A comforting soup with pork meatballs and winter melon (bi dao). This soup is traditionally served with steamed rice and other side dishes for a complete Vietnamese family meal.
Related Post: The Guide to Cooking Perfectly Steamed Rice: Asian Kid Edition
Pork Paste
Raw pork paste (Gio Song) was always a must because making it at home was such a process and impossible until recently.
I was gifted a high power food processor. And let me tell you. Oh. My. Gaw.
It’s great at making pork paste.
On occasions, I would bust out the food processor, nick-named Fred, and make a large batch of pork paste to divvy up and freeze for later. When ingredients are pre-plan like this, it makes cooking a more joyous experience.
Winter Melon
Winter melon is part of the gourd family. The outside usually has light green specks on them and some varieties have bit of fuzz on the skin.
Winter melon has the texture of a cucumber that cooks up quickly and provides sweetness to soups. Just don’t overcook them, as they will break up and turn to mush.
Try finding a young winter melon. The core would be tender so you can use all parts of it. Older winter melon has very hard seeds that you will have to remove before cooking.
Recipe below. Happy cooking.
Other Soups You May Enjoy
- Stuffed Bitter Melon Soup
- Pork Spare Rib Soup with Opo Squash
- Pig Feet Soup with Potatoes and Carrots
- Kabocha Pumpkin Soup with Minced Shrimp
Popular Traditional Dishes to Complete the Meal
- Caramelized and Braised Pork Belly with Eggs (Thit Kho Tau)
- Braised & Caramelized Catfish (Ca Kho)
- Caramelized Pork Spare Ribs (Suon Ram Man)
- Caramelized Shrimp (Tom Rim)
- Easy & Crispy Pan-Fried Fish
Vietnamese Pork Meatballs Soup with Winter Melon (Canh Mọc Nấu Bí Đao)
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
A quick pork meatball soup with winter melon (bi dao), a gourd that adds cucumber-like texture and sweetness. Enjoy this comforting side dish with steamed rice, perfect for cold winter days.
Ingredients
Pork Meatballs (Moc)
- 1 lb fatty ground pork (chill in freezer until semi-frozen such that you can break apart into big chunks by hand)
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves (peel; leave whole)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 4 tablespoons cold water
- 1 teaspoon Alsa baking powder
Equipment Needed
Soup
- 2 quarts water
- 1 lb winter melon (peel, remove core if not tender and cut into chunks or slice thin)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 green onions/scallions (remove end; cut into 2-inch segments)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare pork: Break apart ground pork into small chunks and add to a high-power food processor. Add sugar, salt, fish sauce, black pepper, garlic cloves and oil. Blend for 5 minutes on the highest setting.
- Prepare slurry: In a small bowl, mix together tapioca starch and water until dissolved. Add baking powder to the slurry. Add slurry to pork and blend on high again for another 5 minutes. Pork should be a light pink paste. Set aside.
- Prepare broth: In a large pot, heat water (2 quarts) on high. Once you reach a rolling boil, form golf-ball size meatballs from the pork paste and drop them into the boiling water. Lower heat to gentle simmer and cook for 8 minutes.
- Add winter melon: Cook the melon for about 4 minutes until tender. Avoid overcooking as melon will break apart into many pieces.
- Finish: Season soup with sugar, fish sauce and sea salt Turn off heat and garnish with scallions and black pepper before serving.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: side dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: asian, vietnamese
