Soft pork meatballs, bright green edamame and a clear, light broth. This Asian meatball soup is one of the recipes from our YouTube channel, and it’s on the table in well under half an hour.
The meatballs are the whole secret. Minced pork is mixed with green onion, ginger, a little water and salt, then seasoned with chicken essence and pepper. Sweet potato starch goes in last, and the mixture is beaten well until it turns smooth. That beating is what makes the meatballs tender and springy instead of dense, and the ginger keeps the pork from tasting gamey.
There’s no rolling by hand. You squeeze the meat up through your fist and scoop off each ball with a spoon, straight into the pot. The edamame is fried first in a spoonful of lard, then boiling water goes in, then the meatballs. The one rule: don’t stir until they have set, or they break apart. Two more minutes with salt and chicken essence, a few goji berries and green onion on top, and it’s ready.
Our video calls it a Sichuan-style edamame soup. It isn’t spicy. It’s mild, comforting and light, the kind of soup that works for a quick lunch or next to a bowl of rice for dinner.
What you need
- Minced pork for the meatballs.
- Green onion and ginger, chopped, plus a little water, for the meat.
- Salt, chicken essence (chicken bouillon powder) and pepper.
- Sweet potato starch. Cornstarch or potato starch can stand in if you can’t find it.
- Shelled edamame (green soybeans).
- A spoonful of lard for the pan.
- Boiling water for the soup.
- Goji berries and more green onion to finish.
Our video doesn’t measure the pork, starch or seasonings, so we haven’t put numbers on them either. The two amounts it does give are a spoonful of lard and 2 minutes of cooking at the end. Season to taste and go easy on the salt, because chicken essence is salty too.
Asian Meatball Soup with Edamame
Ingredients
Method
- Put the minced pork in a bowl with chopped green onion, ginger, a little water and salt.
- Add chicken essence (chicken bouillon powder) and pepper.
- Add sweet potato starch and beat the mixture well, until the minced meat turns smooth and tender.
- Shape the meatballs: squeeze the meat up through your fist and scoop each ball off with a spoon.
- Heat a spoonful of lard in a hot pan.
- Add the shelled edamame and stir-fry until it changes colour.
- Pour in an appropriate amount of boiling water.
- Add the meatballs one by one.
- Don’t stir yet. Wait until the meatballs have set and hold their shape.
- Add salt and chicken essence and cook for 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle goji berries and chopped green onion on top and serve.
Video
Notes
Tips
- Beat the meat well. The longer you work the pork with the starch, the smoother and bouncier the meatballs get.
- Don’t stir too early. Fresh meatballs are soft. Leave them alone in the boiling water until they firm up, then stir.
- Use boiling water, not cold. Hot water sets the outside of the meatballs fast so they keep their shape.
- Frozen edamame works. Use shelled edamame, fresh or frozen.
Questions people ask
What can I use instead of sweet potato starch?
Our video uses sweet potato starch. Cornstarch or potato starch do the same job of binding the meat and keeping it tender, but that is your own swap, not what the video shows.
What is chicken essence?
It’s a Chinese seasoning, a granulated chicken bouillon powder with a strong savory flavour. Chicken bouillon powder from any supermarket is the closest swap.
Can I skip the lard?
The video fries the edamame in a spoonful of lard, which adds flavour to the broth. Any neutral cooking oil works if you don’t have lard.
You might also like
- Meatball soup recipes, more ways to put meatballs in a pot.
- Chicken and mushroom stir fry with whole garlic, another quick dinner from our channel.
- 15 easy fall soup recipes to warm you up, if you’re in a soup mood.
