Stuffed Cucumber Soup
Submitted by grower6
Vietnamese-style soup with cucumber cups stuffed with seasoned ground pork, ginger, garlic, and fish sauce, simmered in chicken broth with carrot matchsticks and quail eggs.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
35 minREADY
1 hrsThis Southeast Asian soup takes the humble cucumber and turns it into something truly special.
Thick cucumber rounds get hollowed out and packed with a fragrant pork filling seasoned with garlic, fresh ginger, cilantro, and fish sauce. Everything simmers together in a light chicken broth until the cucumbers turn translucent and the pork is cooked through.
Carrot matchsticks and tiny quail eggs bobbing in the broth make this as beautiful as it is comforting.
Chef Tips
- Pick long, narrow cucumbers for this recipe. Fat ones have too many seeds and the walls won’t hold the stuffing.
- Microwave a small test ball of the pork mixture before stuffing. Tasting for seasoning now saves disappointment later.
- Pin each stuffed cucumber with a toothpick through the side. It keeps the meat in place while it simmers.
- Serve immediately. The cucumbers continue softening as they sit, and you want them tender, not mushy.
Ingredients
Directions
Select cucumbers which are 7 to 8 inches long, but as small around as you can get.
Peel the cucumbers and then slice each across into four equal pieces.
Using a small spoon scoop out the seeds being careful to leave a inchbottom inch in each piece.
Preparing the meat stuffing: Combine the ground pork, garlic, ginger, Cilantro, 4 of the green onions, and fish sauce.
Make a small ball of the mixture and microwave for about a minute to cook thoroughly.
Taste for seasoning, and correct if needed.
Using your fingers stuff the meat mixture into the cucumbers (stick a toothpick through the side of the cucumber and into the meat to hold it in place while it cooks), and place in the hot stock.
Cook about 15 minutes and add the 4 remaining green onions cut in 2 inch lengths, the two carrots cut into matchsticks and the canned quail eggs.
Cook another 5 minutes and serve immediately.
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