Pork Meatball Soup in Rich Beef Broth Recipe

Step-by-step recipe

1. When we make this soup at home, I always remember a funny joke, or rather a piece of advice: first, peel the dumplings… Joking aside, meatballs for soup differ from dumplings only by the “peel”. The filling, the spices and even the size are practically identical.
   
2. First you need to cook a very “rich” meat broth. Usually broth is made only from meat or bones, without spices or vegetables. But I like it more when the broth is cooked with whole or coarsely cut vegetables. So prepare some root vegetables, an onion and a potato for the broth. It will turn out special and very tasty.
3. Beef bones make a good broth, and they are inexpensive. But it is much tastier to use lean beef brisket with cartilage. In Georgia, boiled brisket with a garlic dressing is sold as a meat appetizer to go with wine during long feasts, and it is called khashlama.
   
4. Peel the carrot, potato, a piece of celery root and the onion. Leave the vegetables whole or, if they are large, cut them in half. You can cut a cross in the onion. Put the vegetables in a pot, add the brisket or bones and pour in 1.5 l of cold water. Set the pot on the heat and bring the water to a boil. Be sure to skim off the foam.
5. Reduce the heat to the minimum at which it still simmers and cover the pot with a lid. Cook the broth on the lowest heat for two hours. After 1 hour, take out and discard the overcooked onion and celery root. Put the cooked carrot and potato in a separate bowl and set aside for now, since you will need them, and keep cooking the meat.
   
6. Strain the finished broth and discard the bones. If the broth was made with brisket, you can eat it, since it is no longer needed. I recommend salting the brisket, sprinkling it with finely chopped herbs and chopped garlic, and letting it cool. It makes an excellent appetizer.
7. Trim the films and bones from the lean pork. Grind the meat into mince with a meat grinder. Add a finely chopped clove of garlic and 2-3 tbsp finely chopped herbs: cilantro, parsley and dill leaves. Season the mince with salt and pepper to taste, add a little ground coriander and, if you like, a pinch of ground chili.
   
8. Recipes often suggest adding white bread soaked in milk and an egg white. Honestly, there is no need, because the meatballs keep their shape when poached and do not fall apart. If you are not sure, add 1-2 tbsp milk or cream to the mince, stir, and add a little grated stale bread or the dry crumbs used for breading.
   
9. Shape the prepared mince into meatballs. “Balls” is a loose term: you can simply pinch off pieces of mince like meat dumplings or galushki, as you prefer. Either way, the meatballs should not be large. Each should be about the size of a large cherry plum.
   
11. Bring the broth to a boil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour a little wheat flour onto a plate and roll the meatballs in it one by one. Place the floured meatballs on a plate.
    
12. Next, poach the meatballs. Lower the balls into the boiling broth one at a time. Make sure the broth keeps boiling and the meatballs do not stick together but cook separately. Cook for 10-12 minutes.
    
13. Take the meatballs out of the broth and put them into soup bowls. Add the carrot and potato that cooked in the broth, cut into large pieces, to each bowl.
    
14. Add a little very fine vermicelli to the broth. Fellini pasta is perfect. I think it is the best pasta for any chicken soup. Despite the fairly high price, it is the most popular, and you need only a little for a soup, so it lasts a long time. Fine vermicelli cooks in a few minutes, usually three. So, going by the time on the package, cook it until done and take the pot off the heat right away.
    
15. Then ladle the broth over the vegetables and meatballs in the bowls and serve immediately. Be sure to sprinkle with finely chopped herbs and, I recommend, a pinch of coarsely ground dried hot pepper.
    
16. If you like, you can always leave the boiled brisket in the soup, or skip the boiled vegetables. What matters most in this soup is the meatballs and the rich broth. Because the meatballs are rolled in flour before poaching, the broth will be slightly thickened. By the way, I have tried a soup deliberately thickened with flour, and it was not bad.
    
17. As an extra vegetable, you can add a sweet pepper to the broth, boiling it whole and taking care not to damage it. Before serving, remove the seeds and the skin, which peels off easily, and cut it into slices. Instead of vermicelli you can use rice of a variety that doesn't overcook easily.