Chinese Pork and Mustard Green Soup

In a lot of authentic Chinese restaurants, you might come across a pork and mustard greens soup. I tried it recently, figuring it would be exotic. It wasn't. Bland, floating in artificial chicken broth, the greens just looked up at me plaintively and forgotten, as if saying "is this how it all ends?"

To which I say "no." This is the day your life truly begins, mustard greens. Because I have scoured the far-off land of the internet in search of a better recipe that will avenge your death. A recipe with more than four ingredients, that might elevate our lowly mustard greens to something more satisfying, more vibrant, and certainly more memorable. I found it in Bon Appetit's coverage of this dish and, being the first recipe I had seen with more than a small handful of the most obvious ingredients, gave it a try.

What was produced was arguably one of the finest soups I have ever made. Light, simple, yet remarkably flavorful, this soup delivered an exotic aroma and a complexity that was almost surprising, given the speed with which it was produced and the simple ingredient list. I highly recommend seeking out a few key ingredients - true Sichuan peppercorns, half decent chicken broth, and fresh baby mustard greens, which can be found at farmer's markets around this time of year, and which deliver the appropriate amount of bitter tang and crunch that you won't get from spinach, kale, or any of the other soup-friendly greens. Go with a low-sodium chicken stock like Kitchen Basics, or make your own, which will be even better (and also even lower in sodium).

Update 5/25: Now having made this dish a few dozen times, I revised this process to get maximum heat into the pork to aid in browning without burning the spices and aromatics. Also, this is equally good with turnip greens, which you may end up with if you grow turnips or get a bunch from the farmer’s market and have the tops left over. We blanch our greens in 4 cup batches and throw that whole pack right into this soup, which is really helpful for making the most of spring and fall harvest.

Left to right - homemade Chinese chicken stock with ginger and scallions, browning the pork just after spices were added, and prepared noodles tossed in oil (in this case wheat-based)

Chinese Spicy Pork and Mustard Green Soup
Modified from Bon Appetit, Jan. 2014

Updated May 2025

• ½ pound ground pork
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
• ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground white (or black if you don’t have it) pepper
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bunch mustard greens, torn (about 4 cups)
• 4 scallions, white parts in 1” lengths, green parts thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce
• 8 oz. wide rice noodles
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar or black vinegar, for serving

Depending on preference, toast and grind the dried spices - Sichuan peppercorns, chile flakes, and cumin.

Mix ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, chile flakes, and cumin in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add pork and green onion white parts and cook, stirring and breaking up with a spoon, until starting to brown, 4-5 minutes. Reduce temperature to medium if the pork is frying well, otherwise leave on medium-high to keep moisture out of the pan. Add ginger/spice mix and cook for another 1-2 minutes to incorporate. Just before adding broth, reduce heat to medium and add minced garlic, stir, and cook for no more than one minute, avoiding burning it.

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

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain. If desired, rinse noodles until cool, drain, then toss in either a neutral oil or a garlic- or shallot-infused oil. Divide noodles among bowls and ladle soup over. Garnish with green part of green onions. Serve with a small bowl of vinegar tableside, possibly with Japanese togarashi seasoning as well if you want more kick.

Oven-Roasted Mojito Chicken

This is an easy chicken dish that's full of vibrant but mild flavors.  I found it in the Dinosaur BBQ cookbook, and even though I had never seen had it at their restaurant in many dozens of visits there, I could tell that it had potential.  Some combination of the garlic, the slowly sauteed onions bathed in drippings, and the citrus-tenderized chicken made this dish hard to beat, and able to stand on its own as a centerpiece or complement a latin feast, as I did last night.

The name of the dish refers to the sauce that is used as a marinade for the dish.  There are a couple of kinds of mojo sauce, much like the words "curry" or "salsa" can be confusing, but we're focused on the Cuban variant here.  Searching for some backstory has led me to others that will be featured in future recipes.  Traditionally served over pork and/or yuca when referring to the Cuban mojo sauce, this is most commonly defined by a mixture of bitter orange juice, garlic, olive oil, and oregano.  Omit the oregano and you get mojito marinade, not to be confused with the minty rum drink.  This recipe does contain oregano, it's not enough to dominate the flavor, so I won't change the title to indicate the parent sauce.  Also, since I have never seen bitter oranges for sale, I stick to a ratio of 8 parts regular OJ to 1 part lime juice, and freshly squeezed for both whenever possible.

Moroccan Lamb and Chickpea Stew

I've been on a chickpea (garbanzo) kick recently, since they're high in protein and flavor, and low in fat and cost.  But I can't quite kick the habit of including a delicious meat with the chickpeas yet, so those tasty legumes are still more of an additive than a replacement.  But whether you're on the garbanzo wagon or not, this stew was incredibly hearty and delicious despite being a fairly low-fat dish, and it came together easily.

Invest in a good dutch oven to make this, and definitely start with dried chickpeas, not canned.  There's a huge difference in flavor.  And read the directions thoroughly before you start - you need to soak the chickpeas overnight and then boil them for an hour, and since the rest of the dish comes together very quickly, that needs to be done pretty much first thing.

Moroccan-Style Lamb and Chickpeas
Cooking Light, December 2011

Yield: Serves 4 (serving size: 1 1/4 cups)

• 1 pound lean ground lamb
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups vertically sliced onion
• 1/2 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut carrot
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight OR 1 (15 1/2-ounce can) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• plain yogurt, to garnish

The day before, soak your chickpeas in a bowl of water and cover.  Approximately 1/2 cup of dried chickpeas will swell up to the same amount you'd find in a 15-oz can.  Before cooking, drain and rinse the chickpeas, and place in a pot of boiling, lightly salted water for an hour.  Drain, rinse, and have at the ready while you're getting the rest of this together.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add lamb to pan and cook for 6 minutes, stirring to crumble.  Remove the lamb from pan with a slotted spoon, and discard the drippings. Add the olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat.  Add onion and carrot to pan and sauté 4 minutes.  Add cumin, cinnamon, coriander, and pepper; sauté 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Add reserved lamb, broth, and next 5 ingredients (through chickpeas); bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes or until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat.

Saute the meat, then add the vegetables, then aromatics for 30 seconds, then everything else.  Pretty easy.

You don't cook this for very long - it's not a full braise, since the meat starts off ground and doesn't benefit from long cooking times.  Start to finish is less than 20 minutes after the chickpeas are ready.

Just before serving, stir in cilantro and lemon juice.  Garnish with a spoon of plain yogurt, and serve over long-grain rice.  In the picture we used a saffron-infused rice, which was delicious here, but you could probably manage basmati or just plain ol' white rice.

Seared Salmon with Jalapeño Ponzu

In an unprecedented bout of productivity, I'm going to post a recipe for something I just cooked tonight, because it was so good and easy that I have to tell the world as soon as possible.  The dish was pretty straightforward - seared salmon in a jalapeno ponzu sauce - but since it was made from scratch and came together in about 15 minutes total, I was totally floored with the quality-to-effort ratio.  I've had ponzu sauce before, but not fresh from home, and I couldn't identify it while out at Japanese restaurants.  Well, now I know.  A sweeter, almost drinkable adaptation of soy sauce, made with citrus juice and one other sweetener.  If you've ever had oyster shooters from a sushi place, this is the sauce they come in.  And with only four ingredients, this is about to become a staple in my fridge, since you could basically lick it off the floor and it would still be good.  Whatever you do, don't skimp out on those four ingredients and buy the pre-made stuff, because you will be disappointed, and I don't want you coming back and blaming me.

This is the second version of the dish, without the jalapeno slices but probably even better than the first

Seared Salmon with Jalapeño Ponzu
Cooking Light, May 2010

• 1/4 cup less-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
• 1 large jalapeño pepper, cut crosswise into thin slices

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; mix well.  This is the ponzu sauce, and it's the best part of the whole dish.  Use fresh squeezed juices if you can.

The full ingredient list - no mysteries here, you might even just have these lying around.  Except the fish, I hope.

  

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add salmon, skin side down; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Sear the salmon skin side down first to cook most of the way through.  The skin can take more abuse than the flesh, and will help bring the pan back down to a moderate temperature for when you flip.

Sear for 4 minutes, then flip and cook another 4 minutes.  Don't worry if you cook the skin a bit too long, it can handle it.

Arrange 1 fillet on each of 4 plates. Top fillets evenly with jalapeño slices. Spoon about 2 tablespoons soy sauce mixture over each serving; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Here's a weird step - after cooking, let the salmon sit with the ponzu sauce drizzled over for a good 5-10 minutes.  This lets the fish cool down a bit, and absorb the flavor of the sauce through the skin and flesh.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

I love comfort food, but since I don't usually have time to cook all day, I also love shortcuts.  When I watched Alton Brown make his easy chicken pot pie on Good Eats, I modified it slightly and called it my own.  This dish is incredibly easy, but it tastes great and makes me happy.  Maybe it will do the same for you.  The magic lies in roasted chicken and frozen vegetables, but with some clever steps to add the home-cooked appeal.  Trust me, it's worth it.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie
Recipe adapted from Alton Brown

• 1 3.5 cup bag of frozen peas, carrots, corn, and beans
• 1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 cups low sodium chicken broth or stock
• 1 cup milk
• 3.5-4 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley, or ¼ cup fresh, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 store-bought roasted chicken
• 2 pie shells
• 1 egg

Equipment needed: pie pan, parchment paper (optional), small ramekins

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss frozen vegetables with canola oil and spread evenly onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (for easy cleanup).  Place into oven and cook until golden brown.  Meanwhile, shred the chicken by hand, removing skin and trying not to burn the heck out of yourself like I always do.  If you have enough room in the oven, throw one pie shell into the pie pan, dock it with a fork in a bunch of places, and blind bake the shell for a few minutes so it doesn't get soggy when you put in the filling later.  Only bake it for about 5-10 minutes, until it starts to firm up but before it browns.  If you have pie weights (or even dried beans), feel free to put these in while baking, to guarantee that the crust doesn't bubble up while it's cooking.

Blind bake the lower pie crust so you don't just have mush underneath the pot pie

If you had pie weights, you could have prevented this bubbling.  Notice the fork pricks where we 'docked' it, to help at least somewhat with preventing this.

In a small saucepan, heat the broth and milk, and have it ready.  Meanwhile, in your largest sauté pan heat 1 tablespoon of butter and sweat (cook over low heat, barely letting the butter sizzle) the onion and celery.  Make sure not to brown the vegetables, since you want something more delicate for this.  Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the celery mix and cook out the water.  Sprinkle in the flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes; what you're doing is creating a simple roux (mixture of fat and starch, which will thicken the dish without leading to lumps) without all of the energy this usually requires.  Be careful to not leave this unattended, as it will begin to brown quickly, and you want a light colored / flavored roux.

Sweat the vegetables in what seems like too much butter, then add flour and make a lazy man's roux that will thicken the milk / broth mix

Don't forget about the vegetables!  Give them a shake every once in a while so they brown evenly.  I like parchment to help with cleanup after.

Whisk in the hot milk mixture and cook until thickened.  You may want to do about 75% of this to start, and see how thick it looks before adding the rest.  This shouldn't be too runny, but at the same time I've made it without enough liquid, and it can be too dry and gummy.  So keep adding a little more liquid at a time, and remember this key fact - you won't know how thick the mixture will be until two things happen: the mixture comes to a full boil, and then you cool it slightly to see how it will set up.  You can dip in a spoon and check the nappe - the ability to coat the back without dripping when you drag a finger across, but just on the border of this happening.  French people are inherently awesome with this kind of stuff, so if you can't figure this out, just find anyone from France, and they will do it for you.  That's one of the best terms of the Treaty of Paris after the French and Indian War, although giving us Louisiana was pretty good too.  And remember, the best way to ask someone from France for a favor is to yell at them loudly in English, so that they understand you.

Add the parsley, salt and pepper.  Now, you've been checking on those vegetables in the oven to make sure they're not burnt, right?  Let's hope so, because now it's time to use them.  Grab the vegetable sheet and throw everything into the saute pan, along with the shredded chicken.  Pour this into the pre-baked pie shell, cover with another pie shell, and crimp with a fork around the edges.  Trim the edges off of the dough and set these aside.  WARNING: don't overfill the pie!  You will have more filling than will comfortably fit into a standard pie pan, so set that aside for something else.  See my note at the end of the recipe.

This may look like a lot of filling, because it is.  This WILL NOT FIT into one pie crust, so don't force it.

This is about as full as you're going to get.

Crimp with a fork around the edges, thusly.  I had to have a friend help here, because I don't understand pies.

Break the egg into a small bowl, and add a tablespoon of water.  Whisk this up to make an egg wash, which you brush onto the pie crust to promote browning.  Apply a good coating without ending up with an omelet on top of your pot pie.  Place the pot pie into the oven and cook until browned and the mixture is hot and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes.

I got bored and fashioned a small chicken out of extra dough.  It was delicious.

Serve in wedges with whatever sides you like (not that this needs any)

 

Use the leftover filling and pie dough to make personal sized pot pies

NOTE: so what gives, you followed the recipe to the letter and now got too much filling, and it doesn't fit in the pie shell?  Deep breath, you have loose ends mid-cooking and you're getting hysterical.  This is an easy fix.  You're going to have little bits of the pie crust left over after you trim it down, so roll those out into a small sheet, and get out your ramekins.  Put the remaining filling into these, and cover each one with a small circle of the dough.  Crimp around the edges, and now you've got single-serve pot pies, just without a bottom.  Slightly more healthy, and great fun for kids.