Curry Elvis Cooks - Fusion Cuisine Recipes and Food Philosophy

Here's yet another easy-to-make soup that mixes elements from a couple of cuisines: Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. It requires a bit of prep work, but is otherwise effortless. If you want to substitute either vegetarian meatballs or the Vietnamese style bo (beef balls), feel free. I've tried them both and they work quite well. But that said, there's nothing like the taste of homemade meatballs, especially in soup broth.



Ingredients

• 1/2 lb ground pork, fresh or thawed.
• Parsley, chopped fine (or dried).
• Chives, chopped fine (or dried).
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs.
• Salt + pepper to taste, for meatballs .
• 1/2 tsp of ground cumin.
• Sprinkle of crushed red pepper flake [optional].
• 6-8 cups of water for poaching meatballs, and then making noodles.
• 1 tsp salt, for cooking meatballs.
• 1 tbsp cooking oil (canola or vegetable) for cooking meatballs.
• Extra water for cooking rotini pasta.
• 1 tbsp cooking oil for cooking rotini.
• 1 tsp salt, for cooking rotini.
• 1 cup of dry rotini noodles.
• 1 can or 1/2 cup of chicken stock.
• 3 cups of water for soup
• A drizzle of sesame oil.
• 1/2 can of shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly.
• 2-3 stalks green onion, chopped finely.

Preparation

• Mix pork, parsely, chives, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper, ground cumin, and red pepper flake. Form meatballs to a preferred to size (1/2 - 1 inch in diameter). Because you are eating these in soup, you'll want to make these mini-meatballs so that no one chokes on them.
• Place 6-8 cups of water in a large cookpot and set to boil.
• When water is boiling, add 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Add meatballs and poach for 6-8 minutes.
• Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon but reserve the water.
• Keeping the pot on high heat, add enough extra water for boiling the rotini pasta, as per the package instructions.
• When water is once again boiling, add 1 tbsp of cooking oil, 1 tsp of salt, and the rotini noodles. Cook for at least 6 minutes. Make sure that pasta is not quite al dente, as it will be fully cooked in the soup base in the next step.
• Open up the can of chicken stock and strain off any fat.
• Strain the pasta of its boiling water, reserving a 1/2 cup at most.
• Into the newly-empty stock pot, pour in the chicken stock, 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid, another 3 cups of water, sesame oil, the pasta, meatballs, and shiitakes. Set heat at medium high, and let simmer for 6-10 minutes, or until pasta is al dente.
• Turn off stove and remove from heat.

Presentation
Serve in bowls and garnish with green onions and grated parmigiano reggiano if desired.

(c) Copyright 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://curryelviscooks.blogspot.com

Technorati : fusion cuisine, italian food, oriental food, rotini, soup