As a child of the 80s, it's also worth noting, that my dear friend got me my very own Cabbage Patch doll for my birthday. And for one glorious week in the summer, our two families rented a full sized motor home and vacationed together all over Minnesota and Wisconsin, hitting up all the mini golf courses, RV parks, water theme parks, and camp sites. These are those lingering sweet memories of my youth. Anyway, we moved many times, time passed, and we did -- as kids did in those days -- stay in touch via regular letter writing. Thanks to modern times, internet, and social media, we are now still able to exchange photos and updates with far more frequency than we did the last few years. And since I'm a newbie mom with little to no time to blog about recipes, I asked her to share a guest post with me that she had written about on Facebook.
She had me at "Phở" ... This Vietnamese savory soup is easily one of my favorites! (Note: I may add more photos when I get a chance to make this myself. )
So here it is:
Meredith's Meatball Phở
1 lb. Ground pork
1 cup water chestnuts, small dice; divided.
1/2 cup soy sauce; divided
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 tsp. Fresh ginger puree; divided
1 tsp. Fresh garlic puree; divided
1Tbsp. Dark sesame oil
2 quarts chicken stock
1 package rice noodles (fresh preferred)
1 cup asparagus chopped into 1" pieces
1 cup oyster mushrooms, cleaned and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 head bok choy, sliced
1 cup snow peas, halved
Garnish:
1 bunch green onions, chopped; divided
1 bunch pea shoots (or bean sprouts)
Fresh cilantro, chopped
Sriracha
Fresh lime (optional)
For meatballs:
Place
ground pork, half of the pureed ginger, garlic, water chestnuts and soy
sauce in a bowl. Mix well with your hands, and roll into approximately
one and a half inch meatballs. (Should make about 24). Place on baking
sheet and bake in 350° oven for 20-25 minutes.
For soup:
In
a large pot on medium low heat, combine stock, remaining ginger,
garlic and soy sauce. Add fish sauce and bring to a simmer. Add in snow
peas and asparagus and simmer for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, bok choy,
some green onions and noodles. Cook until noodles are soft.
When ready to serve, add meatballs and garnish as you like.
This is ALWAYS a hit in our house no matter what fresh ingredients I use!