If you have ever had Italian wedding soup you'll understand what I mean when i say that this soup could be called 'Asian Wedding Soup'. There are some real similarities - delicious broth, tiny meatballs, and healthy greens all show up in the bowl.

I figured that everyone would be doing roast pork or pork chops in some form or another so I really wanted to go outside of the box. The Flavor Bible listed ginger, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, and garlic as good flavours that pair with pork so I started working on an Asian themed dish.

Paul and I made this soup for dinner last night - we were glad that we had doubed the recipe because it was delicious. The ginger and sesame oil in both the meatballs and the broth added a wonderful depth of flavour to the dish.

Sesame Ginger Soup with Pork Meatballs

Meatballs
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 clove of garlic minced
2 T minced fresh ginger
1 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 lb ground pork (NOTE: I had some pork chops that had been in eh freezer for awhile so I thawed them out and minced them in the food processor to make my own lean ground pork)

Soup
1 T canola oil
1 tsp sesame oil
4 carrots, peeled, diced
2 T minced fresh ginger
6 cups low sodium broth (I was out of chicken so I used beef - chicken would be better I think)
2 cups water
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 T Sirracha sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
2 cups thinly sliced bok choy leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

Mix all of the meatball ingredients together so that all of the ingredients are well-distributed throughout. Shape into small meatballs (about 1 tsp of the mixture per meatball) and place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes. Set aside. Note if your meatballs are larger you may need to bake them for longer - check the largest one, if it is cooked inside then they are done.

Drizzle the canola oil and second amount of sesame oil in the bottom of a large soup pot. Heat over medium heat. Saute carrots for about 5 minutes. Add ginger and saute for 1 minutes. Stir in broth, water, soy sauce, and Sirracha sauce. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes (the carrots should be tender by this point) and flavours blended.

Add the meatballs and rice wine vinegar. Bring the soup back to a boil.

Stir in bok choy and cook until wilted.