Glass Noodle Soup (Pork Ball)
This glass noodles soup (pork balls) was admittedly a very “porky dish” – it had pork balls, minced pork and home-made lard. Well, it’s a great treat if you love pork like I do! This was just a small tweak from last week’s fish dumpling glass noodle recipe – I had unimaginatively just swapped the fish dumplings with pork balls. But even though only one main ingredient was changed, it oddly felt totally like a different dish when I was eating it.
Related Recipes:
Dry Recipe Variations:
- Mushroom Bak Chor Mee (Minced Pork Noodles)
- Bak Chor Mee (Minced Pork Noodles) Soup
- Fish Ball Mee Pok Noodles
See Also:
If you follow my postings, you might notice that I’m trying to minimize my guilt of eating carbs by cooking with complex carbs whenever I can – so glass noodles (aka tang hoon/mung bean noodles) fits into the Asian & local food menu. Not that I am complaining, because glass noodles have always been one of my favourite noodles! You can use any noodles such as vermicelli (bee hoon), macaroni, or even angel hair pasta. You can also use local mee pok to make this (if I’m not watching my weight, I would totally use that).
STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS
Note: I re-used some of the step-by-step photos from this recipe because they are the same steps.
Pre-cooking Preparation:
Marinade minced pork (preferably with some fats on) with seasonings in a heat-proof bowl for about 15 minutes.
I used 5 pork balls for my solo lunch. I personally love the “Lion Dance” supermarket brand of pork balls.
Soak the glass noodles in a bowl of water for a few minutes until softened.
COOKING:
Bring a pot of water with half a boullion soup cube (fish or ikan bilis) to boil. Season soup with a bit of light soy sauce, to taste. Alternatively, you can use home-made ikan bilis stock.
Transfer one ladle of boiling soup to the bowl of marinated pork. This extra step of “tempering” the uncooked pork with the hot broth shortly before cooking, makes it much more tender and prevents overcooking! I learned this trick from watching the hawker in action while standing in the queue, and this small additional step made a huge difference in the texture of the cooked pork!
Meanwhile, add pork balls and boil until cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
Cut the pork to smaller pieces using a wooden spoon. Then add the bowl of minced pork in hot stock into the pot (pictured above). Boil briefly – the pork will be cooked in almost no time at all.
This is the cooked pork balls and minced pork.
Finally add the drained softened glass noodles to the pot to cook for a few seconds.
Dish out to a serving bowl and garnish with lard pieces + lard oil (optional), lettuce, chilli and spring onions. Serve immediately, otherwise the glass noodles will soak up all the soup. It’s delicious!
Glass Noodle Soup (Pork Ball) Recipe
This is a simple one-dish meal which can be whipped up in 15 minutes. See ingredient substitution ideas with recipe links at the cooking note section after the recipe.
Check out the ingredient and step-by-step photos on the previous page.
Ingredients:
- 50g minced pork (or chicken) for best results, use mince with a bit of fat on
- half bouillon soup cube (pork, fish or ikan bilis)
- 500 ml water
- light soy sauce to taste
- 5 pork balls
- 1 bundle (about 50g) tang hoon (glass noodles) soaked in a glass of water
- a saucer of cut chilli padi in soy sauce
(A) Marinade for Pork
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp corn starch (flour)
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 dashes white pepper powder
(B) Garnishes
- Coral lettuce (生菜)
- crispy lard pieces with lard oil
- chopped spring onions
Directions:
- Marinade minced pork with seasonings (A) in a heat-proof bowl for about 15 minutes.
- Make quick soup base. In a soup pot, add the bouillion cube and water. Bring to a boil. Season to taste with a bit of light soy sauce.
- Prep the marinated pork. While the soup is boiling, transfer one ladle of boiling hot soup to the bowl of marinated pork.
- Add the pork balls to the pot of boiling soup and boil until cooked, about 2-3 minutes.
- Pour the bowl of marinated pork with hot stock into the pot, cutting the mince to smaller pieces with a wooden spoon as you do so. Cook briefly until the mince is cooked through.
- Add drained glass noodles to cook for a few seconds.
- To serve, dish out to serving bowl, and garnish with lettuce, spring onions, crispy lard and lard oil. Serve immediately with a side saucer of cut chilli.
Cooking Note(s):
- In place of the soup bouillon cube, you can also use home-made ikan bilis (anchovies) stock.
- You can substitute the crispy lard and lard oil with garlic oil or shallot oil.
- Recipe variation links: fish dumpling glass noodle soup, fish ball glass noodles soup, mushroom minced pork noodles (dry), minced pork noodles soup and fish ball mee pok noodles (dry).