I sometimes become incredibly homesick. I don’t know if it’s so much that I miss Texas, but rather that I just miss all the things that were a given back home. I knew where to go to get my favorite broccoli pasta, where to go to get a good banh mi, where to go to get the perfect fajitas, and so on. All the things I miss are decidedly food-related; even the people I miss have some kind of food memory attached to them — Niko Niko’s with Jessica, sushi with Meredith, dim sum with my siblings, and you get the idea.
The ultimate food memories, of course, are linked to my mom. I was one of those lucky kids who always had a homecooked dinner every night, something I definitely did not appreciate enough back then. That’s a major perk to having restauranteurs as parents, I tell you what.
So while homesick this week, I made a nice, comforting soup that my mother always made when I was a wee one: artichoke and pork rib soup. It’s only five ingredients (six if you count the water, I guess), and comes together in about an hour and a half. It’s light, but still so savory, and the flavor of artichoke is way tastier in a broth than you could ever imagine. Also, this is the perfect thing to make with sad, out-of-season artichokes because you just boil the entire thing to wring out all that flavor. Keep the beautiful ‘chokes for the grill, use the others for this.
You can enjoy this as-is (though obviously, don’t eat the artichoke leaves), but for a much more satisfying experience, put a mound of cooked white rice at the bottom of your soup bowl and ladle the soup on top.
Artichoke and Pork Rib Soup
Yield: 5-6 hefty servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour + 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
- 2 large artichokes
- 1 1/4 lbs of pork ribs (either country style or back)
- 2 1/2 tbs fish sauce
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar
Wash the artichokes and quarter them, leaving the stems intact. Use a spoon to scoop out the fuzzy bit (the “choke”) inside.
Separate the ribs into individual ribs. If you have a cleaver, you can further cut them into chunks, but that isn’t necessary.
In a large pot, bring 14 cups of water to a boil. Add the fish sauce, salt, and sugar. Stir. Add in the artichokes and pork, submerging all of the pork in the water and as much of the artichokes as possible. Let this mixture continue boiling for 10 minutes.
Turn the heat down to low. When the soup comes down to a simmer, put a lid on the pot and let it continue simmering for an hour.
Serve plain, or with white rice, as mentioned above. Don’t eat the artichoke leaves because despite being boiled half to hell, they’re still inedible, but do enjoy the stems and hearts!
1 Comment
My wife uses Beef shank bone and I think Lemon grass to make a broth. I only see pork rib in most recipes. I like it but might try the pork too. It is a remedy for cold she said. Or you could just boil the heck out of the artichoke too. She boils hers whole.
January 25, 2020 at 11:05 am