Meatball Broth with Chinese Cabbage

📝 Ingredients

• 500 g pork mince
• 20 g fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 spring onions
• 3 tbsp soy sauce (2 for the meatball mixture, 1 for the broth)
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• ½ Chinese cabbage (about 400 g)
• 2 carrots (about 120 g each)
• 2 chicken stock cubes + 1.5 L hot water
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 240 g jasmine rice
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large pot
• Saucepan with lid
• Mixing bowl
• Peeler
• Fine grater
• Slotted spoon

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the jasmine rice in the saucepan, changing the water 2 or 3 times, until it is almost clear. Drain, add 360 ml cold water and a pinch of salt, bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 12 minutes over a low heat. Leave to rest, covered, off the heat.
2. Peel and finely grate the ginger and garlic. Slice the spring onions, separating the white parts, chopped very finely, from the green parts, cut into thin rings for serving.
3. In the mixing bowl, combine the minced pork with the ginger, garlic, spring onion whites, 2 tbsp soy sauce, the cornflour, 2 tbsp cold water and some pepper. Knead by hand for 2 minutes until the mixture becomes sticky: the meatballs will hold together better.
4. With damp palms, shape about 24 walnut-sized meatballs and place them on a plate. Peel the carrots and shave them into long ribbons with the peeler. Cut the Chinese cabbage into 2 cm strips, separating the white stalks from the leaves.
5. In the casserole pot, bring 1.5 L water to the boil with the crumbled stock cubes and the remaining spoonful of soy sauce. Turn down to medium heat for a gentle simmer: broth that boils too hard makes the meatballs burst and turns cloudy.
6. Drop the meatballs one by one into the simmering broth along with the Chinese cabbage stalks. Cook for 8 minutes without stirring at first, skimming off the grey foam that forms on the surface with a slotted spoon, until the meatballs rise to the top and are cooked through.
7. Add the carrot ribbons and Chinese cabbage leaves, then cook for 3 more minutes, just long enough for them to soften while keeping their colour. Taste the broth, add salt if needed and stir in the sesame oil off the heat.
8. Divide the rice between 4 large bowls, add the meatballs and vegetables, then pour the piping hot broth over the top. Sprinkle with the spring onion greens and serve immediately.