It’s a funny name for a soup. Don’t you think? Let me tell you about it.
I worked in a restaurant in central New Jersey called “The McAteers”. Most of the kitchen maintenance staff – the dish and pot washers and porters, as well as the dinning room bus staff were from China. These men each spent several months at a time working here in the US. Then they would return to China and new workers would take their place for another several months-long period. This seemed to happen with little or no effort on the part of the restaurant’s owners. It was as if there was a network of workers who self managed to meet the house’s staffing needs.
As in most restaurants, dinners were supplied to all personnel but these men chose to forego those meals and instead, had negotiated for the right to cook for themselves using a set of ingredients that was supplied to them by the restaurant. The ingredients included a nightly case of Miller High Life because….well, because it was a restaurant kitchen! They were all great cooks and I was often invited to join then at the close of Sunday’s dinner service.
One of the dishes they made was one they called, “Pork Chop Soup”. They would simmer a pork chop in a pot of water for hours then add clams, rice, scallions, mushrooms, garlic and seasoning. It was rich and wonderful.
I loved it and I’ve been making Pork Chop Soup ever since. My wife was not a fan of the original version so I hacked it by replacing her less favorite ingredients (like clams) with things I know she enjoys (Tofu!). The hacked version is the one you see here.
Let me know what you think about Pork Chop Soup and if you make it, leave a reply below with a comment or a picture.
Asian Pork Chop Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Each Bone – In Pork Chop (4-6 Oz)
- 1 Each Bone-In Skin-On Chicken Thigh (4-6 Oz)
- 10 Cups Water
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 2 Oz Fresh Ginger
- 1 Oz Lemon Juice
- 2 Oz Soy Sauce
- ½ Stalk Celery
- 4 Oz Fresh Mushroom
- 3 Each Scallions
- 1 Cup Snow Peas
- 4 Oz Fresh Spinach
- 14 Oz Extra Firm Tofu
- 1 Cup Cooked White Rice
- 4 Oz Fresh Cilantro Optional
- To Taste Salt and Pepper
Instructions
Stock
- Place pork chop, chicken and water in tall pot. Bring to boil and simmer for about 1 hour or until meat is tender and easily removed from bones.
- Remove meat from pot. Remove skin and bones from chicken and chop then the remaining chicken meat and return it to the pot. Remove pork chop and remove meat from bone. Chop the meat and return to the pot.
- Peel and slice garlic and ginger add it along with lemon juice, soy sauce and salt and pepper to the stock.
- Return stock to boil. Stock is done. It can either be used immediately or allowed to cool and stored in the refrigerator or freezer for future use.
Soup
- Bring stock to boil in a tall pot.
- Slice celery, mushrooms and scallions.
- Cut tofu into ¾ inch cubes.
- Chop cilantro (if using).
- Add celery, scallions, snow peas, mushrooms, spinach, and tofu to stock and return to boil.
- Taste broth for salt, pepper, lemon juice and soy sauce and adjust as needed.
- Serve over cooked rice and top with cilantro (if using).