Clear Glass-Noodle Soup (Gaeng Jued Woon Sen)

A gentle, peppery broth with pork meatballs, glass noodles, tofu and Chinese leaf, seasoned with garlic and coriander root.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 25 min
Cook: 20 min
Total: 45 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
4 people
Difficulty
Very Easy

Ingredients

  • 50g glass noodles
  • 250g minced pork
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 3 coriander roots, or the lower stems
  • 1 tsp white peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1.2 litres chicken stock
  • 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and sliced
  • 200g Chinese leaf, cut into 3cm pieces
  • 150g firm tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • 2 tbsp fried garlic (optional)
  • small handful fresh coriander leaves

Method

  1. Soak the glass noodles in warm water for 5 minutes until pliable, then drain and snip into 10cm lengths.

  2. Pound the garlic, coriander roots and peppercorns to a smooth paste. Mix half the paste with the pork and the soy sauce, and roll into 16 small meatballs.

  3. Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan. Stir in the remaining paste and the sliced shiitake mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes.

  4. Drop in the meatballs and simmer gently for 5 minutes, until they float and are cooked through.

  5. Add the tofu, Chinese leaf and noodles and cook for 3 minutes until the leaves are tender.

  6. Season with the fish sauce, taste and adjust. Ladle into bowls and top with the spring onions, coriander and fried garlic if using.