Happy Easter!

Me: Did you see all the chocolate eggs?

8-year-old: I put them away.

Me: Where?

8-year-old: In my belly!

Egg noodle soup with spare ribs and ground pork

(Adapted from Vanh Khuyen Le)

Spare ribs broth:
2 lbs pork spare ribs
2 lbs chicken bones (optional)
1 tbs white vinegar
1 tsp chicken powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tbs canola oil
3 scallions (white part only)
1 shallot (peeled and halved)
15 g rock sugar
1 tbs salt
1 onion
1 tbs fried shallots

Stir-fry ground pork:
1 lb ground pork
1 tsp chicken powder
2 tsp soy sauce
Freshly ground pepper

To serve:
Egg noodles (poached)
Baby bok choy (cooked)
3 scallions (green part, chopped)
Chives (chopped)
Fried shallots

To make the broth:

1. In a bowl, soak pork spare ribs + water + 1 tbs white vinegar. Set aside for 10′.
2. Drain pork spare ribs and marinate with 1 tsp chicken powder + 1 tsp salt + 1 tsp sugar + 1/2 tsp ground pepper
3. In a skillet, heat 1 tbs oil + spring onion + shallot until fragrant.
4. Add marinated ribs to the skillet.
5. Sear all sides of the ribs, about 1 minutes.
6. In a slow cooker, put seared ribs and everything in the skillet above.
7. Add chicken bones (if using).
8. Add hot water + 15 g rock sugar + 1 tbs salt + 1 onion
9. Cook covered at low level for 4 hours.
10. Add 1 tbs fried shallots.

To make the stir-fried ground pork:

1. Use the same skillet above, add ground pork + 1 tsp chicken powder + 2 tsp soy sauce.
2. Cook over high heat for 1 minutes. Turn off.
3. Use a spatula or chopstick to stir ground pork.
   • Note: If you don’t turn off the heat, the ground pork can stick into big lumps.
4. Turn on the heat again and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Set aside.

To serve:

1. In a bowl, add cooked egg noodles
2. Ladle the pork broth.
3. Add pork spare ribs + stir-fried ground pork + bok choy
4. Sprinkle chopped scallions + chopped chives.
5. Add fried shallots.
6. Serve immediately.