The other day I was daydreaming about the amazing zucchini soup that we had with our Korean BBQ in L.A. It was served in a big metal bowl, packed with flavor, and super spicy. (#iwanttogoback) When I came across these zucchinis(thanks Miles family!), it was a good excuse to try to replicate the soup I’d been thinking of. I read a few similar sounding recipes and came up with a pretty close replica – enough to satisfy my craving at least! And it was super duper easy – and healthy! Win. Win.
If the red hue of the broth doesn’t give it away, this soup was pretty spicy (if you think ketchup is spicy this probably isn’t the soup for you). I love my food to have a nice kick, and this soup hit the spot. I used two heaping tablespoons of chili paste, but you can add more or less to your liking.
In my opinion the pork is optional. I wanted this soup for dinner, so I thought it should have some protein. You could also probably use some ground chicken, turkey, or thinly sliced pork or tofu.
I served this with a little basmati rice, but you could use jasmine – which would be more traditional. I bet rice noodles would be great in this as well!
- 2 large zucchini, sliced into moon halves
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 2 heaping tablespoons chili paste (I used Sombal)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce for soup
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 3-4 cups chicken stock
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- fish sauce to taste
- 1-2 green onion chopped
- In a small bowl combine chili paste and soy sauce for soup and mix well.
- Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onions. Add the pork and sauce mixture. Chop and combine all ingredients in the pot until thoroughly combine. Saute for 5-6 minutes until pork is cooked. Add stock, (stock should barely cover everything in the pot) and let them boil. Bring the heat down a little and continue to cook until the onion is soft. Add the zucchini and and garlic, and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the zucchinis are almost tender. Season with fish sauce to your desired taste. Add the green onion and let it mingle for 1 minute. Remove the stew from heat and serve hot with rice.
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