Napa Cabbage Soup with Pork

Ever wonder what you do with napa cabbage aside from using it to line a bamboo steamer or in stir-fries?It makes for a wonderful soup with or without rice!Very light in taste and calories.For those times where you are counting calories – this is the perfect meal.

Unlike regular cabbage, napa cabbage does not emit a smell.  So even if you are not a fan of cabbage, I think you will like this.

In this recipe I’ve used pork but feel free to substitute with chicken (see previous posting).

Napa Cabbage Soup

(Serves 6)

• 6 cups of water
• 1 lb of sliced pork (or 3-4 pork ribs)
• 1 head of napa cabbage, sliced into 1-inch thick rings
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tbsp salt
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• black pepper to taste
• 1 sprig of chopped green onion for garnish

1.      Add salt to water in a medium size pan, bring to boil

2.     Place sliced pork, chopped onion into boiling water, heat over medium heat for 10 minutes.Ifusing pork ribs, it will need to be on a slow simmer for 45minutes to 1 hr so that the meat is tender and falls off the bone when gently probed.

3.      Once pork stock comes to a boil, skim off the top

4.      Add to pork stock, sliced napa cabbage, fish sauce and black pepper

5.      Gently stir the soup and bring to boil

6.      Soup is done when napa cabbage leaf turns bright green and starts to turn slightly translucent in the center

7.      Garnish soup with chopped green onions.

Napa Cabbage Soup, originally uploaded by simpleviet.