts enough to do so anyway, but still).
I gathered all my ingredients – It’s funny, when I cook “on the fly” I take out as I go, but when I am following a recipe, I take out everything I need so I don’t have to scramble. Well, usually!
The very first step is to fry up that garlic into chips. It’s easy to go too far so best to err on the side of caution, so to speak, and take them out before they get not too dark. Burnt garlic is not pleasant on the tongue. Besides, they will continue to cook a bit as they drain.
Just about ready to come out of the oil
That was the most complicated part of the recipe so I won’t bore you with each step of the way pics (unless you ask!) While this soup packs a spicy punch, it is not all about the heat; the flavours are wonderful. And really, if your heat tolerance is not quite as high, then reduce the pepper, reduce the ginger, reduce the pepper flakes – you will still get something delicious!
If you don’t eat pork, no worries, use chicken or duck or whatever meat tickles your fancy.
If you want this to be vegetarian-friendly, change the stock to vegetable and the meat to tofu.
Fiery Ginger Pork Noodle Soup with Crispy Garlic
Equipment
- 1 small pot for frying garlic
- 1 sieve
- 1 Soup pot
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp Neutral oil (grapeseed, avocado, vegetable)
- 8 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
- 1 lb pork cubed
- 1/2 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp red pepper flakes (or to tastes)
- 1 sprinkle salt (go easy as miso is salty)
- 1 Tbsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
- 1/2 tsp white pepper (or to taste)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 4 cups water
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce (or tamari)
- 1 Tbsp Mirin
- 2-3 Tbsp Ginger, grated (to taste) (I used a mircoplane)
- 4 Tbsp White miso
- 3 oz cooked noodles (I used rice)
- 1 oz mixed greens (I used baby bok choi and kale and spinach)
- yellow or red onion, thinly sliced
- jalapeño, thinly sliced
- cherry tomatoes, halved
- cilantro, roughly chopped
- crispy garlic
Instructions
Fried garlic
- Set up your soup pot with a sieve to catch the drained oil from the garlic
- In a small pot, heat the oil over medium heat
- Add the sliced garlic and cook until they just begin to lightly brown
- Pour oil and garlic through sieve into the soup pot
- Once you shake most of the oil off the garlic, place the sieve, with crispy garlic over the little pot, and set aside
Soup
- Heat the drained oil from the garlic to medium high
- Stir in the pork, red bell pepper and red pepper flakes
- Season with the black and white pepper and a small pinch of salt
- Sauté the meat until it lightly browns
- Stir in the chicken stock, water, soy sauce and mirin
- Return the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle bubble
- Cook for at least 10 minutes, or until the pork is tender
- This is a good time to cook your noodles, if you haven't alreadyIf you are using a tough green like, kale, throw it into the pot with the noodles during the last minute of cooking, just to soften the kale a bit
- Remove soup from heat and stir in the ginger and miso
- Return to very low heat as it must not boil once the miso is added
- Taste and adjust your seasonings
- In a warm bowl, add your noodles and greens
- Ladle the warm soup over
- Garnish with the sliced onion, jalapeno, tomatoes and cilantro and finish with the crispy garlic
- Serve immediately
Wow! That dish looks wonderfully delicious. Great photos.
Thank you, Tim. It is ridiculously taste and runny-nose good. Methinks you, the pepper head, would enjoy this 🙂 Glad you like!
Yikes, my mouth is on fire just reading the ingredients! It looks so good….you know, like good enough to eat! This recipe is certainly very flexible with what you can substitute to suit your personal taste. Well done Dale.
I guess you should add “one box of tissues” to your ingredients list! 🤗
Ginger
Lemme tell you, Ginger (key ingredient! 😉 ) my lips were tingling for a good fifteen minutes after eating it. Thank you, so glad you liked.
Hahaha! Dammit! Why didn’t I think of that!
It look and sounds yummy (except for the pork😏). I love hot and spicy soups. Perhaps I will try a veggie version at some point.
It really is. I am seriously considering doing a tofu version. I hope you try it!
Gorgeous photos and you’ve done The Simmering Chef proud. Would love to hear if your son adds more spice.
Thank you, Chef! I would not put it past him (course, of he eats here, I have none of his spicy oils and chili powders, so he’ll be limited!)
This sounds heavenly
A fiery heaven!
This sounds so good, Dale. Gotta try it.
It is delicioso and if you’re not doing red meat, just change to chicken!
Reminds me of a pho dish. Too much heat for my tastes … but the foundation is there for a soup I would enjoy.
It is very tasty and you don’t have to use as much heat 🙂
This is how spice is SUPPOSED to be treated! It’s about the flavor, and you bring it! But yeah, keep the agua close by just in case . . .
Oh yes, it is. Just the right amount of zing, leaving your lips tingling for a good fifteen minutes after.
Dang. Know how you missed the Brady/pretend beer thing? I wanted to suggest having a cold one close by to refresh – works way better than water 😉
The fierier the better for me! This looks fab.
Oh, you would like this, Keith! Leaves the lips tingling! it was so good. I am definitely making it again (plus, it is easy-peasy)
Looks yummy. And rice noodles means I can eat all of it!
Woot! It’s a tasty fiery one, that is for sure.
Dear Dale,
It looks delicious. I wonder how it would work with venison. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
Dear Rochelle,
I don’t see why it wouldn’t. I didn’t use as fatty a piece of meat as recommended because, frankly, I had none! It wasn’t dry at all.
Shalom and lotsa tasty love 😉
Dale
I mean, Shalom and lotsa savory hugs.
😉
I can practically smell this amazing looking dish! Bravo you.
And, if you like the spicy, just change the pork to tofu or whatever substitute. It was so, so, SO good! Thank you 🙂