Spicy Pork & Mustard Green Soup
In this monthly series, I commit to cooking whatever is on the cover of Bon Appetit, Saveur or maybe some other food magazine. Thereโs a reason these particular dishes are on the cover โ theyโre usually the best recipes in the magazine.
Well, it’s time to Cook The Cover again. As expected, the January issues of all of the food mags focused on healthy eating, and Bon Appetit had the most appetizing (pun intended) recipe on the cover.
I’m a sucker for a good Asian soup, especially if it includes noodles.ย Especially if it claims to be spicy.
This particular soup includes lovely mustard greens, a vegetable I hadn’t used in many years. They truly do have a mustard-like flavor, so it breaks up the typical spinach-or-kale-all-the-time dinner routine.
The sharp, tangy mustard flavor is a great pairing for pork, like the ground pork in this soup (I also use ground pork to make my General Tso’s meatballs).
My very favorite thing about this soup was the depth of flavor of the broth. It was akin to really good wonton soup broth at a Chinese takeout. And I say that in the nicest possible way, because I love wonton soup!
I adapted the broth a little bit fromย Bon Appetit’s version, as I couldn’t find Sichuan peppercorns in my area. However, the broth still has a ton of rich flavor from garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, cumin, soy sauce and fish sauce.
I would have never thought to add cumin to an Asian soup, but it really worked. You couldn’t really detect a cumin flavor in the end result, but all of the ingredients worked in perfect harmony to make the broth one of the most delicious substances ever.
And while I love a long simmered crockpot soup, this one comes together pretty quickly right on the stovetop.
Do try out this recipe on a cold winter day and let me know what you think of it.
![Spicy Pork & Mustard Green Soup from Bon Appetit January 2014 | foxeslovelemons.com](jpg/spicy-pork-mustard-green-soup2-320x320.jpg)
Spicy Pork & Mustard Green Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 pound ground pork
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 cups less-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 bunch mustard greens (stems removed), torn into large pieces
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 8 ounces wide rice noodles
Instructions
- In large saucepot, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, pork, ginger, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook 6 to 8 minutes or until pork is browned and cooked through, breaking up pork with side of spoon and stirring occasionally.
- Add broth and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 8 minutes.
- Add mustard greens, onions, soy sauce and fish sauce. Simmer 5 minutes or until greens are tender; stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain.
- Divide noodles between 4 bowls and ladle soup over.
Wow…very tasty! I’m a sucker for anything with greens like mustard, collards etc and noodles are always a plus. I threw in some Korean red pepper flakes which are very flavorfull IMO and not overly ‘hot’, plus it gives soups a nice color if bland looking. I’ll definitely keep recipe and make again. Thanks for a tasty soup…Bill in the PNW
Korean red pepper flakes sound perfect for this. So glad you liked this recipe, Bill!
Wow! Just finished cooking and tasting this fabulous soup! Warm, soothing, flavorful…and super delicious. OK, in full transparency, I did more than just taste. I just consumed 3 bowlfuls of this incredible soup. Albeit small bowls, I had 3 servings in one sitting. Wasn’t even hungry. Very good soup. Now at the top of my list to make regularly. Thank you!
So glad you liked this, Kim. All 3 bowlfuls ๐
Since my last comment over 2 years ago, I have to tell you I keep coming back to this recipe time and again. A little bit different every time but always simple and delicious! Tonight I made it with fresh ground bison, dandelion greens (they seem to be my go-to for this soup) and sauteed fresh garlic scapes and chive flowers before adding the broth. I think this is the best one yet!
Oh my gosh, I’m so flattered to hear this, Alisha! That’s my favorite thing about soups like this – you can just adapt them to whatever you happen to have on hand or want to use. I have a chive plant in my yard doing crazy. You’ve inspired me to add some chive flowers to my next batch of soup!
Thanks so much, Kaitlin! I’ve definitely enjoyed cooking the cover for the last year or so!
This looks awesome–just the kind of thing I want to eat at the end of the day. And such a good idea to commit to the cover recipes!
Oh yum, all of those ingredients sound great for this, Alisha! The broth is my favorite part of this soup, for sure ๐
I made this last week with ground turkey, organic dandelion greens (don’t ask me why I paid $5 for dandelion greens!) and black kale. It was amazingly delicious and I plan on making it again tonight! I love how simple but flavorful the broth is. My noodles absorbed ALL of the liquid though so I’ll have to keep them separate. I just threw the noodles into the broth and served. Even will all of the broth absorbed it was super delicious though.
do you think i could make this with kale or spinach if i can’t find mustard greens? thanks!
xo julesinflats
Oh yes, definitely, Julia! I would recommend kale – it’ll hold up a little better than spinach ๐
thank you for your quick reply, lori!
Wow! This looks fabulous. I’m new to your blog (found you thru Susan Palmer) and love the idea behind Cook the Cover! After all the terrible weather here in the north east I’m ready for a spicy soup like this!
So glad you found me, Mallory. Cook The Cover is really fun – it definitely makes going to the mailbox fun at least once a month ๐ I am SO tired of the cold weather here in Michigan. Ready for spring!
Pretty much a perfect soup. I’m really into Asian noodle dishes with greens so this makes me a bit too excited (I’m really pumped). Can’t wait to try!
Oh gosh, me too, Pamela. I’ve been so into Asian soups with dark leafy greens lately. I just made another one with homemade wontons and kale – that recipe coming soon ๐
Having eaten this twice – when made and as a leftover – I can say it is a very tasty interpretation of ramen noodle soup. It was a good combo of pork flavor, spice, and greens. Yum.