Spicy Pork and Mustard Greens Soup

I am in a full blown reading kick of reading memoirs of chefs right now.  I just finished Fresh off the Boat by Eddie Huang and it was such a good book.  Learning about his Taiwanese culture, the family he grew up in, the many brushes with the law he had, and to now see him so successful.  It is truly inspiring to see how people make their own unique way through this world and how they survive it.  Speaking of surviving it has been a hard day waking up to yet another terrorist attack in Brussels.  This world just doesn't make a lot of sense and it is so hard to see and experience such devastation.  This is why I hold my friends and family so close to my heart and cook for them as often as I can, because that is something that makes sense to me in this world.  We had a wonderful time in Eugene visiting with my fiance's family and I will say I had some very delicious Shepard's Pie.  This upcoming weekend is Easter and usually my parents host an Easter dinner but this year they are busy so I am going to create my own Easter meal for my fiance and I.  I am currently researching recipes and figuring out if I want to do the traditional ham or not.  Any of you have favorite Easter recipes?  Perhaps a treasured family recipe?  Well I recently adapted this wonderful recipe and felt very soothed and healed by it.  Enjoy!

Serves 4

The Ingredients
½ pound ground pork
3 cloves garlic, pressed
3 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
2 tablespoons chili garlic paste
½ teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1 bunch mustard greens, torn (about 4 cups)
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons tamari
1 teaspoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
8 oz. wide rice noodles


The Process
1.  Mix pork, garlic, ginger, garlic chili paste, and cumin in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add pork mixture; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring and breaking up with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, 8–10 minutes.

2.  Add broth and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors meld, 8–10 minutes. Add mustard greens, scallions, tamari, and fish sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until greens are tender, 5–8 minutes; season with salt and black pepper.

3.  Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain.  Divide noodles among bowls and ladle soup over and serve.