I love, love a noodle kinda diet. Making a giant pot of twirly, slurpy noodles in some kind of rich creamy broth that is spicy, yet a little sweet. Umami, yet with strong citrusy notes. It almost becomes therapeutic. You forget all the worries in the world as you anticipate that bowl, as you start building up the different components of that perfect soup. A good bowl of soup has no beginning or middle or end. When you slurp into it, everything comes together. This Korean inspired soup happens pretty fast for all those rewarding comforts. It’s full of Asian flavors. Ground pork prepped with plenty of aromatics. That unmistakable heat coming from their gochujang chili paste, though tamed down by a creamy coconut milk based broth. That’s not all. This bowl has room for slightly wilted bok choy and those addictive Korean marinated eggs, aka mayak eggs. This is pretty dang incredible!
Here is what you need
Ground pork – Though I can see ground beef or chicken making equally cracking yum soup. Aromatics – Ginger, garlic, scallions and cilantro. Sauces and pastes – Soy sauce and gochujang chili paste. Honey Onion – Chopped. Chicken broth Coconut milk Lime juice – Plenty, it really makes a difference. Bok choy Eggs – Soft boiled. Noodles – We used ramen noodles. There are a lot of options here. You can use dried or frozen ramen noodles, or you can even use noodles from those instant noodle packs for convenience (just discard the seasoning packet). We can also see udon noodles working great with this one.
First, let me talk about the hotness factor here. What is Gochujang?
Korean cuisine is known for it’s hot and spicy food. And the main culprit is their fermented red chili paste or sauce, called Gochujang. It also comes in powder form. It has a smoky-sweet spicy flavor. Some brands are spicier than others. I love the paste rather than sauce, as it has bolder and stronger flavors. Gochujang is an integral part in Korean cuisine and goes in recipes as well as marinades. It’s a “must” in your pantry if you fancy some Korean. The closest alternative I can think of is any other similar chili paste, like sambal oelek. You see tons of them in any Asian grocery store. You can use regular sriracha or red chili flakes, though they might not result in the same cracking taste. These authentic pastes are comparatively hotter than sriracha, but if you don’t like much heat you can always go easy on them.
Saying that, let’s see how to build this soup…
Step 1. Soft boil your eggs. Bring water to boil, adding salt and vinegar, and gently nestle in the eggs and let them simmer. Once boiled immediately put them in ice water.
Boil 6-7 minutes for runny, jammy eggs 8 minutes for soft boiled 9-10 minutes for hard boiled.
Having those gooyee jammy eggs is such a MUST in any noodle or ramen bowl. We strongly recommend making Korean marinated eggs, which are called Mayak eggs, for this soup as they have more oomph and flavor. You can make them the previous night in less than 15 minutes. Check out my recipe for your very own Mayak eggs. Step 2. Now you will move on to the next step of cooking your ground pork topping. Mix chopped ginger and garlic, along with gochujang chili paste, honey, soy sauce, sesame oil and a tad bit of water in a bowl. Heat oil in a pan and start cooking the ground pork, breaking it up with a spoon. Mix in the above sauce and cook till pork is cooked. Set it aside. Step 3. Moving on to the broth or soup… IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BROTH…In the same pan, heat more oil and sauté chopped onion for a few minutes, till it becomes soft and translucent. Mix in gochujang and honey and stir well. Season with a little salt. Stir in chicken broth and bring it to boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce heat to low and stir in coconut milk. Add in fresh lime juice, plenty of it… 🙂 Simmer on medium low heat for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. Some days I add some extra gochujang at this point. Yes, the coconut milk cuts down the heat considerably, making it a rich and creamy, hot yet sweet, umami flavor bomb with strong citrusy notes. Step 4. While broth is simmering, boil water in a separate pot and add in bok choy for 2-3 minutes, till it wilts a little. Remove the bok choy and in the same water cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Strain them in a colander once done. In the case of instant ramen, you don’t need the seasoning packet there, cook the noodles without it. Step 5. Now to the best part…ASSEMBLING THAT BEAUTIFUL YUM BOWL! Ladle the broth into a bowl. Add in plenty of noodles, heap on your pork topping, bok choy, and halved eggs. Garnish it with scallions and cilantro. It looks like a long post, but everything happens really fast.
Leftovers
Ahh… leftovers. So, so good the next day when that broth has time to rest. This can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 2-3 days if you make a giant batch. Just reheat the broth and assemble your next bowl.There you go. That right there, friends, is delicious pork in oodles of noodles! Slurp!! This will warm you right up and fill you right up. This bowl is going to be a favorite, it’s going to be sticking around in your life for a long, long time.Can a big bowl of some delicious soup cure all your problems? Well, it’ll cure hunger. Don’t you agree that’s a good start? 🙂 On that happy note, take a big pull of these noodles, and slurp away at your bowl. Be sure to check our other cracking Asian Recipes on GypsyPlate, and come back again for all the new flavors coming to you. Pin or bookmark this Korean yum and make this happen on some cold or rainy day. You are in for a treat. Subscribe to GypsyPlate. Share and spread the love. Take care…
Korean Style Ground Pork Soup, on my Gypsy Plate… enjoy!
Try these other quick and tasty Asian recipes!Thai Basil ChickenHunan ShrimpChicken CalderetaMongolian BeefPork MenudoTeriyaki Chicken BowlChicken Lettuce WrapsKorean Ground Beef BowlKung Pao Chicken
